Past Budget Priorities

Budget Priority

County Whole Person Care Budget Memo

On behalf of the members of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), the County Health Executives Association of California (CHEAC), the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH), the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California (CBHDA), the Urban Counties of California (UCC), and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), we are writing today to express our strong support for Governor Newsom’s proposed investments in our innovative, county-led Whole Person Care

Budget Priority

2019-20 May Revise Budget Memo

CWDA issues Budget Updates that include information about the Governor’s proposals, budget subcommittee actions, Budget Conference Committee actions, leadership negotiations, and Governor’s vetoes.

Download CWDA May Revise Memo – May 10, 2019

Press release

CWDA Statement on the 2019-20 Budget May Revise

SACRAMENTO – CWDA continues to be inspired by Governor Newsom’s vision of a California for all, as evidenced by his May Revise investments to lift Californians out of poverty and homelessness. The 2019-20 May Revise continues to expand on programs that address underlying issues contributing to the state’s high poverty rate, including housing insecurity, trauma, and low wages. Proposed changes include greater funding for trauma screenings as well as funding for physician training and the time to properly roll out the policy change.

Blog post

The breakdown with Frank Mecca
It’s time to update the CalWORKs Earned Income Disregard

Let’s start off with the basics, what is the Earned Income Disregard and how does it work?

When the Legislature – on a bipartisan basis – implemented CalWORKs, which is California’s version of federal welfare reform, there were several key tenets; one of them is that work should pay. The idea is that as families on CalWORKs are able to move into the workforce and earn money, we won’t deduct dollar-for-dollar from their CalWORKs check.

Budget Priority

Family Stability Fund Budget Memo

On behalf of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, California Alliance of Caregivers, Children NOW, California State Association of Counties, County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC), we respectfully urge the Human Services Budget Subcommittees to provide $43.2 million State General Fund (SGF) to maintain critical supports to resource family caregivers, and the children and youth in their care.

Budget Priority

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Cash-Out Reversal Budget Memo

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) strongly supports the reversal of the SSI Cash-out that was enacted as part of the 2018-19 budget to provide CalFresh benefits to individuals who were previously ineligible for the program due to receipt of SSI benefits. This momentous change will increase the food and economic security of an estimated 370,000 Californians.

Budget Priority

Family Urgent Response System for Foster Youth and Caregivers Budget Memo

CWDA and a coalition of organizations request support of the Family Urgent Response System, a $15 million State General Fund (SGF) budget proposal in 2019-20 and $30 million SGF ongoing, to support foster youth and their caregivers and strengthen their relationships.

Budget Priority

Disaster CalFresh Automation Budget Memo

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) requests consideration and support for funding to automate Disaster CalFresh eligibility determinations and add related forms and notices and required state reports in the CalACES systems, which will ultimately become the CalSAWS system that will be used by all counties, as part of the 2019-20 budget.

Budget Priority

CalWORKs 2.0 SAWS Automation Budget Memo

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) requests consideration and support for funding to automate the CalWORKs 2.0 tools in the SAWS and make them available to CalWORKs participants via the SAWS online web portals, as part of the 2019-20 budget. Currently, the CalWORKs 2.0 tools are primarily paper based, and there is no way to store much of the information they capture in the SAWS, which is the system of record for the CalWORKs program. This lack of automation impedes outcome tracking.

Budget Priority

Resource Family Approval and CANS Assessments Budget Memo

The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) oppose the proposed cut to county child welfare agencies for the implementation of the state-mandated Resource Family Approval (RFA) process.  We urge you to restore $24.4 million State General Fund (SGF) so that county child welfare agencies may continue to expeditiously approve resource families to care for children and youth in the foster care system due to abuse, neglect and exploitation. We also urge consideration of budget or trailer bill language related to the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Assessment.

Budget Priority

Bringing Families Home Budget Memo

The California State Association of Counties (CSAC), Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and Housing California request support to provide a one-time appropriation of $25 million General Fund (GF) for fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21 to continue and expand the existing Bringing Families Home (BFH) Program, which provides critical housing-related supports to child-welfare involved homeless families and those at risk of homelessness in support of family reunification and family maintenance efforts.  

Budget Priority

Adult Protective Services Training Program Budget Memo

The California State Association of Public Administrators/Guardians/Conservators (CAPAPGPC), California Commission on Aging, California Elder Justice Coalition, and County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) request support for $5.75 General Fund (GF) over three years to continue support of a training program and infrastructure to enable counties to meet local needs to protect and serve this vulnerable elderly and dependent adult population.

Budget Priority

CalWORKs Earned Income Disregard Budget Memo

CWDA requests support for strengthening the Earned Income Disregard (EID) for the CalWORKs program. The EID is the amount subtracted from a CalWORKs recipient’s income to determine eligibility for assistance and, once on the program, monthly grant amounts.  By allowing certain types of income to be excluded from grant calculations, the EID is intended to facilitate and encourage paid employment. However, the EID has not been changed since the CalWORKs program was created in 1997.

Download the advocate coalition letter – May 7, 2019

Download the full CalWORKs EID budget memo – February 21, 2019

Post

Extended Foster Care Program Budget Memo

The Alliance for Children’s Rights, Children NOW, County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, respectfully request support for a $50 million General Fund (GF) investment to support transition-aged foster youth and young adults participating in the Extended Foster Care (EFC) Program.

Budget Priority

2019-20 State Budget Update #2
January 2019

CWDA issues Budget Updates that include information about the Governor’s proposals, budget subcommittee actions, Budget Conference Committee actions, leadership negotiations, and Governor’s vetoes.

Download CWDA 2019-20 State Budget Memo #2

Budget Priority

2019-20 State Budget Update
January 2019

CWDA issues Budget Updates that include information about the Governor’s proposals, budget subcommittee actions, Budget Conference Committee actions, leadership negotiations, and Governor’s vetoes.

Download the CWDA 2019-20 Budget Update

Press release

CWDA Statement on the California 2018-19 Budget Agreement

“CWDA is pleased with the overall 2018-19 budget picture, particularly the anti-poverty programs and measures that represent who we are as a state. This year’s budget tackles homelessness and begins to address the growing population of families experiencing the trauma of deep poverty – a phenomenon that is, quite simply, a stain on California’s reputation as the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Budget Priority

2018-19 State Budget Update

CWDA issues Budget Updates that include information about the Governor’s proposals, budget subcommittee actions, Budget Conference Committee actions, leadership negotiations, and Governor’s vetoes. 

Budget Conference Committee Memo – June 11, 2018

Budget Priority

Support Increased CalWORKs Single Allocation Funding

The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) support the Assembly’s proposal to restore $23.5 million that was proposed to be cut from the Single Allocation in the 2018-19 May Revision. The Senate also took an action to restore $10 million to the Single Allocation for employment services, and we thank both houses of the Legislature for their support of this vital funding.

Budget Priority

Support Additional Funding for Continuum of Care Reform Effort

The California State Association of Counties (CSAC), County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California support the ASSEMBLY version of the Budget to provide $49.1 million General Fund in 2018-19 above the May Revise proposal to address unfunded new workload and ensure successful implementation of the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) effort.

CCR Budget Memo – May 26, 2017