State Budget Priorities

Overview

State Budget Priorities

Each year, CWDA works with its Board of Directors and its committee members to set budget priorities that will improve the well-being of children, families and individuals served by the human services system and to align public policy with the needs of populations and communities across the state.

Click on the sections below to find an overview of our budget priorities, periodic budget updates and more specific information on budget priorities contained in budget memos and fact sheets.

Presentation

Medi-Cal: Comments On May Revise Proposals

The attached memo provides the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) response to proposals included in the May Revision regarding the proposed changes to the Medi-Cal program and our assessment of the feasibility of the timelines for those changes. 

Presentation

Vulnerable Populations To Lose Access To Key Housing And Homelessness Programs

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) continues to urge the Legislature to maintain funding for critical county-administered housing and homelessness programs, including Bringing Families Home (BFH), Home Safe, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Housing Support Program (HSP), and the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP). We understand May Revise presents challenges to either continue funding or to fund augmented levels of these programs.

Presentation

State Budget Update #2
May Revision 2025-26 Budget

Governor Newsom released the May Revision to his proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26 Budget on Wednesday May 14. The attached budget update summarizes what we know so far about the proposals and issues of interest in the health and human services area. CWDA staff will continue to keep you updated in the coming days and weeks as we learn more details and as budget actions are taken in the Legislature. 

Presentation

Child Welfare Services: May Revise Proposals

The attached document provides the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) response to proposals included in the May Revision that would reduce critical supports to foster children and their caregivers. CWDA also urges legislative action to stabilize foster family agencies in light of recent changes in the insurance market, as this issue was not addressed in the May Revision. 

Presentation

CALWORKs: May Revision Response

Attached is a budget memo from the County Welfare Directors Association, the Service Employees International Union, the California State Association of Counties, the Urban Counties of California, and the Rural County Representatives of California.

This memo serves as our response to the CalWORKs-related proposals in the May Revision. We continue to urge the rightsizing of the CalWORKs Single Allocation. Specifically, we request a one-time investment of $245 million in FY 2025-26 and a long-overdue update to the administrative budget methodology beginning in FY 2026-27. 

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Housing & Homelessness Programs Budget Memo

The attached is a budget memo on human services housing and homelessness programs from the County Welfare Directors Association. 

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Child Welfare Services (CWS) Budget Memo

The attached is a budget memo on Child Welfare Services (CWS) budget proposals from the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA). This is a follow-up budget memo to our original budget memorandum dated March 6, 2025, to provide additional comment and response based on discussions held in the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 hearing on March 12, 2025. 

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IHSS Admin Budget Memo

The attached is a budget memo on the critical need to fully fund administration of the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program from the County Welfare Directors Association and California State Association of Counties. 

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Federal Safety Net Threats

Congress is considering unprecedented cuts to county administered safety net programs, including nearly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid, $230 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and a 10% cut to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant. These cuts would decimate the state’s safety net as California draws down a disproportionate share of federal funds; 14% of all TANF block grant funding and 11% of SNAP funding, nationally, supports California’s most vulnerable.

Presentation

CalWORKs Coalition Budget Memo – CalWORKs Administration Funding

Attached is a budget memo from the County Welfare Directors Association, the Service Employees International Union, the California State Association of Counties, the Urban Counties of California, and the Rural County Representatives of California.

Presentation

CWDA & SEIU – Disaster Response Budget Request

This budget memo from the County Welfare Directors Association and the Service Employees International Union requests $70.9 million General Fund (GF) in FY 2025-26 and $95.9 million General Fund in FY 2026-27 and annually ongoing to provide dedicated funding and resources to bolster county human services departments’ provision of mass care and shelter, support emergency and disaster preparedness and response, and address unmet critical immediate needs of survivors that counties serve.

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Other Budget Considerations

CDSS Housing Programs

Overseen by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and proven effective at reducing homelessness, funding and spending authority is set to expire for Home Safe and Bringing Families Home by June 30, 2026 and June 30, 2027, respectively. Previous one-time funding combined with multi-year spending authority has resulted in expansion of service provision and reduced homelessness.

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CWDA 2025 State Budget
Update #1 - Governor’s Proposed 2025-26 Budget

Overall Budget Picture

California’s overall economic picture has performed better than projected compared to the 2024 Budget Act. The stronger-than-anticipated performance of the economy, stock market, and cash receipts, combined with an improved economic outlook, have all contributed to an upgraded revenue forecast, with General Fund (GF) revenues coming in higher by approximately $16.5 billion in the three-year period of 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26, and with the state having a modest surplus of $363 million.

Presentation

Child Welfare Services (CWS): Foster Care Rate Reform Proposal

The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) appreciates the efforts of the Administration and California Department of Social Services (COSS) to put forth a comprehensive foster care rate reform proposal. CWDA supports the overarching goals of the proposal to support family-based care, particularly kinship care, and to establish a new structure driven by the child’s needs rather than by their placement setting. CWDA is also supportive of proposed new state investments associated with the rate proposal.

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California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Program – Opposition to the Elimination of the Family Stabilization Program

The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) opposes the Governor’s Budget proposal to eliminate the CalWORKs Family Stabilization Program (FSP). The CalWORKs FSP serves CalWORKs families facing immediate, destabilizing crises. The proposed elimination would strip CalWORKs families of essential support, leading to even greater challenges in accessing the resources and services necessary to stabilize their lives and achieve self-sufficiency.

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California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Program – Opposition to the Elimination of the Expanded Subsidized Employment program

The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) opposes the elimination of the CalWORKs Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) Program as proposed in the Governor’s Budget. The CalWORKs ESE program offers CalWORKs participants subsidized employment placements that provide crucial training, skills, and experiences essential to securing and maintaining unsubsidized employment. The proposed elimination of this program would deprive CalWORKs participants of this valuable benefit and transformative experience.

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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.

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In Home Supportive Services: County Administrative “Bridge” Funding and Language

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and the California Association of Counties (CSAC) respectfully request $51 million General Fund (GF) on a one-time basis to county human services agencies for administration of the IHSS Program and trailer bill language requiring the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to work with CWDA, county human services agencies, and county worker representatives during the 2024-25 fiscal year to update the existing IHSS administration state budget methodology to take effect in the 2025-26 fiscal year.

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Emergency Services And Disaster Response Support

The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) requests your support for $14 million General Fund (GF) annually to provide dedicated funding and resources to bolster county human services departments’ emergency services and disaster preparedness and response.

 

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Child Welfare Services (CWS): Oppose Governor’s Proposed Cuts – Initial Comments on Other CWS Proposals

The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) and the California Association of Counties (CSAC) are strongly opposed to the Governor’s Budget proposal that would cut $62.5 million General Fund (GF) in program funding impacting vulnerable foster children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. These cuts would eliminate vital services proven to stabilize youth and families and will result in increased costs in other systems including housing, criminal justice, health, and behavioral health.