Senate Children and Youth Committee - House Aging, Children and Youth
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- October 2, 2026
Chair
Unverified
4:59
sees a quorum. thank you for being here this morning for the jointittee of the agging Children and Youth. first on our agenda today we need to approve the minutes from the February 11th meeting have a motion do I have a second? Thank you all in favor say aye opposed no ok we've passed the minutes. next we have a rural review from DCfSrectorwright if you will
follow the drill and introduce yourself you are recognized
Speaker 6
5:42
Hey good morning. Tiffanie Wright director for the division of Children and Family Services and first on the agenda
Speaker 8
5:49
is the DCfS policy manual revieww this review accomplishes a couple things today first it moves all of our internal procedures from administrative rule and relocates those procedures to
Speaker 9
6:04
our internal procedure manual which is supported by an executive
Speaker 8
6:09
order from the governor it also handles language changes from the general assembly with legis laws that had been passed and it also updates the continuing education hours for foster families within that rule. there's also several terminology changes in within the rule as well as changing all of the titles of positions
from the position title changes that we had in the last session it also does some clarity and removes obsolete terms and i eliminating outdated requirements and positions
Speaker 12
6:46
at DCfs no longer has. Are there questions by committee Senator Love you're recognized
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
7:08
thank you madamir. So now Tiffanie you said that it changed it from to an internal process
like what is what is gonna change about the process here in in within the manual because in it I mean repeat kind of the first part that you said because it it seems like we were changing a process is it not coming to us I mean like you're saying it's an internal process now so kind of explain to me the difference in what we were doing
and what's going to what's gonna actually
Speaker 19
7:43
happen so it's it's currently all of the procedures are within
the manual all of how we carry out the policies and the laws are
Speaker 9
7:53
within the manual and all of that is being removed and in going into our internal procedure manual at DCfS and
keeping the other necessary requirements and that was part of an executive order mean but what does that what
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
8:10
does that change? what what are we what are we what are we trying to accomplish with that change so for us
Speaker 19
8:20
fordcfS it will be we'll have the policy but then how my staff will
Speaker 26
8:25
carry out the policy will be in the internal procedure manual. OK, so is that not
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
8:31
available are you saying that's just not gonna be available to us or you saying like I
guess I'm trying to see what you're trying to accomplish with this change
it's it is vail it's an available document it's the procedures of how our staff will operate on the on a
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
8:52
day to day basis is it is it not already internally internal right now
we do we have we have procedures that are internal yes right
Speaker 9
9:03
now the internal procedures but it's moving the procedures out of the manual and putting all of moving it all over into our internaldCfS policy and procedure manual.
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
9:21
OK. I'm just trying to figure out what what we what we are accomplishing with this change that's that's all but thank you thank you madam chair Chairmangilmore you recognized
thank you co-chair. so to get this straight because I do have some questions about some of the changes but to get this straight this already exists we're updating it to be compliant with laws that were passed by this legislature and maybe some executive actions
is that correct sir OK. so that being said looking through some of the changes in this just out of curiosity because I don't know so I'm gonna ask. we we we make some changes like under K I think it's on the I don't know what page that is page13 of your handout OKok so item K we change protection plan to immediate safety plan,
Obviously words have meaning so we're changing protection to immediate safety plan so does it mean that we're only looking at immediate threats or does it mean that we're not looking at the whole of
Speaker 19
10:39
potential threats so protection plan was in so protection plan was an
Speaker 8
10:44
old term that ECfS used now we use immediate safety planning. it has the same effect for DCfS staff so protection plan was what we were doing when we wanted to when we're trying to keep kids
safe in the home with their parents and
Speaker 45
10:59
we feel like we can implement a protection plan. we've changed and updated terminology to safety
plan so like right above that in Jy we have safety factor which to me seems more broad now we're going to safety threatat.
Speaker 45
11:13
same thing just updating terminology also updating terminology with how things across the nation are moving in terminology as
Speaker 47
11:19
well so just trying to be progressive ok so you're you're basically telling me we're maybe changing
vernacular but we're not really changing procedure Perfect. OK thank you Representative ladyman
you recognized thank you madam chairir. I appreciate you letting me ask a question I'm not a member of the committee director Wright a couple of questions I know why you're doing this because we passed laws and the governor issued an executive order so you you have to do it but my question is will this make your department more
efficient will it make you be better able to serve the people that need your services would say yes and why I say yes is we
sometimes when we're implementing procedures or how we're asking our staff to do things. when we start it's not
Speaker 9
12:16
and maybe it doesn't work right or we need to adjust and so instead of having to bring back an entire policy change this allows us to change our procedure and direct staff to keep ensuring that we're
Speaker 56
12:30
putting same things like safety and permanency first. So I think yes it allows us to be able to move more fluidly through the changes that need to happen within
our division. so is the language more permanent and more consistent I mean would that be one of the advantages will this also improve how people in general and people that use your department view your department by using different as the senator said words have meaning some words have great
meaning. So will it improve the image of your department for those people that need to use your services. I would
Speaker 54
13:09
say yes in that it I think it helps us to be aligned with the day to day usage of what they're hearing my staff say and talk about
Speaker 56
13:17
when they're engaging with children and families. thank you seeing no further questions without objection
Chair
Unverified
13:26
we're going to consider this rule reviewed.
and next on our agenda you can keep your seat we have
Speaker 50
13:38
another report well several reports quarterly reports and a biennual report from Director Wright. so whenever you're ready you may begin. so I'm
Speaker 63
13:48
going to go to the third quarter performance report because
you'll see 2nd and third quarter next to each other in this document and as a reminder just in case you're curious about what counties or areas of the state
Speaker 9
14:04
the front of the book outlines when I talk about areas it outlines which area
your county may fall into. I'm going to start on page one of the booklet just demonstrating that in third quarter so3rd
Speaker 8
14:26
quarter is January2026 to March of 2026 there were 8610 reports accepted at the child abuse hotline
and6919% of those or 80% whereas was assigned to the division of Children and Family Services and then
Speaker 9
14:45
you can see the two investigative pathways one was assigned to5000,490 were assigned to investigation and 1,429 were assigned to differential response. on page two you will see at the
top of page two the percentage of the investigations that were accepted that were found true all investigations accepted
between both DCfs and CACD is 22%. at the bottom of page two you'll see that the most common report type that was accepted with a true finding was for neglect at69% and you can see the breakdown further within that chart. on the page four you will see the timeliness of initiating
investigations for the third quarter you can also see for all the prior quarters as well and then at the bottom you will see the timely completion of those child maltreatment reports this is only for the division of Children and Family Services and in the third quarter we did have a decrease again we have two areas of the state that are being
impacted by some turnover and we've been sending staff from our central office
Speaker 8
16:19
from around the state to support those counties that are struggling because once once that cycle starts we have to keep initiating and closing reports and so we've been sending support staff we've
Speaker 56
16:30
also been having with some of those counties and areas daily calls so setting goals for them,
Speaker 9
16:37
helping them guide through the work and just trying to keep
them on track and ensuring that we are
Speaker 63
16:52
keeping kids safe. on page six you will see the reoccurrence of maltreatment within6 and 12 months
de Arkansas remains below the national average for reoccurrence of maltreatment at within 6 months4% and within 12 months5%.
at the top of page se you will see the number of in
Speaker 9
17:23
home cases and how many children each of those cases involve so we had 1788 open cases in the quarter involving4500 children on page eight you will see the
monthly home visits occurring in the 2nd and 3rd quarter third quarter was72% so those are seen caseworkers seeing children in the home with their parents where we're providing services and using community to support to safely keep those children in their home and then on the
top of page nine you will see the victimization rate among children who received in home cases
Speaker 9
18:14
and prevention services it was an increase so
we dug into this data and we know which counties are struggling it would not surprise you all that it's also our counties that are struggling with turnover and so we are navigating with our teams and reviewing some of those cases around what services were put in place that kind of thing and do do we offer the right service? what was the right service? Was it the right service and how do we continue to support this family
on page 10 at the top you'll see at the end of the quarter the number of children in foster care at3,420 and at the bottom of page 10 you can see in the third quarter578 children entered into foster care478 exited you can see the
Speaker 9
19:09
entry reasons into foster care um55% for neglect,40% for substance abuse and then just as a reminder a child can enter into foster care
for more than one identified reason. at the bottom of
page 11, you will see47% of children reunified and then we did in this quarter75% of children discharge foster care to a relative or a parent so priority being that kids
Speaker 9
19:44
are returning homes to their families when they're exiting
foster care whether that is through permanency related to reunification with the parent reunification with a safe and appropriate family member or fictive kin. on page
Speaker 71
20:04
12, I just want to point out the placement types for children in
the middle section, the placement types for children we still are leading the effort in children in foster care being placed with relatives
and then secondary to that is in foster homes but overall44% of the children are either on a trial home visit or with family of some type. on the top of page 13 you will see the caseworker visits to children in foster care they the top chart is face to face visits by caseworkers. The second is by anydCFS staff
and then on page going to page 15 the permanency rate for children entering foster care within 12 months is36% just barely trending lightly than the national standard and we are focused on how do we safely achieve permanency for kids in foster care and keep focusing on that at the bottom of page 15 re entries into foster care, um4.5%. so when we have
reunified4.5% of the time we have to remove the child again into foster care. on page six the number of children available for adoption, at the end of the third quarter was 156 and as a reminder we do a 10% because we know that kids will that are currently have a casepla goal of adoption will be adopted by their family members and so that brings our number of true children that were recruiting
families for to 140 for the quarter. and then on page 18 finalized adoptions as 28% of our children this quarter that
Speaker 9
22:03
were adopted were ages 10 to17 so that shows our effort that we've been making as a state to finalize adoptions and focus on our older youth who are in foster care are moving to permanency through adoption.
and then on page 19 I just wanted to point out the ribbon the
Speaker 9
22:29
blue ribbon on the right side of the page and just read these numbers to you all at the end of the quarter for our caseloads there were3,202 investigations of child maltreatment and659 differential response3,420 foster care cases 1,788 in-home cases involving 4000
568 children and689 prevention cases across the state and39 cases where we're supporting children who are here through the interstate compact placement. and then you can see that we had a total of418 social service workers who were managing those cases across the state and that is this report thank
Speaker 76
23:14
you. are there questions from committee?
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
23:24
representative gonzalez were than you recognize thank you madam chair I was well
I have a couple of questions. The first one's on the bottom of page two the table at the bottom the percentage of children in true allegations of mistreatment with neglect being the highest. I know you mentioned I guess the previous page one the reasons you know, I guess I guess what I'm ask what I'm wondering is
are those are those do you have a break a breakdown of the the cause for neglect and I know there may be more than one area but it's it's it's there's a way we could look at that by chance. I think there is I
Speaker 82
24:09
I I need to ask and double check but I find there is a way that I can provide that to you. I will. OK.
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
24:17
the reason I'm asking is because for neglect if it's you know, I'm wondering, I'm just curious as as far as
the basics food, shelter, you know clothing etc. and I'm I'm just wondering
and in these economical times you know as well you know what's going on there with with the neglect the type of neglect that that we're seeing in Arkansas that's that's one question and it
Speaker 83
24:43
will be commonly those things food shelter yes ok ok and then on
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
24:48
page 11 at the top kind of
between the the table that we were just looking at, there's some overlap of the kids that have these true allegations of maltreatment and then placed in the foster care system and neglect is is at the top of the list again the ones that are the same I wondered on the sexual abuse does that also include sexual exploitation or is that lumped together or is that separate just curious since it was separated in the
other table. I think it does but I will make I will clarify
for you and then the child's behavior I'm very just concerned and curious related
to the behaviors because I know that that's also something that behavior overall that we're looking at in the schools and just seeing what's going on with the child when the types of behavior
I guess is what I'm think yes I don't know if I'll be able to break that down for
Speaker 8
25:50
you further based on the types of behaviors but since it's
Speaker 82
25:56
well I can explore I would like to explore what I could what I can share back and
Speaker 8
26:03
as far as types of behavior but commonly what we what we will see is it
Speaker 9
26:10
is parents who are just at wit's end with their children. they may be aggressive, and they're surrendering them to foster care or they, you know, you see the bottom line there is also says ordered in through fins so but I'd like to dig in and give you some more information about
Speaker 12
26:27
that so that the committee can understand that thank you y Sherbentley you're recognized thank you chair
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
26:38
thank yourector Wright for being here today. just looking quickly at the very beginning. can you tell me how many calls were the hotline received or going to ask majorjor Drew later but we have a 60 we're we're finding this we're split between you guys but you know how many they received this past quarter like in total the hotline
Speaker 67
26:53
received I do not have that estimate on page ive
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
26:57
when we're talking I know you were talking about the timeliness of the the reports and them getting completed. So I know we're we're struggling across the state with staff and getting staff replaced so can we go over what you're doing currently now to get some more staff and how we're looking at those particular counties that we're struggling to see some improvement or what's our strategy at
Speaker 94
27:19
this point so so we have sent I have sent administrators to help with
Speaker 8
27:23
the hiring process to get the interviews done. um, I'm working on with our
communications team apa like a page for DcfS on the website that shows our available positions why do people want to work your photos, videos that we have from our staff also we have called people who have left us and said will you come back and work for us again offering extra help or other opportunities they can to support the work going on across the state and so we're just putting every effort we have into a retain recruiting and supporting the workforce we are
also been doing some efforts around retention so we actually just stood up a critical response partnership with UaMs to help with secondary trauma and responding to critical situations to help around mental health and burnout, and so just oh also I was going to share at the end but I can share now we are standing up new staff training effective July 1 that came out of this committee as feedback that I think I was like it's a goal and so that is
one thing we'd heard from people who were leaving that the training they didn't feel like the training was enough or quality and so we have a new staff training model that starts on July it's July 1 but it's the first opportunity that of hier date and we're very excited about it. they'll get some we have a learning classroom that's actually a house so they're going to be they'll be be sitting in a house like what they may go to when they're doing the work. we also have some simulation training that we'll be doing with them as well and and we
' re shortening it but not getting rid of the critical pieces they need to know how to do their work as well as revising what we call as practice coaches which are old term field trainers from the different universities across the state, changing a little bit of what they've been doing. and so we're hoping that all of that will help retain the workforce as well. as then get people to want to work for DCfS So what just remind us what are the education
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
29:30
requirements for somebody to be a caseworker
Speaker 8
29:32
in Arkansas we say a bachelor's degree but we do take years of experience and apply that so you don't necessarily have to have the bachelor's degree if you have experience working with children or criminal justice or anything like that we're evaluating all of those applications. OK great thank you chairman Senator Dismay you're
Chair
Unverified
29:54
recognized you're good all right thank you real
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
30:02
quick on the behavioral and we were just talking about as far as we're processing the kids and processing these cases you know the public school systems have adamantly opposed any type of aceE testing done at the school district level and my question is are are we doing ace testing on these kids as they're going through the program or you know going through this process I should say so that we are able to have something that follows their record that we can give to the school districts maybe
helped them if they're willing to ever use them help them assist the children.dCfS is not doing aC testing
we do something called a pace evaluation but it is not that actual AE test. OK. is that something we could incorporate at some point
sitting and again school districts adamantly are opposed to being involved in that in
any way. I believe it to be a major problem as we're identifying issues with children and then how to handle those issues is that something that
maybe we could take in or on as part of this process since we're having to do some testing anyway are you saying that the pace overlaps with the aCE testing so that maybe it's not
Speaker 6
31:15
needed. I don't think the pace overlaps. I think it's just maybe some additional conversations and talk about how we could
Speaker 8
31:20
implement that and do it the right way and then how does the paperwork travel with the with the child who enters foster care so I think it's a conversation you and I can have maybe with some other folks who I have an assistant director who has an education
person underneath her and so maybe we can work through some of that with them because if the districts
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
31:40
are going to refuse to lead or even allow for implementation or guidance for that matter on how to do the testing then maybe the state of Arkansas needs to be the one to step up and do that that way we're having some greater assistance or the ability to assist with the kids that just doesn't exist right now I would love to have more conversations about that seeing no
Speaker 82
31:59
further questions, thank you for this report and
one so the next on the agenda is the overturned investigations report. so this report is required to be presented uhbiiannually from a act from the 2017 session and so what you see here is data from July 1st,2024 until June30th,2025 and
if you go across the columns by county in the state it will tell you oh rep it will tell you a number of hotline calls received the number reports accepted for investigation number of investigations found true what that percentage was, how many of those were appealed? what percentage was is that and then how many were
Speaker 8
33:02
overturned and what percentage is that as well and so this is more of a
monitoring report that we bring to you all to show you when we're finding true what appeal the appeals look like. are there any questions by committee OK seeing
Chair
Unverified
33:36
no questions excuse me sorry oh Representative Springer you're recognized
Representative Joy Springer
Unverified
33:41
good afternoon and thank you madam chair how does how does this information compare to the previous report that you that you've done you mean the
one I presented a year ago I did not compare the two reports ok so I think it will be interesting
Representative Joy Springer
Unverified
34:00
to know whether or not the number of calls have gone down on the hotline and the number of investigations and particularly whether or not those investigations have been found
true or not true I think that's important so I would just like to know that information if you have it thank you thank you No further questions OK. thank you for
Chair
Unverified
34:29
your report and thank you for the work that you do madamerrry just
have one other thing this weekend is our projectject ero Disney extravaganza so it is our second largest statewide matching event
that we do for kids who are waiting for foster care and my team in the projectject ero team have been working on this for months and they will bring every
Speaker 8
34:52
waiting child that we can safely bring to Little rockck for this event and I just wanted to say if any of you are in LittleRock on Saturday and interested in seeing the work that Project ero does for DCfS to ensure kids are no longer waiting. I would you can reach out to me and let me know you're coming and I'll be happy to see you there. What's your location for that? It's at the summithurch OK. thanks
Chair
Unverified
35:30
time today. I'm not Representative garner you're recognized. thank
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
35:33
you tiffany this is not I know it's not exactly for you but I have some some questions about some of the things that are happening with aging and Meals on wheels closing in northwest Arkansas is there someone here that can help
answer those questions I can't see behind the column. OK, could could we connect then or just let us know who needs to be sending out I would love to know how many are closing what the funding differences are in in those DhS changes and what we can do to help our seniors that are now getting no food thank you ok thank you appreciate it
Speaker 50
36:18
thank you and that's what she wanted was it kind of on the record but didn't see anyone in the audience that would
Chair
Unverified
36:26
that would answer that. OK next on our agenda is Commander Drew from Crimes Against Children Division. if you will recognize yourself then you may begin your report.
And Major Drew before you begin if if you would like since your second report also includes your first report. you may just include or present your second but you present however you want. I'm only giving you permission. Major Jeffrew CCd Arkansas
Speaker 117
37:17
State right we're gonna jump right into the annual
Speaker 119
37:26
the first of all good good morning chair and good morning committee we're gonna go over the annual report for 2025 on page two you'll see the comparisons for the last five years from 2021 through 2025 you'll see the hotline received67,987 calls and 2025 there was an increase of3,031 calls from the previous year there were a total of37,986 calls accepted for investigation
between CD and DCfS that was an increase of3,584 if you look on page four you'll see where 2024 and2025 the call break down by month that comparison what was received accepted and what was taken by xxx or MRP which I should probably line through facts we no longer accept those and on page five would be an additional breakdown of those calls
and from excuse me page six we'll show you what the documented miscellaneous categories were from page five page se is the hotline referral statistics for the priority level totals page 8 will cover the priority one and two allegations by month and allegation type
in this category and from page 10 it will reflect the quarterly breakdown of the CACD investigations as you see still see the investigations was assigned6,539 cases we got5,933 clothes with 1,641 of those being found true which gave us a 28% substantiation rate with any questions
Chair
Unverified
39:42
Are there questions by committee? by She Bentley you're recognized thank you chairman. thank
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
39:48
you both for being here today. thank you for the important work that you do can you tell me what what the training is for these people that are sitting on the hotlines very important place right for people to be able to sit in that hotline to determine what's true or not true and so can you tell us the training that these individuals receive and how long that training is and what the requirements are for them to be hired the requirement
Speaker 119
40:08
for them to be hired as a high school diploma along with customer service
experience what takes place in the training they'll be given various calls that look look through. they'll be provided the maltreatment Act our policy and then they'll sit down and do scenarios first to see how they'll come out with it then they'll go into recorded calls. these are calls that have already been taken that they're having an opportunity to to listen to to see if they'll come up with the same assessment as the operator that's already been released as or consistent with what what should be accepted and then
they're moving into live calls or whether it be monitored by a supervisor or a person attached to him listening to the way that it takes place and they'll come in to play assisting them along with that call and all these things take place within a month time period follow up chairman
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
40:58
if that's ok so how many what's the length of that training? for one of the first we from we start until when we're actually a weeks when you say customer service experience what do you
tell me what's a little more specific on what you would mean by
Speaker 124
41:20
customer service experience basically if they've got it could
Speaker 119
41:25
be something as simple as as a grocery store they're they're making contact with the public where they're having to interact and ask questions but it's most common in in administrative work when they're making talking to someone like over the phone asking questions and and doing types of follow up questions to where they'd have
to do some type of invest I don't wanna say investigatory work but they have to do follow up questions so they'll be able to relate more once they get to the hotlineir length of time they have to have
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
41:54
had customer service experience a week, a year or 2 years,6 months is are you know you've had customer service experience for how long does that have to a time'd have to ver ify what it
Speaker 123
42:02
was I want to say it's about two years. I'll make sure though OK and so do we I know
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
42:07
we're doing an evidence chain is there is there a specific training with evidence chain that they that they go through like I don't know if
Speaker 119
42:16
there's online or the videos or anything with with the computer systems I'm sorryris evident change decision making to all that stuff is a part of the training that they're going through prior to getting released, yes ma'am. OK and then I
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
42:32
know we had talked before but what's the salary the starting salary for these individuals the
Speaker 119
42:42
hotline operators the beginning sellers43,088 ma'am.
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
42:49
plus benefits yes ma'am ok so do we know have you ever looked at see what other states require training wise or we similar with the s surrounding states around us at all or I know we always look at what's what other states are doing do you know if we're not offhand I I can check though ma'am
Speaker 119
43:03
right is really important thank you thank you chairman. I appreciate it.
Speaker 81
43:07
thank you are there any other questions by committee? Singan, thank you for your report and for the work that you
Chair
Unverified
43:19
do. thank you ma'am Next on our agenda we have a report from the director of child advocacyenters directorulley If you will introduce yourself for the record then you are recognized. Good morning Elizabeth Pulley
Kristen Harper
Unverified
43:50
executive director at the Children's advocacy Centers of Arkansas. Well, I am very excited to present our report to you this year. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished in 2025. the childrenren's advocacyenters of Arkansas is a nonprofit organization that supports the growth development and sustainability of Arkansas's network of 29 CACs child
advocacy centers in64 multidisciplinary disciplinary teams throughout Arkansas our role is to provide training mentorship, technical assistance and resources to coordinate the response of child abuse and neglect across the state our key accomplishments over the last year we provided and hosted 259 trainings for professionals
at Arkansas Statelice DCFs prosecutors and local law enforcement this was an increase from the year before we also will continue to develop our best practice initiatives to ensure that there is access to services across the state and similar top quality services across the state promoting innovation in supporting growth. We also hired a pro a project program manager
to increase our training and our cons ist ency in data collection across the state of Arkansas so we can provide support to our CECs and MDts Our CECs or child advocacy centers served 13,568 children and families in 2025. that's about a3000 increase from the year before. not necessarily due to an increase in the hotline
but really an increase in strengthening of our relationship with our statewide partners very proud of that we ourCECs across the state of Arkansas provide vital services to child abuse victims you know and our goal is to continue the work with DCFS CCd and local law enforcement and prosecutors so that every child victim has access to services
ga in I'm really proud of the work our CECs are doing statewide are strong partnerships that we've had with our state agencies we've come a long way in 10 years and so I'm very proud of that and I'm happy to ask if y'all prefer uhrector Wright and Majordrew to come back up and we can kind of talk about our partnership and how we work together but that's an option for you all but thank you very much and I appreciate all the people that
have come and toured our CECs over the last year and if you haven't we would love for you to come and be a part to see what we're doing thank you are there any questions
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
47:19
my committee? Merchant of gonzalez were then you're recognized thank you thank you madam chair and thank you for your report. You mentioned you have3,000 additional individuals or or kids that you are serving compared to last
year. I was curious as to on page 15 of the report Um, I think these are this is where all of the cases are reflected or the number and I was curious as to how the how how the what does the funding look like for all of the for the sinners the children's advocacy centers. I mean I I
did I have toured the one and my county and I'm just curious as to what what
that looks like across the state for funding state funding is it all the same? Is it based on population etc. thank you sure I can answer
Kristen Harper
Unverified
48:17
that for you so our centers are funded with a combination of state funding, federal funding and community support in that varies from county to county of exactly what that looks like our federal funding has been
a bit unstable in the last couple of years and governor Sanders has helped us as with the community assistance grant for this year and so that has been very helpful and to stabilize our funding for 2026. oh sorry
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
49:08
you recognize ok sorry I had a follow up. The funding the state funding is that is that just the same for all of the sinners or is it that's I was curious about that as well
Kristen Harper
Unverified
49:19
that is the same for all listeners so it it's not based on numbers it's a very small
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
49:26
amount of money that is so the centers that have you know, large numbers versus those who have smaller numbers it's just the same amount across the board correct it's70
Kristen Harper
Unverified
49:38
to75,000 for every sinner with state funding so it is a very small amount thank you vice chair
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
49:46
bentley you're recognized thank you chairman thank you for being here today uhrectorulley. So I know we had legislation that established the CACs that uhs representative fight put into place in that did we have standards of care that each each one of the center's followers that was that just funding I was just curious what and I'm sorry I should have looked it beforehand but I'm just so theres certain guidelines that are CACs have to
Kristen Harper
Unverified
50:10
follow and then there's also national standards that our CECs have to follow so not only is Arkansas under those national standards but all states and we are in development right now of working on statele best practices for our CC so even taking the national standards in saying we could do a better job in Arkansas and that's what we're working on currently. Great thank you thank you chairman
Chair
Unverified
50:42
Any further questions by committee? OK seeingunn thank you very much we also are very proud of and thankful for the work that you do and the progress that you've made. thank you very much and seeing no other business before us this meeting is adjourned
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Consideration to Approve February 11, 2026, Meeting Minutes [Exhibit B]
C. Department of Human Services – Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) [Exhibit C] Rules Pertaining to DCFS Manual Revision
D. Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS)
E. Review of Arkansas State Police, Crimes Against Children Division (CACD), Jeff Drew, Commander, CACD [Exhibits E1 – E2]
F. Children Advocacy Centers of Arkansas Annual Report [Exhibit F]
G. Other Business
H. Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 6
Speaker 8
Speaker 9
Speaker 12
Senator Fredrick J. Love
Unverified
Speaker 19
Representative Jack Ladyman Chair
Unverified
Speaker 26
Senator Ben Gilmore Chair
Unverified
Speaker 45
Speaker 47
Speaker 56
Speaker 54
Speaker 50
Speaker 63
Speaker 71
Speaker 76
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Speaker 82
Speaker 83
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Speaker 67
Speaker 94
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Representative Joy Springer
Unverified
Speaker 61
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
Speaker 117
Speaker 119
Speaker 124
Speaker 123
Speaker 81
Kristen Harper
Unverified