Past Budget Priorities

Budget Priority

CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability, Restoration of Funding and Budget Methodology

CWDA is requesting support of CalWORKs by establishing a new outcomes and accountability review system to foster continuous quality improvement in the program, requiring the California Department of Social Services to develop recommendations for a new budgeting methodology for the CalWORKs Single Allocation, and retaining the state’s fiscal investment in CalWORKs.

Budget Priority

Child Care Eligibility For Abused, Neglected Children In Foster Care

CWDA is requesting support for a proposed statutory clarification related to the calculation of foster care grants for children receiving services through the subsidized child care system. This change is needed to ensure abused and neglected children receive appropriate child care and development services without delay.

Budget Priority

Support CalWORKs Homeless Assistance Program

CWDA is requesting support to ensure that homeless families in California’s CalWORKs program can access safe, temporary housing. Homelessness is a critical barrier to self-sufficiency and to the health and well-being of children, families, and society. Specifically, CWDA is seeking to eliminate a requirement that days of homeless assistance must be taken consecutively, increase the daily per diem rate, and clarify eligibility for CalWORKs families impacted by the dependency system.

Budget Priority

Support CalWORKs Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

CWDA is requesting support for families in CalWORKs by allowing counties to offer mental health and substance abuse services to children in the program. CWDA is also requesting support to align statutory language on CalWORKs mental health services in the Welfare and Institutions Code with related statute on CalWORKs substance abuse services that permits county human services to contract with community-based providers for assessments when the county department is unable to do so.

Budget Priority

Fund Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool Rebuild and Integration in SAWS

CWDA is requesting support for proposed trailer bill language and funding to integrate the Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool (OCAT) as a service within the SAWS, which is the system of record for CalWORKs in California, as part of the 2017-18 budget. Currently, OCAT is a standalone system that requires county staff to do duplicate data entry, and the lack of integration with SAWS impedes outcome tracking.

Budget Priority

Oppose Ending CCI, County IHSS MOE & Shifting IHSS Collective Bargaining to Counties

CWDA and several other county associations, including CSAC, oppose dismantling the CCI, the county IHSS MOE, and shifting IHSS collective bargaining to counties as proposed by the Administration that would resul in more than $623 million in increased county costs above the amount that counties are dedicating to their current MOE obligations in 2017-18. The following letters outline our collective concerns.

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2017-18 Budget Updates

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. 

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2016-17 Budget Updates

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. 

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2016-17 Budget Priorities

The following is a summary of the priorities set by the CWDA Board of Directors. 

Budget Priority

2016-17: Repeal the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule

The final 2016-17 budget contains the full repeal of the Maximum Family Grant Rule, effective January 1, 2017. Repealing MFG was a long-time priority for CWDA and fellow advocates.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Expand the CalWORKS Housing Support Program

The final 206-17 budget agreement includes an additional $12 million General Fund for the Housing Support Program, bringing total funding for the program to $47 million GF. This augmentation will go a long way toward enabling current HSP counties to reach full capacity and to allow interested counties not currently participating to enter the program.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Continuum of Care Reform (AB 403) Implementation Funding

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.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Increase Funding for Adult Protective Services (APS) Training

The final 2016-17 budget agreement included $3 million General Fund on a one-time basis to provide training to county Adult Protective Services workers. This is a significant and much-needed increase to the $88,000 GF currently provided for APS training.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Fund Services for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC)

The final 2016-17 budget agreement includes an additional $5 million General Fund on an ongoing basis to provide services to youth who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, bringing total General Fund to $19 million. The $5 million is welcome, but is less than the $19.7 million General Fund CWDA originally requested and will be insufficient to meet the service and training requirements and needs. CSEC funding remains a possible area of future budget advocacy for us.

Budget Priority

2016-17: County Medi-Cal Administration Funding

The final 2016-17 budget agreement includes $169.9 million total funds for workload associated with implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This funding will be provided in 2016-17 and again in 2017-18, with work to begin on a new budgeting methodology that would take effect no sooner than 2018-19. This funding was included in the original budget proposed by the Governor in January after months of work between CWDA and the Department of Health Care Services and the Department of Finance last fall.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Bringing Families Home Established

The final 2016-17 budget agreement includes $10 million General Fund on a one-time basis for the Bringing Families Home program, which is a grant program to reduce homelessness among families that are part of the child welfare system.

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2016-17: Homelessness Budget Issues Before Conference Committee

In this section are letters and memos CWDA has submitted on homelessness issues the Conference Committee is taking up when they meet June 1, including the Homeless Assistance Program and the Los Angeles County Trailer Bill Language Proposal to Help Counties Combat Homelessness.

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2016-17: Near-Fatalities Reporting Trailer Bill Language

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the overarching federal law
regarding state and federal activities to address child abuse and neglect. CAPTA was originally enacted in 1974 and has been amended numerous times since then. CAPTA first was amended to require states to develop procedures for the release of specified information about child fatalities that occur as a result of abuse or neglect.

Budget Priority

2016-17: Streamline Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) Program

Subsidized employment is a very promising strategy for moving people into the workforce and is available to counties under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Coalition Work

2016-17: CWDA Works with Coalitions on IHSS Issues

CWDA is working with two coalitions to address two IHSS budget proposals: 1. the implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act as it applies to IHSS, and 2. opposition to the Administration’s proposal to adjust the county IHSS Maintenance of Effort for all increased costs of contracts in counties in the contract mode.