Lawsuit dismissed in funding dispute over kinship caregiver law in Kentucky

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration in a funding dispute that has delayed a kinship caregiver law, which aims to support adults willing to care for young relatives who endured suspected abuse or neglect at home.

The Democratic governor signed the legislation in 2024, and his administration has praised the measure for seeking to help children in bad situations be placed with relatives or close family friends. The dispute revolves around whether funding is accessible to carry out the state law’s intent — enabling relatives who take temporary custody of children to become eligible for foster care payments. Kinship caregivers are raising an estimated 55,000 children in Kentucky.

Beshear warned in 2024 that the state’s Republican-led legislature had not approved the necessary funding. More than a year later, he maintains those funds are still needed for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to put the measure into action.

“It is simple: The state cannot implement programs and policies if we don’t have the funding needed to do so,” Beshear said in a news release Monday.

The two-term governor is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

Republican state Auditor Allison Ball said she will continue her fight. She filed the lawsuit, claiming the law was in limbo because Beshear’s administration refused to put it into action.

The suit says Beshear’s administration is required to “do whatever it takes” to carry out state laws and asked a judge to “remind” them of that duty. It also sought access to information as part of the auditor’s investigation into the matter. That review is looking at whether it would cost about $19 million, as estimated by the administration, to carry out the law and whether the cabinet had funds to implement it.

In his decision Monday, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate noted that no subpoenas had been sought, the cabinet had complied with many of the auditor’s requests, and the cabinet had indicated the auditor “need only provide a name and CHFS will set up an interview.”

“This indicates a willingness by CHFS to cooperate with the investigation, contrary to the auditor’s assertion that CHFS has no intention of cooperating with or participating in any further investigation,” Wingate said.

The judge added that the auditor “has not yet exhausted administrative means to obtain documents and the matter has not yet ripened into a concrete dispute.”

Responding to the ruling, Ball has directed the issuance of subpoenas as the “necessary next step” in the matter, her office said Monday in a news release. The judge’s ruling affirmed the auditor’s authority to subpoena officials and any withheld documents, the release says.

“These subpoenas will reveal the truth about the actual cost and all available resources to fund this program,” Ball said in the release.

The governor said he plans to include the necessary funding in his next budget proposal to lawmakers “so we can get these policies moving forward to help these children.” Lawmakers will begin their 2026 session in January, and passing the state’s next two-year budget will be their biggest task.

The 2024 law is meant to fix what child welfare advocates say is a flaw in the support system. It gives people considerably more time to apply to become foster parents for their young relatives, and thus eligible for foster care payments to help support the children already in their care.