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Board amends CEO plan for Care First community investments, restores funding for public defenders and veterans programs
Summary
After weeks of debate, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a revised Care First Community Investment (CFCI) spending plan on June 24, restoring several county-staffed diversion positions and directing the CFCI advisory committee to prioritize remaining unspent funds.
Los Angeles County Supervisors on Tuesday approved a revised spending plan for Care First, Community Investment (CFCI) funds, voting 5-0 to amend the chief executive officer’s recommendation and restore funding for county positions intended to support alternatives to incarceration.
The board’s action came after weeks of public comment and debate between the CEO’s office, supervisors and the CFCI advisory committee about how best to spend roughly $78 million in unprogrammed, one-time CFCI money.
Why it matters: Measure J and CFCI were intended to shift county resources away from incarceration and toward community-based prevention, reentry and supportive services. The vote restores staffing that advocates and some supervisors said is essential to diversion work, while also preserving a process for the advisory committee to vet remaining allocations.
The debate centered on whether to use one-time CFCI money to create ongoing county positions. Chief Executive Officer Fesia A. Davenport told the board “what changed was that our situation fiscally, locally here in the county and at the state level and what appears to be happening at the federal level has devolved substantially,” and that her office reworked recommendations to avoid creating a structural deficit at the end of five years.
Supervisor Janice Hahn said she supported reallocations to community-facing programs but pressed the CEO to restore positions the public defender, alternate public defender and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs had proposed. Hahn moved an amendment to reinstate those positions; supervisors approved the amendment and then the motion as amended.
Under the amendment the board restored funds to support attorney and social-work staffing in the public defender’s and alternate public defender’s offices and positions at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to support justice-involved veterans. The CEO’s office said the amendment will be fast-tracked for implementation and that the CFCI advisory committee will also be given priority to recommend how remaining unspent funds should be allocated.
County staff also described steps to improve CFCI implementation: quarterly spend-down reports, an online dashboard to track allocations and a revised calendar for the advisory committee to submit one-time recommendations in time for supplemental budget changes.
Public response was robust. Community organizations, CFCI advisory members and longtime advocates repeatedly urged the board to honor the advisory committee’s process and prioritize direct community investments such as rental assistance, harm‑reduction services, youth programming and housing vouchers.
What’s next: The board directed staff to return with the reworked recommendations and to coordinate with the advisory committee for final allocations in the supplemental budget phase. The advisory committee will submit a prioritized plan for the remaining unspent CFCI funds for board consideration.
