Staff
Mark Newton
(916) 319-8323
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Health, Developmental Services, and Technology
Jason Constantouros
(916) 319-8322
Medi-Cal/Managed Care/Family Health/Health Care Affordability and Workforce Development
Angela Short
(916) 319-8309
Child Welfare, Child Support, Community Services and Development, Community Care Licensing, CalSTRS
Karina Hendren
(916) 319-8352
Medi-Cal/Long-Term Care/Developmental Services
Will Owens
(916) 319-8341
Public Health/Behavioral Health/State Hospitals
Sonia Schrager Russo
(916) 319-8361
CalWORKs/CalFresh
Juwan Trotter
(916) 319-8358
In-Home Supportive Services/Aging Programs
Ginni Bella Navarre
(916) 319-8342
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Human Services and Governance


Publications

Health and Human Services

To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.



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The 2025-26 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

February 19, 2025 - In this post, we provide background on the state’s major food assistance programs, CalFresh and the California Food Assistance Program; provide updates on caseload trends; and analyze the Governor’s proposed food assistance budget. Under the Governor’s budget, there are no major newly proposed augmentations or solutions.


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The 2025-26 Budget: CalWORKs

February 19, 2025 - In this post, we provide some basic background on the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program followed by an overview and assessment of the Governor’s CalWORKs budget proposals.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

February 13, 2025 - In this post, we provide some background on the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program, followed by an overview of the Governor's 2025-26 budget proposals and assumptions for SSI/SSP. The post also provides comparisons between SSI/SSP grant levels and the increasing cost of living in the state.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Child Welfare

February 13, 2025 - This post provides an overview of the Governor’s proposed 2025-26 budget for child welfare and foster care programs under the Department of Social Services, and raises questions and issues for the Legislature to consider.


Report

Building California’s Behavioral Health Infrastructure: Progress Update and Opportunities for the Proposition 1 Bond

February 5, 2025 - This report assesses $1.8 billion in behavioral health infrastructure grants awarded in 2022 and 2023 to help the Legislature conduct oversight over $4.4 billion in additional grants funded by the Proposition 1 bond expected to be awarded beginning May 2025.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

January 13, 2025 - Update (1/16/25): A set of tables detailing various solutions and proposals has been appended to the online version of this report. They are available using the HTML link above.

On January 10, 2025, Governor Newsom’s administration presented its proposed state budget to the California Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the Governor’s budget based on our initial review as of January 12. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release many additional issue-specific budget analyses. For those additional analyses, please see our budget page.


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Recent Trends in Young Adult Mortality

December 10, 2024 - This report examines recent trends in age 15 to 44 mortality and breaks out this growth by underlying causes of death. It also takes a closer look at some of the major causes of death and notes some key issues for legislative consideration.


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CalFacts 2024

December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

November 20, 2024 - This post provides our annual fiscal outlook for General Fund spending in Medi-Cal. It summarizes our projections, describes the major factors driving our projections, and highlights key uncertainties.


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The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Housing and Homelessness

October 16, 2024 - This post summarizes the state’s 2024-25 spending package for housing and homelessness.


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The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Human Services

October 2, 2024 - The 2024-25 spending plan provides around $31 billion from the General Fund for human services programs across 11 state departments, councils, and commissions. This represents a net increase of nearly $1.8 billion, or 6 percent, compared to the revised prior-year spending level.


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The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Health

September 17, 2024 - This post summarizes spending on health programs in the 2024-25 budget package.


Handout

Proposition 35: Provides Permanent Funding for Medi-Cal Health Care Services. Initiative Statute.

August 13, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Health Assembly Committee on Health


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Proposition 34: Restricts Spending of Prescription Drug Revenues by Certain Health Care Providers. Initiative Statute.

August 13, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Health Assembly Committee on Health


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The 2024-25 Budget: Preliminary May Revision Analysis for CalWORKs

May 29, 2024 - Provides initial high-level takeaways and comments regarding May Revision proposals for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Includes comments on the overall CalWORKs budget with a focus on new proposals at the time of the administration’s May Revision.