Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor
Division of the Budget
January 31, 2024
The Honorable Susan Concannon, Chairperson
House Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 152-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Concannon:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2581 by House Committee on Child Welfare and Foster
Care
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2581 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2581 would eliminate the requirement that the court ordered child support be paid when
a child is in the custody of the Department for Children and Families. The bill would also remove
the requirement that child support payment requests be made in a child in need of care petition.
Estimated State Fiscal Effect
FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2026
Expenditures
State General Fund -- $1,028,503 $2,007,464
Fee Fund(s) -- (1,028,503) (2,007,464)
Federal Fund -- -- --
Total Expenditures -- -- --
Revenues
State General Fund -- -- --
Fee Fund(s) -- ($1,028,053) ($2,007,464)
Federal Fund -- -- --
Total Revenues -- ($1,028,503) ($2,007,464)
FTE Positions -- -- --
The Honorable Susan Concannon, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2581
Foster care cases are often the most difficult and least cost-effective cases to handle, and
support collected does not directly benefit Kansas families. The Department for Children and
Families (DCF) indicates that enactment of HB 2581 would reduce the number of foster care cases
being referred to Child Support Services (CSS) in Kansas and would eventually lead to a reduction
in foster care collections.
Foster care cases in the CSS caseload declined by 16.7 percent from FY 2022 to FY 2023.
DCF estimated the FY 2024 caseload using that declining percentage. For FY 2023, children
exiting foster care spent an average of 23.3 months in care. DCF estimates that foster care children
currently in CSS would phase out in about two years. Although the foster care cases in the CSS
caseload would be phasing out, the expenses would remain at the same levels due to the contracted
privatization of CSS child support collections. Those costs would remain as contracted regardless
of CSS caseload.
The Social Security Act requires IV-E agencies to collect child support for children
receiving foster care services when appropriate. However, guidance was issued in June 2022
encouraging state welfare agencies not to secure child support in all foster care cases especially
where it impedes the family reunification process and is generally not cost-effective. Based on
estimates in the Social Welfare Fee Fund Report submitted in the most recent DCF budget, foster
care collections are expected to be approximately $2.1 million in FY 2025 and $2.0 million in FY
2026. DCF estimates that enactment of the bill would result in a 50.0 percent reduction in FY
2025 and a complete phase out in FY 2026. The phasing out of foster care cases would reduce
revenues for CSS by $1.0 million for FY 2025 and $2.0 million for FY 2026. Any fiscal effect
associated with HB 2581 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Kim Holter, Department for Children & Families