The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - Under prior program rules, individuals were required to first attended an orientation and appraisal, followed by participation in job search activities (also called job club or job readi ness workshop in some counties).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/2

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Federal CalWORKs Pilot

Feb 21, 2025 - Generally, if an individual is ineligible for CalWORKs, other members of his or her family (including children) who themselves meet eligibility requirements can receive aid. Grants Based on Number of Eligible Family Members, Not Overall Family Size.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4978

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - (Many CalWORKs families have unaided members who are excluded from the grant calculation because they are ineligible for assistance for various reasons.) Figure  6 displays how current CalWORKs grant levels compare to the FPL for a household of one larger than the number of aided members in the CalWORKs family.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - In theory, counties will achieve foster care cost savings once they implement effective child welfare prevention services—meaning there is a natural incentive to invest in prevention programs. However, achieving those savings will require significant upfront investment, which may not be possible using only local funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - Better program outcomes also benefit the state fiscally because counties ’ service improvements have the potential to reduce overall costs. Moreover, with a share of cost, counties have an incentive to control program costs in areas over which they have more control (like administration).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

Trends in CalWORKs: Participant Characteristics

Jun 16, 2025 - Data Limited on Other Family Members. As mentioned, demographic data are generally collected on the CalWORKs applicant. However, an applicant is generally not asked to provide demographic information on other members of his or her family, even if the characteristics of other family members differ from those of the applicant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5057

The 2025-26 Budget: Child Welfare

Feb 13, 2025 - Funds must be used for services/items that meet an assessed need and must (1)  promote inclusion in the community, (2)  increase safety in the home environment, and/or (3)  facilitate age-appropriate participation or autonomy in making decisions that improve physical or behavioral health outcomes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4962

Preliminary Assessment of Significant Changes to State's Technology Project Approval and Oversight Processes

Apr 29, 2025 - New PDL Process Could Improve Technology Project Outcomes … Based on our preliminary assessment of the new PDL process, we acknowledge that PDL —in concept —could improve the outcomes of GenAI (and potentially other) technology projects.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5034

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - Operational Improvements within the Department of Social Services (DSS). As part of the May Revision, the administration proposed to authorize the Department of Finance (DOF) to contract with consultants to assist and advise DOF on analyzing and creating process improvements within state government.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/4

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - Discretionary Spending Approves Funding for Continued Planning of the Life Outcomes Improvement System (LOIS) Information Technology (IT) Project. DDS is undergoing a multiyear effort to modernize the IT systems used for case management and accounting in regional centers and state-operated facilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/1