Politics
Kentucky kinship-care funding dispute returns to appeals court
Auditor Allison Ball asked a Kentucky appeals panel to send her dispute with Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration back to Franklin Circuit Court, saying she wants assurances that kinship-care families will continue receiving aid. The administration says new funding has resolved the issue and that the case should be dismissed.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball asked a Court of Appeals panel Friday to return her lawsuit against Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration to Franklin Circuit Court, arguing the dispute over state aid for kinship-care families is not fully resolved.
The case centers on Senate Bill 151, a 2024 law intended to make it easier for relatives and other caregivers raising children who might otherwise enter state care to qualify for foster-care payments. Beshear’s administration said it needed a specific legislative appropriation to put the law into effect. Lawmakers approved $12 million over two years during the 2026 legislative session, and the administration has begun implementation.
Ball told the three-judge panel that the funding may not be enough to ensure payments continue once it runs out. In a filing before the hearing, her office warned that families could again be excluded from the program when the appropriation is spent.
Wesley Duke, general counsel for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, called that concern speculative and said the cabinet is implementing the law with the funds lawmakers provided. He also disputed Ball’s claim that the cabinet had failed to cooperate with her inquiry into the law, saying officials responded to her office even when they disagreed with its requests or conclusions.
Ball said her office, which audits state agencies and county governments, needs access to records to carry out its constitutional responsibilities. Without confidence that requested documentation will be provided, she said, the auditor’s office risks becoming “an empty shell.” She said she would prefer mediation to continued courtroom fights.
Travis Mayo, general counsel for Beshear, argued the governor should not have been named in the suit because the inquiry was not about him. Ball said she included him because the cabinet relied on his interpretation of state law.
The disagreement dates to October 2024, when Ball opened an inquiry into the law’s financial viability. Beshear’s administration had said implementation required dedicated funding, at one point estimated at $20 million. The governor later requested $14.6 million for each year of the 2026-27 budget period; lawmakers ultimately provided $6 million annually.
The appeals panel — Allison Jones, Lisa Jones and Susan Cetrulo — will consider whether the case should return to the lower court or be dismissed. The judges said they would deliberate and aim to issue a decision within 40 days.