Committee advances SB52 to speed LDH notification after child custody hearings

Senators on a standing committee on April 13 advanced Senate Bill 52 with an amendment that makes the Department of Children and Family Services notify the Louisiana Department of Health within 72 hours following a continued custody hearing when a child is removed from a household.

Sponsor [identified in the hearing as the bill sponsor] said the change will help benefits — SNAP, WIC and Medicaid — ‘‘follow the child’’ so there is no delay when a child enters a new household. The sponsor offered Amendment 1997 to change the immediate-notice language so the notification trigger follows the continued custody hearing; the amendment was adopted without recorded opposition and the bill was reported favorable as amended.

Opponents urged caution about the compressed timeline. Tia Fields, a safety-net policy analyst with Invest Louisiana, said the bill’s 72-hour timing, as originally drafted, risked conflicting with federal notice requirements and could raise administrative error rates. Fields warned that federal rules require a notice period before benefits are reduced: ‘‘Federal law requires a mandatory notice period of at least 10 days before any reduction takes effect,’’ she said, and asked the committee to consider how system changes could affect error rates and potential federal payback liability.

Department of Children and Family Services officials told the committee the sponsor’s amendment aligns the notice requirement with existing custody-hearing workflows and would not require new staffing to meet the timing. Camille Conaway of LDH said the agency would follow its usual eligibility procedures and would redetermine eligibility consistent with federal law, not automatically close cases.

Legislative Fiscal Office staff said they had received the amendment only shortly before the hearing and would revisit the fiscal note, but that changing the trigger to coincide with custody hearings should reduce any extra workload because staff are already present at those hearings.

With no recorded opposition after the amendment and agency assurances, the committee moved the bill to report favorable as amended. The transcript shows no roll-call vote on final passage in committee; action recorded was ‘‘reported favorable’’ with the amendment.