Update 4/16/13, 11:09 AM – Content clarification
Update 4/5/13, 11:05 AM – Content clarification
On Wednesday in the House Health and Human Services (HHS) Finance committee, Assistant Commissioner of Child and Family Services Erin Sullivan Sutton provided a walk-through of Governor Dayton’s updated HHS budget recommendations from his supplemental budget as they pertain to children and families. The HHS omnibus bill that incorporates these changes is H.F. 1233.
The proposals in the children and families section of the HHS omnibus bill are focused on three main areas:
- To bring stability and hope to children in high-risk situations,
- To make services smarter and more streamlined, and
- To respond to the increase in number of children living in poverty.
The areas of the omnibus bill for which there were no changes were the expansion of the Parent Support Outreach Program, the elimination of the electronic benefit transaction fee, the adoption assistance forecast, and match supportive services.
The following are the portions of Sullivan Sutton’s testimony that had particular relevance to child welfare.
Access to high quality child care
Governor Dayton is recommending that the state have a greater focus on helping parents with low incomes access high quality child care for their children by:
- Providing greater access to child care for teen parents pursuing a high school diploma or GED through the Basic Sliding Fee program
- Increasing child care provider reimbursement rates
- Creating financial incentives for child care providers to have at least a three-star rating from Parent Aware
Should all-day kindergarten be funded, which was a recommendation in the Education budget, then the child care assistance program through MFIP could see some savings. It is projected that the number of children served in all-day kindergarten would jump from 49 percent to 85 percent. Sullivan Sutton did state that the “funding increase in MDE is greater than the savings.”
Child welfare note: Stability in early care and education environments is crucial for children involved in child welfare. Research has shown that the first few years of a child’s life is a period of rapid growth in brain development, and disruptive and/or low-quality placements (including child care) can negatively impact such development. Access to affordable, high-quality child care may also mitigate stressors in the home and thus reduce the risk for maltreatment.
Northstar Care for Children
Sullivan Sutton also reviewed Northstar Care for Children (see my blog post on this topic), which, if implemented, would be effective January 1, 2015. Some areas not previously discussed include how this program could help with addressing the issue of disproportionate representation of African American and American Indian children in out-of-home placement, as well as keeping sibling groups together.
As for program operations, Sullivan Sutton emphasized that parents would view the changes as seamless. Basically, the restructuring of the Relative Care Assistance program to Guardianship Assistance would allow the state to utilize Title IV-E dollars via the Fostering Connections Act, rather than TANF funds (which are currently used). Additionally, the cost of maintaining these programs would be shared among counties, the state, and the federal government.
Child welfare note: The idea behind making benefit rates more equitable across the three programs (Relative Caregiver Assistance, Adoption Asistance, and Foster Care) is that it could have a positive impact on moving children in foster care to permanency more quickly and frequently. There is some concern among a local child welfare advocacy group regarding the rate differential between children ages 6 and up, and children younger than age 6. However, this gorup has also raised the possibility that this bill may not be reintroduced after this legislative session, as this is the third time it has been introduced.
Addressing youth homelessness
The governor has a specific emphasis on addressing youth homelessness in Minnesota; Sullivan Sutton provided statistics from Wilder that there are 2,500 unaccompanied youth in Minnesota on any given day, recommending a budget of $5 million over the biennium (as opposed to the current $119,000/year).
Child welfare note: You can read more about youth homelessness in Minnesota and current legislation here.
Omnibus bill’s next steps
Rep. Huntley mentioned at the beginning of the meeting that in about one to two weeks, the committee would begin redrafting the House HHS omnibus bill to reflect the new House target for HHS. This could mean that a lot of what is being proposed, particularly anything requiring additional funding or spending increases, may be taken out. Again, it is unclear which areas of health and human services will see cuts.
If you have any insight regarding the omnibus bill, please feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from our readers!
