County Chief Executive Officer Fisha Davenport told the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5 that the county is preparing for major federal funding impacts and a prolonged period of uncertainty, and urged departments and residents to plan for reductions in services and staff reshaping. “I want to emphasize once again that this is very much a work in progress,” Davenport said during a presentation that the board requested to keep the public informed.

The presentation estimated about $714 million in identified impacts through fiscal year 2026–27 and additional coming federal cuts that could push a rough total to more than $1.5 billion. Davenport said county departments are still refining numbers and that the county will likely know more in September when the Department of Health Services delivers its annual fiscal forecast. “We will need to live with some level of uncertainty, even while planning for service reductions and cuts,” she said.

Why it matters: The largest dollar impacts are concentrated in health services, public health and mental-health programs, with the Department of Health Services singled out because roughly 70 percent of its $6.5 billion hospitals-and-clinics budget is federally funded. The CEO warned that potential federal policy changes could reduce eligibility for Medi‑Cal and CalFresh food benefits and that mandatory new work requirements could affect hundreds of thousands of county residents in coming years.

What the county said it will do: The CEO outlined projected timelines and program-level impacts, including:
- Immediate and near-term cuts affecting CalFresh outreach and SNAP-Ed nutrition education, with state estimates cited that more than 113,000 county residents could lose CalFresh if new federal work requirements take effect;
- Possible reductions to Medi‑Cal coverage for some lawfully present immigrants to emergency and pregnancy services starting in 2026–27, potentially affecting an estimated 47,000 county residents;
- A longer-term scenario in which mandatory Medi‑Cal work requirements might eliminate benefits for an estimated 700,000 county residents in fiscal year 2027–28, roughly 20 percent of current county Medi‑Cal enrollees, if federal policy proceeds.

Departments’ responses: Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer and other department leaders fielded questions about how the job‑count estimates are compiled and how vacancies and grant funding modify the picture. Ferrer said Public Health’s projected personnel impacts are largely full‑time budgeted positions and that many grant‑funded roles are already encumbered; Lisa Garrett, Director of Personnel, described seniority and reemployment lists as the mechanics the county will use if workforce reductions are necessary. Nina Park, chief deputy director of the Department of Health Services, said the table cited filled, budgeted items and that some affected positions may be reassigned rather than laid off.

Curtailments already planned: Davenport reminded the board that earlier actions to balance the county budget — a 3 percent curtailment and a planned 5.5 percent curtailment to finance labor agreements — are separate from the new federal impacts under analysis. Those additional curtailment steps, the CEO said, will produce visible public changes such as two‑day closures at certain regional parks under the labor‑financing curtailment.

What the board asked for: Supervisors pressed for more detail on locations and populations likely to be affected, mitigation strategies, communications plans for closures and layoffs, and options for helping Medi‑Cal recipients meet new administrative recertification requirements. Supervisor Holly Mitchell, among others, urged the county to develop an accessible “misery index” — a qualitative metric the board could use to show real‑world impacts on residents.

Actions and next steps: The presentation was received and filed. County staff said they will continue weekly updates to the board and will return with more detailed analyses, including specific department curtailment plans, program‑level modeling, and any requests for state or federal mitigation in the weeks ahead.