Governor’s Budget Proposal: Funding Deferral of CDSS Administered Housing Programs
The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) urges caution on the Governor’s Budget proposal of delaying the availability of a portion of the one-time funding provided for the California Department of Social Services’ (CDSS) administered Bringing Families Home (BFH) Program, the Home Safe Program, and the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP) provided in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23. These programs originally had expenditure authority through the end of FY 2024-25; the proposed budget would now defer availability of a portion of these funds to FY 2025-26, rather than allowing the entirety of the funds to continue its multi-year appropriation in FY 2024-25. The resulting gap in expenditure authority could jeopardize some counties’ ability to maintain current levels of services and enrollment to clients and could have implications for counties’ operations in continuing to serve clients and implement the program. Although some amount of deferrals may be possible, CWDA will be working more with our members and the Administration to understand the implications of these delays and to determine whether the proposed amounts of the deferrals are appropriate.