The 2024-25 Budget: Preliminary May Revision Analysis for Child Welfare

May 24, 2024 - The administration frames this proposed reduction as “rightsizing ” funding for the Emergency Child Care Bridge program, rather than being a reduction to current service levels. Based on data shared by DSS, the proposed reduction does appear to be in line with recent expenditure trends.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4909

The 2024-25 Budget: Child Welfare

Feb 26, 2024 - Under CCR, foster care rates must be based on the assessed level of need of individual youth ( “level of care ”), with youth requiring higher levels of behavioral health supports and other more therapeutic and intensive services receiving higher rates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4855

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

Mar 3, 2026 - Figure 4 SSI/SSP Monthly Maximum Grant Levels a 2024 ‑25 (Actual) Percent of federal poverty level b 93% Percent of federal poverty level b 117% 116% 114% a The maximum monthly grants displayed refer to those for aged and disabled individuals and couples living in their own households, effective as of January 1 of the respective calendar year. b Compares grant level to federal poverty guidelines from the U.S.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - Under CCR, foster care rates must be based on the assessed level of need of individual youth ( “level of care, ” or LOC), with youth requiring higher levels of behavioral health supports and other more therapeutic and intensive services receiving higher rates.
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - This volatility in Gene ral Fund spending should be viewed as a technical issue rather than having any relation to changes in policy or program service levels. TANF Carry-In Significantly Reduced Relative to Recent Years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - As part of the 2012 IHSS MOE, beginning in 2012 ‑13, all counties were required to maintain their 2011 ‑12 expenditure levels for IHSS, to which an annual growth factor of 3.5  percent was applied beginning in 2014 ‑15.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

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

Mar 3, 2026 - We have been informed by the administration that this is due to a technical adjustment to the current year and we discuss this at a high level in this post. Reports by Policy Area
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - To be eligible, households generally must earn less than 200  percent of the federal poverty level. CalFresh benefits can be used to buy most groceries and some prepared food at participating vendors, which include most grocery and convenience stores.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

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

Mar 5, 2026 - If additional funding is provided, we recommend that the augmentation be temporary until the level of ongoing workload related to H.R.  1 is better understood following early implementation and can be reflected in ongoing funding methodologies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - State ‑Level Support for Model Fidelity. To  support counties in meeting the often rigorous requirements surrounding EBP implementation, the state could consider state ‑level contracts —or help facilitate regional contracts —for training and model fidelity monitoring.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106