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: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - Since the Great Recession, as seen in Figure  2, grants for individuals and couples have been increased four times —in 2016-17 (by 2.76  percent), 2021-22 (by 23.95  percent), 2022-23 (by 10.3  percent), and 2023-24 (by 9.2  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - Based on the state ’s most recently measured payment error rate of 11  percent, the state would have a 15  percent share of CalFresh benefit costs, resulting in about $2  billion in new annual costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - 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. The Governor ’s 2026 ‑27 budget assumes the caseload will continue growing at this faster rate, estimating a growth rate of 10  percent in 2025 ‑26 and 8  percent in 2026 ‑27.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - Similarly, $664  million in unspent TANF funds was estimated to be available in 2024-25. With $270  million in unspent TANF identified for 2025-26, the level of carried-over funding is decreasing. As already noted, the Governor ’s budget projects no unspent TANF available in 2026-27.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - 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: Streamlining California’s Affordable Housing Funding System

Mar 6, 2026 - Such an approach, though, would work at cross ‑purposes with the state ’s policy goals of (1)  reducing the number of places and times a developer must apply and (2)  no longer potentially having scenarios in which a project is approved by one state entity but rejected by another.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5154