[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6348255,"mediaKeyId","2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e","parentId",2242956,"title","Probation and parole director touts reentry successes, sets recidivism goal and requests level funding","audioSeconds",953,"startMs",6293425,"endMs",7246960,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e&start=6293&end=7246","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e/thumbnail_6293425.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6348255/Alabama/Probation-and-parole-director-touts-reentry-successes-sets-recidivism-goal-and-requests-level-funding","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348255-d40827dc4c84a7f35c4e17893a825562/orig.mp4?Expires=1770591660&Signature=msPPF2A9DFgVdLa2O-HjgXAVxuCWhbsAL7JALE7dYlGP1qnKW1uMQYfXGNH3qTDUg5hskyOeRPhYcI2OPlm-R2MQKPUCIhj32DEH2yW1P3UfA3d8fIdqd2Q62SLpMGczVRhVubpitBrgoxzX72UbtZnZ7b-zlDPO3arS~-eR7G1VKSpxhyMsfIxi99hJgUhpZ2tO4pPk-dLMEwtOMht3s8CFX~l0pGMGI-bRTpNyplTGGcdbQbCgODXp6VAm~TaRX02zmhWHiGhk99troU0-PsdmrVu3fedE5KD7CDdAADyHS-kfNmMJi59MIrd24HO~WtiaR0Z8v~yVXFJbkvAH1w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alabama Joint Legislative Budget Hearings","date","2025-02-06T00:00:00Z","article","Director Jimmy Ward, head of the Department of Probation and Parole, told the Joint Interim Committees the agency is requesting level funding for FY26 and described internal adjustments and programmatic work intended to reduce recidivism, expand reentry services and improve case management ratios.

\"We're actually going in for a level funded request,\" Ward said, explaining that the agency is redistributing vacant positions across counties rather than asking for additional staff this year.

Why it matters: Probation and parole supervision, job training and treatment programs directly affect recidivism, public safety and corrections costs. Ward said targeted reentry investments aim to cut long-term incarceration and improve outcomes for people leaving prison.

Agency scale and staffing: Ward described the agency as roughly 806 employees, about half certified parole/probation officers and half administrative support, operating 62 field offices covering all 67 counties and five day-reporting centers. He said a target supervision ratio is about 1 officer to 85 supervisees; the agency has been shifting staff internally to approach that goal.

Reentry initiatives and outcomes: Ward described the Perry County Prep Center, opened April 2022, as a model reentry program focused on mental-health treatment, substance-abuse care and job training. He said nearly 300 program graduates have not returned to prison. Ward said the department received $5,490,000 in opioid funding used for treatment, prevention and partnerships with mental-health and veterans’ services.

Recidivism target and parole data: Ward said Alabama’s current recidivism rate is about 29% and the agency has adopted Reentry 2030 with a goal of reducing recidivism to about 15% by decade’s end. He reported parole grant rates rising from roughly 8% in earlier years to about 25–26% in recent months and noted an increase in individuals on probation from about 44,000 to 45,000.

Questions and follow-up: Legislators praised the Perry County Prep Center results and asked about second-chance or resentencing proposals; Ward emphasized individualized review and disciplinary-history checks before clemency or sentence-adjustment actions. He warned against simplistic quota-based parole decisions and highlighted that risk assessments may label some serious offenders as low risk for recidivism.

Ending: Ward asked the committee to consider the agency’s reentry focus as a cost-saving and public-safety strategy and said the department will continue to seek private-sector partners, training providers and community collaborations to sustain reentry success.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Alabama Joint Legislative Budget Hearings (1PM) February 6, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Director Ward said his agency will pursue a level-funded FY26 budget while reallocating existing staff to even caseloads; he highlighted reentry programs (Perry County Prep Center) with zero returned-to-prison graduates and set a Reentry 2030 goal to lower recidivism from 29% to 15%.","taxTitle","Joint Interim Committees, Alabama Legislative Sessions, Alabama","taxId",14940,"location","Alabama","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6348260,"Medicaid commissioner outlines FY26 request, explains large difference driven by lost COVID carryforward not just program growth",3570,2697865,6268465,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e&start=2697&end=6268","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e/thumbnail_2697865.jpg","/articles/6348260/Alabama/Medicaid-commissioner-outlines-FY26-request-explains-large-difference-driven-by-lost-COVID-carryforward-not-just-program-growth","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348260-a6d5ceb9e0620354a751ac9cc5fb8509/orig.mp4?Expires=1770591660&Signature=VHz7LjC8irnEV0wyCC6igV4ku5Q730TCh33jf4yltsTWTu7Xq~KPgEWoq8Su94nwsudH5S4UDiHwcvmmeX-KikxeWZIcZJcm8N1N6b69f91DEJeL2tc6lrUONEDgSM6V18XyIh9PaZfp0RJF3rsbRAMyg8-lwz7Q234YimI1R1DIJxRyS9J8MREeUh1u-pPYbDtLBz-b7Yr7g91wG-rVFnmyM7qdzrI4OrIXjWzBctDdwtDGgeAtHstGLG~IC86jJe5~ipwQ8iZEczVSFO06aNoSdt7dS-Q2p4HofqGKRIpR9SjuABF0IxoUE3zqPSszK3aqkPDFPoC7N7rM5Np-Nw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commissioner Jane Azar of the Alabama Medicaid Agency briefed the Joint Interim Committees on enrollment trends, federal COVID-era funding impacts and the department’s FY26 funding request, emphasizing that a one-time drop in carryforward funds—not a sudden surge in recipients—accounts for most of the requested increase.

\"The 2026 budget request before you today is $1,237,000,000 in projected funding need,\" Azar explained, and then clarified that an estimated $53,000,000 in carryforward reduces the FY26 appropriation request to $1,184,000,000. She emphasized the $229,000,000 difference from the FY25 appropriation is largely explained by the loss of substantial COVID-era carryforward dollars.

Why it matters: Medicaid accounts for a large share of state health spending and provider revenue; funding decisions affect hospital budgets, nursing homes, pharmacies and a broad provider network that serves low-income and vulnerable Alabamians.

Enrollment and population mix: Azar summarized the program’s population and expenditure composition: disabled and blind beneficiaries account for about 18% of members and roughly 46% of expenditures; children make up about 50% of members and roughly 24% of expenditures; adults age 65+ represent about 8% of members and 15% of expenditures. She noted Alabama’s Medicaid rolls surged during the COVID public-health emergency because federal rules prevented terminations while the enhanced 6.2 percentage-point FMAP was in effect.

Fiscal context and drivers: Azar said fiscal 2024 expenditures were about $9.38 billion. For 2024 the Medicaid funding mix was about $6.8 billion federal and $2.5 billion state funds. She told the committee the principal inflationary drivers in FY26 include pharmacy inflation, nursing-home factors, and utilization changes; she said part of the FY26 request reflects updating fee-for-service codes that have not been adjusted in many years (for example, a baby-well-visit code not updated since 2004).

Access and providers: Azar noted Medicaid’s provider base—more than 34,000 enrolled providers—carries economic weight across the state. She highlighted that Medicaid funds represent around 66% of Children's of Alabama hospital revenue and about 75% for The USA Children’s & Women’s hospital in South Alabama.

Clarifying the requested increase: Azar told the committee the raw FY26 request looks large because of carryforward declines; she calculated that underlying program growth between the adjusted 2025 need and the 2026 estimate is roughly $65,000,000 after accounting for realized 2024 expenditures and typical inflationary adjustments.

Questions and follow-up: Legislators pressed Azar for more granular roll-forward detail and for assumptions about utilization, provider rates and enrollments. Azar said the agency will provide follow-up materials and emphasized Medicaid’s limited control over federal matching rates, specialty drug entries and national health-care inflation.

Ending: Azar closed by thanking staff and committee members and noting the agency will return with the detailed breakout of cost drivers and eligibility trends.","Medicaid Commissioner detailed enrollment changes since the pandemic, explained why FY26 appropriation needs rise after reduced carryforward, and provided program breakdowns by beneficiary group and projected FY26 funding needs.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6348266,"Mental Health Department seeks beds, crisis centers and trauma program funding after years of cuts",1840,2310071,4150094,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e&start=2310&end=4150","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e/thumbnail_2310071.jpg","/articles/6348266/Alabama/Mental-Health-Department-seeks-beds-crisis-centers-and-trauma-program-funding-after-years-of-cuts","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348266-772391735fe8f26c87753a09a016c384/orig.mp4?Expires=1770591660&Signature=ODWEgwtWmZTdCoVPC69LhA0cOe9tabhFkfo1aozMG~VRsq~2VBpYqlPZhQJ-PbPXpidD~27vxN~lbCQzrUR7TAgv5rHFmOrBTns28vdVy-T2fUWaodPfW5r7C39FZRL5nv9w0FVecE4UsgquLtdNp0wWrC6rfMv5q3fu0g9sOXBchSRDF6B7F6h1i8P6vBqc~aIZCeGk8UHN3j9oYOKWIyGnePleIJSESDORhVD1uYS7nAAl2aCM~O51xqe8coDyGJg7csJzoGk323lO0t3qKMZo7JBXuOGbwXb8zmYbCNyh~ih5VFX6i9JZ28i9rW4uHznmZpAA7kVCyT9n9CDL7w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commissioner Kim Boswell of the Department of Mental Health told the Joint Interim Committees the department aims to rebuild the state mental-health infrastructure over five years, asking for funding to raise civil commitment beds, establish crisis services statewide and increase community-provider rates.

\"We need to increase civil commitment beds to 30 per 100,000 Alabama residents,\" Commissioner Boswell said, citing a Treatment Advocacy Center report that found 30 beds per 100,000 as a minimum and 50 per 100,000 as an optimal level. She added Alabama currently stands at about 13.4 beds per 100,000.

Why it matters: Commissioners and county officials told the panel that Alabama’s shortfall of inpatient and crisis resources contributes to jails and emergency departments becoming default crisis settings. Boswell said rebuilding capacity is required to reduce avoidable hospital stays and to provide voluntary crisis care.

Capacity and costs: Boswell told the committee the state now has 88 civil-commitment beds and 16 crisis-residential beds operated by community mental-health centers; 214 contracted community hospital beds; and 285 beds at state hospitals. She said the department plans a 16-bed crisis residential unit opening in spring 2026 in Decatur and that the department can fund 22 co-occurring civil commitment beds in seven counties using opioid-settlement dollars.

Funding model and priorities: Boswell said the department proposed increasing crisis-residential rates toward the Medicaid daily rate of $850 and noted many crisis-residential units remain funded at $200–$250 a day. She told lawmakers the department had asked for funds to increase civil-commitment bed capacity and to stabilize funding for 988 call centers and mobile crisis teams.

Children, trauma and schools: Boswell highlighted a children's-services pilot to implement trauma-systems therapy in clinical and organizational settings, proposed as a one-time expense and to be piloted with Gateway and Family Services in Birmingham. She said the department has served more than 11,500 children in its school-based mental-health programs and asked to expand from 15 to 19 school systems and to increase therapists where demand is highest.

Veterans and public-safety interventions: Boswell said the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee recommended a veterans resource center to integrate employment and health services and an expansion of the traumatic-brain-injury program to remove a two-year window that currently limits eligibility.

Public-safety measures: The department backs voluntary safe-storage legislation, \"Safer Together,\" a bill that would let gun owners store weapons temporarily at participating gun stores or law-enforcement locations and provide civil immunity for those stores; Boswell said the measure creates time and space that can reduce suicide risk.

Questions and next steps: Representatives asked for detail about how proposed civil-bed funds would be allocated between crisis residential units and designated facility beds; Boswell said roughly 75% would go to crisis residential units and 25% to community hospitals if the requested funding is approved. Several members emphasized the long-term nature of the rebuild and cited the need to synchronize state and federal funding and local county-level resources.

Ending: Boswell closed by urging a cross-system approach and said the department will continue work with counties and community providers to deploy crisis services and expand pediatric and adolescent capacity.","Commissioner Kim Boswell proposed multi-year rebuilding of Alabama's mental-health infrastructure, seeking funding for civil commitment beds, crisis centers, stabilized rates for community providers, school-based services and a trauma-systems pilot for children.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6348270,"State Department of Human Resources details caseloads, child welfare costs and fraud concerns in budget briefing",1605,45954,1651400,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e&start=45&end=1651","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2242956-5bb0d8b287a5c95555f7ca7f3efa303e/thumbnail_45954.jpg","/articles/6348270/Alabama/State-Department-of-Human-Resources-details-caseloads-child-welfare-costs-and-fraud-concerns-in-budget-briefing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6348270-18129ac80e00b203edc7540e3b894949/orig.mp4?Expires=1770591660&Signature=VLLCJqkWiczv6OpJvlJS33cKpW4P2sYxdsPDyBjdD7SG1V5HD0MGiKlJgNdrg3t5ShhOQe24sKhhsnxprXYzq~sra-20fmbcmuPi-yDVSgs17RMGdVs6Cu3QjIVY6JZZbxUpobg3UCUI-R0qTfyZTL3uikXRdg1Xj4JkdwGECI~U4PsizYalWCF371Q12ihtzNvI3pzj-JVLgFkbc-nkvVh8Q-G9BssFIgPqy~5eJs5S4l83rrlIX51lyJb0KHRfnv7w6t7aIkNIyEuPrfWEPRG1cRAKfjMDkawRXsJBD~bQO9BU7KRwRE-0kjgbmhz6g-BDN815U2X3XW2fVAVsZQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commissioner Nancy Buckner, commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, told the Joint Interim Committees that DHR serves about 1,400,000 people statewide and is balancing rising program demand with staffing shortages and high-cost placements as it seeks additional funding in the 2026 budget cycle.

\"The SNAP program probably involves more people than anyone,\" Commissioner Buckner said, giving the committee a snapshot of caseloads and spending. She said SNAP served about 376,000 households (about 752,000 individuals) and that total benefits issued last year were $1,770,000,000 including about $15,000,000 in replacements.

Why it matters: DHR administers SNAP, TANF, child support, child care, adult protective services and child welfare; changes in funding or federal rules for any of those programs directly affect hundreds of thousands of low-income households and the network of childcare and social-service providers that serve them.

Commissioner Buckner summarized key program numbers and program limits. She told the committee the TANF caseload is roughly 5,832 cases covering about 13,585 recipients, with nearly 11,000 children included. She said 2,776 adults were required to participate in TANF job services and that about 62% of those participants were currently employed.

On child care subsidies, Buckner said the agency served more than 41,000 children last year compared with 46,361 pre-COVID, and that subsidy payments averaged $494–$572 per child per month; DHR paid roughly $257,000,000 to providers last year. DHR licenses and inspects child care centers; Buckner reported 1,396 licensed centers statewide.

Child welfare and foster care were central points of the presentation. Buckner said DHR ended the year with about 5,917 children in foster care and emphasized efforts to achieve permanency: \"73.65 percent of our children that returned home last year, which was over 3,000 children, went to family.\" She said adoptions from foster care reached 621 last year after reaching a peak of 814 in 2020.

Budget request and pressures: Buckner said DHR’s 2026 budget request totaled $183,300,000, a roughly $37,000,000 increase over the prior year, intended to expand enriched community-based placements, support child-care quality (QRIS/STARS), and raise subsidy and provider support. She said the agency’s Office of Information Technology costs are nearly $1,000,000 a month and cited inflationary pressures on vehicle fuel, behavioral aides and other services.

Fraud in SNAP benefits was a prominent concern. Buckner told the committee that technological fraud and identity theft have driven a large increase in replacement requests, and that changes in federal rules removed the ability to replace benefits as of late December 2023. \"The last 2 months of '24, we replaced a little over $10,200,000 in replacements,\" she said, adding the agency is working with its contractor on technical mitigations such as adding chips to EBT cards and restrictions for repeated phone calls.

Legislators asked for more detail on how funding lines relate to particular programs. Representative Blackshear requested a breakout of inflationary lines and Buckner pointed to large IT and provider-cost drivers; Chairman Lee pressed whether some child-related costs could be funded from the education trust fund rather than the general fund.

Staffing and litigation: Buckner said total DHR staffing rose to about 3,852 from a low of 3,723 and that turnover in child-welfare direct workers had fallen to about 49.03%. She cited high-cost placements for children with acute mental-health needs (examples included daily placement costs cited at $500 to $2,200 a day) and ongoing litigation, including a class action tied to insufficient community mental-health and mobile crisis services.

What the committee directed: The presentation was informational; members asked for further detail on specific budget lines and for DHR to supply more granular breakout sheets on inflationary costs and specialized placement funding. Buckner said DHR will provide additional detail and will continue work on anti-fraud and provider support measures.

Ending: Buckner closed the presentation with an overview slide and said she would provide requested detail. \"If I can answer any questions, I'd be happy to,\" she said before lawmakers moved to the next agency briefing.","Commissioner Buckner told the Joint Interim Committees the Department of Human Resources (DHR) serves roughly 1.4 million people and requested increases to address staffing, high-cost foster placements and fraud in SNAP benefits; legislators pressed for funding detail and program clarifications.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Probation and parole director touts reentry successes, sets recidivism goal and requests level funding

Medicaid commissioner outlines FY26 request, explains large difference driven by lost COVID carryforward not just program growth

Mental Health Department seeks beds, crisis centers and trauma program funding after years of cuts

State Department of Human Resources details caseloads, child welfare costs and fraud concerns in budget briefing