Resolve, to Establish the Community Navigator Pilot Program to Support At-risk Families
Summary
LD 1261 establishes a 2-year Community Navigator Pilot Program within the Department of Health and Human Services to contract with four child abuse and neglect prevention councils for four community navigator positions. The program is designed to serve families whose suspected child abuse or neglect reports were screened out by the department, meaning the reports did not meet the threshold for a child protective services investigation, but where the families may still benefit from support services. The navigators would connect these families to community resources such as health care, housing, food, fuel assistance, child care, transportation, employment training, and substance use disorder treatment.
The bill also directs community navigators to conduct outreach and education for mandated reporters, including teachers, social workers, and medical professionals. That outreach is intended to improve awareness of available community services, explain how to refer families to those services, and encourage a more supportive, preventive approach when families are in need. The pilot is funded at $90,000 per navigator per year for two years, with contracts to be awarded no later than December 1, 2025, and the program is repealed January 30, 2028.
Impact
The bill would create a new temporary program in DHHS and require the department to contract with selected child abuse and neglect prevention councils to provide family navigation services. It does not change the child abuse reporting mandate itself, but it adds a new support pathway for screened-out reports and expands the role of prevention councils in connecting families to services. It would also direct state funding to four navigator positions and establish a sunset date, making the program a limited pilot rather than a permanent statutory change.
Sentiment
The bill appears generally supportive and preventive in tone, with an emphasis on helping at-risk families before problems escalate to child protective intervention. Its framing suggests broad interest in strengthening community-based supports and giving mandated reporters better tools to help families, rather than relying only on reporting and investigation. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no direct evidence of opposition or amendment debate in the available materials.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is the bill’s approach to child welfare intervention: it shifts some emphasis from formal reporting and investigation toward proactive family support, which may raise questions about scope, effectiveness, and whether mandated reporters should take on a more active service-referral role. Another likely issue is the cost and administration of the pilot, including the $90,000-per-position annual funding level and the department’s discretion to choose which councils are “most prepared” to participate. Because no hearing transcript or vote history is included, specific supporters or opponents are not identified in the record provided.