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Children's Advocacy warns of surging incident notifications and asks for staff and funding to sustain oversight
Summary
The Department of Children's Advocacy reported a sharp increase in critical incident notifications over recent years and requested FTEs, Guardian ad Litem funding and spending authority to maintain investigative and prevention work.
Margaret Bodman, interim state director and child advocate for the Department of Children's Advocacy, told the subcommittee the agency is receiving exponentially more critical incident notifications and needs additional staff and funding to respond.
Bodman said notifications rose from about 30 in 2020 to 3,022 in 2025 and that the forward‑facing investigations unit manages an average caseload that strains current staffing. "In 2025 it was at, 3,022 notifications of critical incidents," she said.
She requested five FTEs for the system improvement division to handle critical incident notifications and investigations, a legal assistant for foster care review, and $1.5 million in general funds for Guardian ad Litem costs to cover inflationary pressures and salary adjustments. She also asked for $3.4 million in additional other‑funds spending authority to align available revenue with authorized spending.
Bodman warned that one long‑standing continuum‑of‑care program lost sustainable Medicaid waiver funding and that without continued appropriations and access to carryforward funds the agency may face staff reductions. She also noted volunteer Guardian ad Litem numbers have fallen from about 2,000 pre‑COVID to just under 900, increasing pressure on staff to assume appointments.
Lawmakers asked about drivers of the notification increase; Bodman pointed to better reporting, mandated notification awareness and stronger agency relationships that encourage reporting rather than penalizing providers.
