Kentucky governor proposes spending millions to hire hundreds of new social workers
Kentucky’s Democratic governor is proposing a 10-cent tax increase on a pack of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to help fund the state’s Medicaid expansion and hire hundreds of additional social workers to help prop up the state’s beleaguered child welfare system.
Gov. Andy Beshear included $31.5 million to hire 350 child protective social workers and social service clinicians in a proposed two-year state budget plan he outlined to lawmakers Tuesday evening, calling it a “historic investment in protecting our children.”
Spread over the next two years — $7 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1 and $24.5 the following year — the money would move the staffing needle from 1,309 social workers to 1,659, a 27 percent increase. Former Gov. Matt Bevin, in his first biennial budget, proposed adding $4.8 million to support Kentucky social workers. In 2018, he championed a $28 million increase to hire more staff.
The addition of 350 workers would help relieve stifling pressure on an overworked workforce prone to high turnover, he said.
Kentucky has one of the highest rates of child abuse in the country, Beshear said, and likewise for social worker caseload sizes. In a report issued last summer, Kentucky’s average was roughly 31 cases per worker — twice as high as the federally recommended standard of 15-17. In some parts of Kentucky, the annual turnover rate hovers around 25 percent.
“Our social workers have too many cases, and that has dire consequences. Abuse is not caught, kids fall through the cracks, dedicated public servants burn out,” Beshear said. “With this investment, Kentucky will significantly reduce caseloads per social worker, which means we’re going to better protect our children.”
Beshear also wants to spend an additional $39 million in 2021 and another $199 million in 2022 to fully fund Medicaid and the state’s expansion of benefits to the working poor. In December, during his first week in office, Beshear signed an executive order to rescind Bevin’s proposed Medicaid work requirement.
Likewise, he said he’s “committed to ensuring every child in Kentucky has health care coverage.”
His budget proposal includes additional investments of $2 million to fully fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (K-CHIP), which will leverage more than $10 million with federal funds; and another $10.5 million to add another 500 slots for Kentuckians through the Michelle P. Medicaid waiver program, and 100 slots in the Supports for Community Living waiver program, both of which give assistance to people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Beshear also proposes upping the tax on tobacco and vaping products by 10 cents — an amount estimated to generate millions in short-term revenue for Kentucky. A pack of cigarettes in Kentucky currently carries a $1.10 tax, and there’s no excise tax on e-cigarettes. Beshear’s proposed tax on vaping products is expected to yield roughly $18 million in revenue over the next two years, and tobacco, roughly $38 million.
The House and Senate now get the chance to write their own budget proposals. A final compromise is due before the session adjourns on April 15.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 7:28 PM.
