March 29, 2018

There are numerous state budget issues that would greatly impact counties from a health and human services perspective this year. The legislative team at CSAC is actively engaging on these proposals and working to ensure that the final state budget for 2018-19 provides funding and support for counties on these critical issues. Our significant work on In-Home Supportive Services was covered in a recent Bulletin update. A summary of our other recent HHS budget letters is provided below. You can find copies of all of CSAC’s 2018-19 budget letters at www.counties.org/state-budget.

· Homelessness: CSAC, along with the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and the Urban Counties of California, developed a comprehensive package to invest in affordable housing and combat homelessness in communities across California.

· Elimination of 340B Drug Discount Program for Medi-Cal: CSAC joined a coalition in opposition to a proposal in the Governor’s proposed 2018-19 State Budget that would fully eliminate the 340B Drug Discount Program from Medi-Cal fee-for-service and managed care. In California, 340B has been highly successful, enabling providers like county public hospitals, clinics, and public health care systems to obtain and provide prescription drugs at a lower cost and thus serve more patients.

· CalWORKs Single Allocation: CSAC supports restoring $56.5 million that the Governor wants to trim from the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program Single Allocation to counties in 2018-19. The CalWORKs Single Allocation funnels state funding to counties for administering the CalWORKs program. Restoring this proposed cut will help prevent further service and staffing reductions at the county level.

· Continuum of Care Reform: In partnership with CWDA and SEIU California, CSAC supports providing $54.8 million in State General Fund in 2018-19 to address county child welfare services workload associated with the implementation of the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) effort. Specifically, this funding is necessary to fund implementation activities required of county social workers to clear long backlogs in the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process, support RFA caregivers through the Level of Care rate setting process, and support individual child and youth assessments to promote positive outcomes.

· Funding for County Child Support Programs: CSAC supports the proposal from a number of counties to provide $42.8 million State General Fund to those counties with historically underfunded child support programs. County child support programs provide essential services to families by helping them obtain child support payments, which can often lead to individuals becoming self-sufficient and reduce poverty.

· Adult Protective Services – Home Safe: CSAC supports the stakeholder proposal from CWDA, the California Elder Justice Coalition, and the California Commission on Aging to provide $15 million General Fund in 2018-19 to establish Home Safe, a homelessness prevention demonstration grant program for victims of elder and dependent adult abuse and neglect served by county-run Adult Protective Services (APS).