The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - Our understanding is that a number of DSS staff are working exclusively or primarily on Tiered Rate Structure Implementation preparation. Would these positions still be needed? What about the contract for the Financial Management Coordinator, and any other externally contracted parties?
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - Primary Cost Driver: Average IHSS Hours Per Case The next main cost driver in IHSS is the average number of hours provided per case. As the number of hours of service provided to IHSS recipients increases, so does the overall cost of the program.
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 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: 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 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - The state utilizes the flexibility provided by federal law by allocating TANF funds to a number of programs beyond CalWORKs. The state also counts significant state expenditures outside of CalWORKs toward meeting its MOE requirement.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

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

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - The BFH Program was established by Chapter  25 of 2016 (AB  1603, Committee on Budget) with the aim of reducing the number of families in the child welfare system experiencing or at risk of homelessness, increasing family reunifications, and preventing foster care placement.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/7

The 2025-26 Budget: Child Welfare

Feb 13, 2025 - …But DSS Continues Implementation of a Number of Newer Programs in the Current Year. In recent years, the state has adopted and/or significantly augmented a number of child welfare program areas. Using this year ’s budget process to further the Legislature ’s oversight of these newer programs/program expansions in particular could prove useful in helping the
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4962

The 2025-26 Budget: CWS-CARES

Mar 5, 2025 - New required data fields could be added to county social worker reporting forms, but the new fields would need to be automated in CWS-CARES. Also, aggregated data on county social worker use of structured decision-making (SDM) tools could help identify certain decision points at which some groups are disproportionately impacted, but SDM tools are also scheduled for integration into CWS-CARES.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5006