The law in question is Senate Bill 151, passed in 2024. The measure was intended to grant kinship caregivers — those are relatives or trusted family friends who take on the responsibility of raising children — a longer window to sort through the details that go along with taking custody.
But the bill has been in a holding pattern over a long-running dispute dealing with funding.
The Beshear administration has said the General Assembly did not allot funds to implement the bill. State Auditor Allison Ball launched an investigation into the matter, but said she hit a wall with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which she says continues to withhold necessary documents. Ball then took the issue to court.
Norma Hatfield, president of the Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky, has said there are "a lot of families the longer we wait that are missing opportunities for more long-term support that deserve it."
Ball was unsuccessful in bringing a lawsuit to try to force the release of the documents she says are necessary to understand whether there is a funding problem. That suit was dismissed last year and the governor's name taken off the case.
The auditor is now taking the matter to the Court of Appeals, hoping to revive the suit and her investigation.