Kentucky Senator Requests Study of Child Welfare Services Structure and Alignment
Kentucky Senator Danny Carroll filed a bill request on August 19, 2026, to establish a working group studying the state's children and family services structure, including whether services should be consolidated or separated from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The study would examine child placement processes from kinship care through permanency, review funding sources, and assess how programs affect each other. The senator referenced Ohio's Department of Children and Youth restructuring as a model. This follows ongoing challenges with kinship care policy implementation under SB 151, foster home shortages, and unmet high-acuity placement needs for children in state custody.
This study could reshape how Kentucky Medicaid-funded child welfare services — including foster care, kinship care supports, and behavioral health placements — are administered and financed, directly affecting managed care organizations' responsibilities for children in state custody.
Behavioral Health · Managed Care
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