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

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - In addition to restructuring foster care maintenance payments, the 2024-25 statutory changes also added two new foster care programs and corresponding rate components: (1)  Strengths Building and Child and Family Determination Program, and (2)  Immediate Needs Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - As seen in Figure  3 , IHSS caseload has grown significantly since 2013. 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).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

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

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - Tier 3 focuses on implementing EBPs. Trainings are targeted toward providers as well as child welfare staff. Initial trainings under Tier 3 have been provided, and DSS released guidance (via All‑County Letter 25‑73 ) in October 2025 with more detail about the specific training sessions and required participants for Tier 1.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106

The 2026-27 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - As shown in Figure  3, the Governor ’s budget projects that caseload will decrease by 0.9  percent in both 2025-26 and 2026-27. In past years, the Department of Social Services (DSS) has noted that a potential driver of this steady caseload decline may be fewer individuals meeting income and asset eligibility thresholds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - As shown in Figure  3, the amount of TANF used to support CalWORKs has changed from year to year. During the COVID-19 pandemic the state significantly overestimated CalWORKs caseload and spending, largely due to unprecedented federal and state policy responses that led to historically unusual enrollment trends.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Control Sections 90.00 and 90.01 During the special session called by the Governor, the Legislature added Control Sections 90.00 and 90.01 to the 2024-25 Budget Act providing up to $2.5  billion one-time from the General Fund for response and recovery costs related to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

The 2025-26 Budget: Child Welfare

Feb 13, 2025 - Figure  3 provides an overview of child welfare programs that have been newly implemented or significantly augmented in recent years. Figure 3 Summary of Implementation Status of Recent Programs New Augmentations Provided Since 2021 ‑22 and Continuing Implementation Program
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4962

The 2025-26 Budget: CWS-CARES

Mar 5, 2025 - The project ’s transition to its holistic design approach does not delay the expected CWS-CARES V1 completion in October 2026, but does (1)  shift milestones from EUST 2 to EUST 3; (2)  extend EUST 3 from four to six weeks (given the significant number of milestones in the EUST); and (3)  require EUST 4 validation and training activities to occur at the same time, compressing the project time line.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5006