House Finance Division 3 hears DCYF budget briefing emphasizing kinship, diversion and new case system

Marie Noonan, director of the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families, presented the agency’s operating and programmatic priorities during the Division 3 budget work session on Feb. 26.

Noonan told members that DCYF’s prioritized goals for 2025–26 focus on improving case practice, building a new secure treatment facility, launching a new electronic case management system called Granite Families and expanding the community service array. "We hope to serve families with the lightest touch possible," she said, describing a model that prioritizes central intake referrals, community-based voluntary services, in‑home supports and kinship or foster placements before residential treatment.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed for numbers and for clarity about where dollars and positions moved in the governor’s budget. The briefing framed the budget request as both a fiscal document and a road map of system changes intended to reduce reliance on residential treatment and increase family‑based care.

Key accomplishments and data highlights cited by Noonan and Nathan White, DHHS chief financial officer: - Workforce vacancies have improved: DCYF reported a decline in vacancy rates for child‑protection caseworkers from 9% to 4% (Dec. 2023 to Dec. 2024) and youth counselor vacancies at the Sununu Youth Services Center from 56% (Dec. 2022) to 13% (Dec. 2024). Noonan credited recent pay increases, targeted recruitment and program stability at SYSC. - Intake and diversion: DCYF described a community navigator program at central intake that provides referrals and outreach when a call does not meet the threshold for an investigation; the agency reported 807 referrals to that navigator effort since August 2023. - Juvenile justice transformation: DCYF has implemented pre‑filing juvenile justice assessments to divert youth when community services can meet their needs. Noonan said juvenile probation counts fell about 30% from calendar year 2019 to 2023 and that the juvenile justice assessment process has served increasing numbers of youth. - Kinship care expansion: The agency reported that initial out‑of‑home placements now go to kin 74% of the time (up 45 percentage points in the current state fiscal year). Licensed kinship caregivers, once licensed, will receive the same stipend and services as licensed foster parents, Noonan said.

Committee questions focused on program timelines, data and capacity. Committee members asked for five‑year counts and more granular demographic and cost data; Noonan said DCYF would provide additional tables. White and Noonan explained that some positions and contract dollars shown with lower personnel lines in the governor’s budget were moved to other accounting units (agency crosswalks were promised to aid committee review).

Operational and performance targets mentioned in the briefing include a casework caseload goal of roughly 12 active investigations per child protection worker (established in 2019), a goal to keep the new secure treatment facility census at or below 12 youth, and a goal of a 10% reduction in residential treatment use alongside a 10% increase in families served in‑home.

No formal votes were taken. The committee directed staff and the agency to provide additional breakdowns — including five years of service counts, foster and kinship bed availability, and cross‑account reconciliations for residential contract funding — to support their review of biennial budget assumptions.

Looking ahead: Noonan said Granite Families, the replacement electronic case management system, is planned to go live by December 2026. Committee members scheduled further hearings and asked for follow‑up information on metrics, fund sources and the potential impacts of pending Medicaid and behavioral‑health policy changes.