Spokane County warns 70% BECCA funding cut will shrink truancy casework and force hard budget choices

Spokane County officials told the Board of County Commissioners on May 12 that a roughly 70% cut in state BECCA funding will sharply reduce money the county uses for truancy case management and related juvenile services and will force difficult budget tradeoffs.

The discussion, at a special budget workshop, focused on what the loss of the state BECCA allocation will mean for the county’s juvenile court, school‑based interventions and community case managers. Tory (staff member) described the program’s work as “case management work other than the administrative stuff. It’s removing barriers. It’s do they need housing? Okay. Case manager,” and said the program helps families obtain counseling, parenting skills training and other supports to get students back into school.

County staff and commissioners said the program has been costly but preventive: staff estimated Spokane County’s BECCA award has averaged about $1.3 million a year; the county projects a roughly $460,000 shortfall for the current year if the state funding is reduced as proposed. County staff also gave a five‑year cumulative estimate of approximately $6.6 million less in state BECCA support under the current projections.

Why it matters: BECCA is the Washington…