The Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD) asked the Senate Finance Committee for $72.5 million to address shortfalls and implement remedial orders arising from the Kevin S. litigation, including investments in staffing, training, foster parent recruitment and data systems.

Secretary Teresa Casals and Legislative Finance Committee analyst Rachel Garcia briefed senators on a package that CYFD described as $40.2 million in recurring requests and $32.3 million in nonrecurring funding to cover a fiscal year shortfall and last year’s deficiency. Casals told the panel the department wants to “draw down what we previously have” in federal funds but that a gap exists between budgeted federal revenue and actual drawdowns, which contributed to the deficit.

Major items requested (as presented to the committee)
- Workforce support: Funding to recruit and retain staff and add support roles, including 50 case aide FTEs to assist caseworkers with administrative tasks ($4.8 million) and 101 caseworker positions included in growth funding (as budgeted).
- On‑call emergency response: Regional evening/weekend teams (five regions, five workers per team) to respond to crises without pulling daytime caseworkers off their caseloads.
- Training and academy staff: Additional trainers (13 FTEs referenced in testimony) and expanded training to improve practice and documentation.
- Foster care: A targeted recruitment and placement worker request (5 FTEs for high‑need counties) and a proposal to increase foster‑parent stipends — testimony described doubling low stipends and capping increases at $900 monthly, with CYFD estimating roughly $9.8 million to fund stipend increases and related supports.
- Data, reporting and compliance: CYFD is building CCWIS and requested funds for data staff (14 FTEs) and a contract (RS21) to develop dashboards and improve reporting to co‑neutrals and the court.

Why it matters: The remedial order in the Kevin S. federal case imposes benchmarks and reporting requirements; the committee focused on whether CYFD’s requested funds were already included in growth funding and how the department will measure the impact of new hires and rate changes. Senators pressed for clearer benchmarks, rate comparisons to other states and how vacancy rates affect the department’s ability to use funded positions.

Committee exchanges and clarifications
- Funding overlap: LFC and CYFD officials said much of the remedial‑order funding was provided through the budget’s growth package, but CYFD requested additional recurring and nonrecurring money to address gaps and prior deficits.
- Foster stipend study: LFC recommended a rate study before a large, recurring stipend increase; CYFD suggested a study to benchmark rates against other states but said higher stipends could help recruitment and retention.
- Vacancies and FTEs: Senators asked about vacancy counts (CYFD reported roughly a 24% vacancy rate in protective services and said some positions are funded but remain vacant), and how many funded but unfilled positions exist.

Next steps: Senators asked staff to gather fiscal‑impact reports for related CYFD legislation and to provide comparisons of foster‑care stipends in peer states. CYFD said the supplemental requests are intended to cover this year’s operational shortfalls and prior‑year deficits and to allow implementation of Kevin S. remedies.