Audit reveals potential misuse of state funds in DCFS pregnancy program

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — An audit by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office (LLA) revealed a potential misuse of state funds within the Department of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative (PBCI).

The initiative, launched in August 2024, was created to promote childbirth instead of abortion by funding centers to offer counseling services and support services such as referrals to social service programs, classes, or material items like car seats and cribs. The goal is to improve a pregnancy or parenting situation.

According to LLA, the audit was to provide recommendations for implementing the new program.

The audit found that the pregnancy centers provide more services than the ones eligible for payment as part of the program, including some healthcare services. However, pregnancy centers are not regulated as licensed healthcare providers.

Auditors also flagged that current DCFS contracts allow payment for services not authorized under state law, raising concern that the funds may have been used inappropriately.

Pregnancy centers are paid monthly by DCFS, using a fee-for-service model, as required by state law. The services eligible for state funding outlined in current PCBI contracts do not match what is allowed in state law. As a result, DCFS could have paid pregnancy centers for services ineligible for funding under state law.

According to DCFS, it plans to implement a new payment policy requiring pregnancy centers to document which services, specifically those eligible under state law, are provided to each client.

Read the full report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.

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