DCF budget set to climb
Spending at the Department of Children and Families has soared in recent years amidst a wave of tragic cases involving children under the oversight of the agency charged with guarding against abuse and neglect. And the agency appears in store for another funding infusion.
The agency spent $742.9 million in fiscal 2013 and is projected to spend $926.7 million this fiscal year. Gov. Charlie Baker's fiscal 2017 budget projects $938.2 million in spending at DCF, a more than 26 percent increase over fiscal 2013.
Baker's team is also in the midst of implementing a series of management reforms aimed at ensuring proper procedures at DCF.
In a fiscal 2016 supplemental budget filed on Friday, the governor asked for $15 million more for DCF. Asked about the purpose of the latest appropriations request, an administration official said the money would be used for "clinical support services and operations, foster care review, services for children and families and congregate care services."
The DCF, which serves about 35,000 children, has been hiring social workers to reduce caseloads. The agency had 3,124 employees in fiscal 2013 and is scheduled under the governor's fiscal 2017 budget to have 3,789 employees.
The governor's supplemental budget is likely headed for the House Ways and Means Committee, which meets in Springfield Tuesday to resume its hearings on Baker's $39.55 billion fiscal 2017 budget bill.
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