The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - The 2024-25 spending plan amended and added substantial new statutory language establishing the permanent rate structure —referred to as the Tiered Rate Structure —and extending the duration of the interim rate period until permanent rates can be implemented (Chapter  46 of 2024 [AB  161, Committee on Budget]).
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

The 2025-26 Budget: Child Welfare

Feb 13, 2025 - The 2024-25 spending plan amended and added substantial new statutory language establishing the permanent rate structure —referred to as the Tiered Rate Structure —and extending the duration of the interim rate period until permanent rates can be implemented (Chapter  46 of 2024 [AB  161, Committee on Budget]).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4962

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - Additionally, in taking this task on, the administration will be adding to the many competing priorities that are underway. This means that temporary funding may need to be in place until ongoing methodologies can be  established.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

The 2025-26 Budget: CWS-CARES

Mar 5, 2025 - Chapter 46 of 2024 (AB 161, Committee on Budget) established a permanent rate structure for foster care maintenance payments based on the assessed level of need of individual youth. To assess the level of need, permanent rates will use the Integrated Practice Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (IP-CANS) assessment tool, together with a classification model, to place youth into one of four tiers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5006

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - Despite slower caseload growth between 2016 ‑17 and 2020 ‑21 (the caseload continued to grow during this period, just at a slower than usual rate). As seen in Figure  4, the IHSS caseload growth rate has since grown at historic rates —reaching a growth rate of 10.3  percent in 2024 ‑25.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - Namely, for any new services added to the plan that are rated as supported or promising, DSS would need to ensure that at least 50  percent of Title IV ‑E dollars are claimed for well ‑supported services.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106

The 2018-19 Budget: Child Care Programs—Analysis of Governor’s Hold Harmless Rate Proposal

Mar 19, 2018 - Amidst Rate Changes, Providers Held Harmless. Over this period, rate changes were accompanied by temporary hold harmless provisions giving providers the higher of the new or former rates. This means no provider would receive less than it received in the year prior to the rate change.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3787

The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - California ’s most recent payment error rate, for federal fiscal year 2023-24, is about 11  percent. (The comparable national error rate is similarly about 11  percent.) Payment error rates in California and nationally have risen in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

The 2025-26 Budget: CWS-CARES [Publication Details]

Mar 5, 2025 - This post provides our analysis of the administration’s 2025-26 proposal for the Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System information technology project.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5006

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - As part of a special legislative session held in January 2025, the Legislature added Control Section 5.26 to the 2024-25 Budget Act, providing an additional one-time allocation of $10  million to support immigration related services, including removal defense.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/8