FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Franklin Circuit judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Kentucky Republican state Auditor Allison Ball challenging the Beshear administration’s handling of funding for a 2024 kinship caregiver law, saying the dispute had not ripened into a concrete legal controversy.
The law, signed by Gov. Andy Beshear in 2024, aims to expand the pool of adults who can receive foster care payments by giving relatives and close family friends more time to apply for foster-parent status when they take temporary custody of children who have experienced suspected abuse or neglect. Kentucky officials estimate kinship caregivers are raising about 55,000 children in the state.
Judge Thomas Wingate said in his ruling that the auditor had not sought subpoenas, that the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services had complied with many of the auditor’s document requests, and that the cabinet had indicated it would facilitate interviews if the auditor provided names. "This indicates a willingness by CHFS to cooperate with the investigation, contrary to the auditor’s assertion that CHFS has no intention of cooperating with or participating in any further investigation," Wingate wrote. He added that the auditor "has not yet exhausted administrative means to obtain documents and the matter has not yet ripened into a concrete dispute."
Ball filed the suit earlier this year, contending the law was being left in limbo because the Beshear administration had not put it into action. The auditor sought a court order to require the administration to "do whatever it takes" to carry out the law and requested access to records as part of an investigation into whether the cabinet had funds to implement the measure. The administration has said implementing the program would cost about $19 million.
Following the judge’s decision, Ball’s office said it would issue subpoenas as the "necessary next step" and noted that the ruling affirmed the auditor’s authority to seek subpoenas for officials and documents. "These subpoenas will reveal the truth about the actual cost and all available resources to fund this program," Ball said in a news release.
The Beshear administration reiterated that funding is required before the cabinet can implement the changes. "It is simple: The state cannot implement programs and policies if we don’t have the funding needed to do so," the governor said in a news release Monday. Beshear said he plans to include funding for the program in his next budget proposal to lawmakers.
Lawmakers will convene in January 2026, when passing the state’s next two-year budget will be a primary task. The funding dispute reflects a broader tension between the Democratic governor and the Republican-led legislature, which Beshear warned in 2024 had not approved the necessary appropriations to carry out the law.
Child welfare advocates who supported the 2024 law say it addresses a gap in the system by ensuring relatives who are already caring for children can become eligible for foster care payments and other supports. Implementing the law would require administrative steps by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and appropriation of funds to cover the estimated costs.
The judge’s dismissal does not resolve the underlying funding question. It instead directs Ball’s office to pursue administrative or subpoena routes to obtain records and information, and leaves open the possibility of further legal action if administrative remedies fail or if a concrete dispute arises over the cabinet’s compliance.
The dispute and its resolution are likely to resurface as the governor and lawmakers negotiate the 2026 budget, when funding decisions will determine whether and how the kinship caregiver provisions move from law into practice.