Highlights
- The Arizona Auditor General found state agencies did not fully implement cost-control measures required by lawmakers as a condition of $83 million in program funding.
- Enrollment in the Parents as Paid Caregivers program grew 106% from fiscal years 2019 to 2025, with attendant care expenditures rising more than $537 million over the same period.
- A new assessment tool mandated by House Bill 2945 was halted within 16 days of its Oct. 1, 2025, launch due to litigation concerns cited by AHCCCS Interim Director Roberta Harrison.
- Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh says he supports reducing or eliminating the program; a legislative vote on its future is expected during the 2026 session.
State auditors have found that Arizona agencies administering the Parents as Paid Caregivers program failed to implement cost controls that Republican lawmakers attached as conditions to $83 million in funding approved during the most recent legislative session, according to a report published July 30 by the Arizona Auditor General's Office.
The program, which allows parents of children with disabilities to be compensated for care they provide, has grown sharply since its establishment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment rose 106% between fiscal years 2019 and 2025, from 8,756 to more than 18,000 members, according to data from the Arizona Department of Economic Security and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Attendant care expenditures increased by more than $537 million over that same period.
Central to the audit's findings is a standardized assessment tool enacted under House Bill 2945, which was meant to limit paid caregiving hours and determine eligibility for extraordinary care funding. The state required AHCCCS and DES to implement the tool by Oct. 1, 2025. It was halted 16 days later through a formal rulemaking process. AHCCCS Interim Director Roberta Harrison cited potential legal conflicts between program service-hour limitations and federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requirements as the reason for the pause.
Auditors were pointed in their response. "If it is the position of AHCCCS that rulemaking was necessary, this could have been determined six months earlier than it was, and this delay has continued to cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars," the report states. Harrison disagreed, arguing that the procedural requirements of administrative law made it impossible to anticipate the legal issues before October, and that the originally projected cost savings would likely not have been realized regardless of the implementation date.
Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Oct. 16, 2025, that she had directed changes to the assessment tool to allow exceptions for extraordinary care. The emergency rulemaking process AHCCCS used was approved by Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, told the Arizona Capitol Times he supports reducing funding for the program or eliminating it entirely, arguing that parents should provide care as a parental obligation rather than as compensated employees. House Assistant Minority Leader Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, one of the key negotiators on the 2025 bipartisan funding bill, said she is concerned Republicans will move to end the program if they retain the legislative majority. She noted that a 2026 session request she made to audit the Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program was declined by Republicans on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
The audit's findings were also reported by KJZZ and the Arizona Mirror. Federal COVID-19 funding for the program ended April 1, 2025, shifting a larger share of administrative costs to the state.
The legislature is expected to revisit PPCG funding and structure during the 2026 session, with Kavanagh having publicly stated his intent to pursue further reductions.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- azcapitoltimes.com retrieved 14/08/2026 12:15
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 14/08/2026 12:15. Every claim traces to a source.
