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Child Advocate office tells committee it needs staffing, space and operating dollars as complaints climb
Summary
Acting Child Advocate Carrie Leonard told the Committee on Social Services Budget the independent Office of the Child Advocate saw about a 60% year‑over‑year increase in complaints and asked for funding to fill one open investigator post, cover an expected rent increase tied to a planned move and sustain recurring case‑management costs.
The Office of the Child Advocate told the Committee on Social Services Budget that it is struggling to absorb a sharp rise in complaints and needs ongoing operating support to maintain timely oversight of the child‑welfare system.
"We've had a 60% increase in complaints coming in from 2024 to 2025," Acting Child Advocate Carrie Leonard told the committee, saying the agency relies on a small team (the advocate, five investigators and one administrative staffer) to respond. Leonard said two investigator positions approved last session were essential but the office still has one vacancy it hopes to fill in 2026.
The agency was established by executive order in 2021 and converted into an independent state agency by the Child Advocate Act in 2024. Amanda Prosser, senior fiscal analyst with Legislative Research, told members that the advocate's salary is statutorily tied to the base salary of a state district court judge and thus will rise automatically if judicial pay scales increase. Prosser also flagged a roughly $118,000 reappropriation from FY25 for an investigator position and the case‑management system; she said the special committee on state budget later deleted those reappropriations.
Leonard described the office's new case‑management system as the backbone for intake, secure document storage and reporting. "It allows us to gather information upfront and keep track of all communications in a confidential way," she said, adding that the system supports reporting back to the legislature on caseload and outcomes.
Committee members pressed agency officials on facility and cost questions. Leonard estimated that, including surcharges, rent for the larger space the office is seeking could rise from roughly $11,000 to about $40,000 a month, depending on final square footage and whether space is shared. She said the office is pursuing space on the 4th floor of the Landon building to enable confidential interviews and to reduce strain on staff working in cramped conditions on the 10th floor.
Leonard warned that lapsing reappropriated funds or denying enhancements would hinder the office's ability to hire and retain staff and to provide confidential, timely responses to complaints. She also said the office is finalizing its 2025 annual report and will provide the committee with that dataset, which should help the panel understand patterns in referrals, complaint types and agency conduct concerns.
The committee did not take formal action on the budget at the hearing. Staff told members they will include the special committee and governor's recommendations in the budget committee report the panel will receive before making draft recommendations.
