CWDA worked hard with California Department of Social Services (CDSS) staff since the release of the January budget to improve the funding provided to counties for CCR implementation and the final 2016-17 budget agreement includes over $80 million General Fund beginning in 2016-17 for county administrative activities.

AB 403 (Stone, Statues of 2015) requires significant changes to the placement and care provided to children in foster care, including increasing capacity and support to resource families in California and improving outcomes for children and youth in our child welfare system.

The main components of the final 2016-17 budget agreement for CCR include:

• Child and Family Teams (CFTs) – CWDA and CDSS came close to full agreement on the workload associated with CFTs, although we continue to differ in our assumption of the length of time needed for CFTs for the majority of cases. Even though the final budget agreement does not contain the additional funding we estimated, the costs of the actual workload for CFTs, whatever that ends up being, will eventually be covered by the true-up process that we will be working with CDSS to define.
• Resource Family Approval (RFA) Implementation – CWDA and CDSS were able to come to full agreement on the workload associated with RFA implementation and the final budget agreement includes funding that reflects that workload.
• Foster Parent Recruitment, Retention, and Support (FPRRS) - In working with CDSS, CWDA was able to secure an additional $10 million GF for child welfare departments for FPRRS for 2016-17, bringing total GF for child welfare departments to $27.7 million. We anticipate based on budget documents provided by CDSS that $27.7 million GF will also be provided in 2017-18.
• Updated Cost of a Social Worker – The final budget agreement will fully fund the current cost of a social worker for the new workload associated with CCR. The current level of funding in the 2016-17 budget covers about half of these costs, with the remaining funding for 2016-17 to be provided in the budget to be released in January 2017. Future funding for social worker costs will continue to be updated annually based on actual county costs.

Budget Memos

• Budget Memo to The Honorable Philip Ting Chair, Budget Conference Committee - May 31, 2016
• Budget Request to The Honorable Holly Mitchell, Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 3 - May 18, 2016
• Budget Request to The Honorable Tony Thurmond Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 - May 18, 2016

Related Budget Issue – Emergency Child Care Bridge Program For Foster Children 

• CWDA Budget Memo to The Honorable Philip Ting Chair, Budget Conference Committee - May 31, 2016
• Support Letter from Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors - May 31, 2016