California family‑planning providers warn HHS freeze on Title 10 grants will force layoffs and cut services

At a California State Assembly Subcommittee 1 on Health hearing, panelists testified that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services temporarily withheld California’s Title 10 family‑planning funds, a move they said will force layoffs and reduce access to contraception, STI testing and other reproductive‑health services for low‑income Californians.

Dr. Nomsa Khalfani, co‑CEO of Essential Access Health, said the organization — California’s Title 10 grantee — was notified that the disbursement for the state’s Title 10 grant “currently $13,200,000 is being temporarily withheld.” Khalfani told the committee that Essential Access and other grantees were given short deadlines to respond to HHS inquiries and that the grantees had received no timeline or explanation for release of funds.

The testimony showed Title 10 underpins a broad network of clinics: Khalfani said the program serves “more than half a million” Californians across nearly 350 health centers and supports services that are not reimbursable through Medi‑Cal or other programs, including school‑based clinics, mobile units, bilingual staff and outreach. Kayla Wilburn, clinic director for the Center for Health and Prevention Clinics at Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo, said her center serves nearly 6,000 low‑income patients annually and began drawing on reserves on April 1 to keep services running.

Why it matters: Title 10 funding supports frontline staffing, education and outreach that clinics say cannot be replicated quickly if federal funds are not restored. Panelists warned that reduced staffing and cut hours would increase wait times and push some patients to emergency departments.

Panelists and public commenters gave specific warnings and polling data. Khalfani said a poll of Title 10 members found that 48% of Title 10 agencies reported they would “certainly or likely” carry out immediate layoffs if funding is cut, and 62% expected immediate reductions in clinical and reproductive‑health services. Jody Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said Planned Parenthood and other providers would continue serving patients but would need state partnership and budget support to fill gaps.

Public commenters and advocacy groups urged the Legislature to act. Omar Alta Mimi of the California Pan Health Network said in public comment that his organization “strongly supports the $15,000,000 budget request introduced by Assemblymember Sharpe‑Collins to backfill the loss of the Title 10 federal family planning funds,” and urged additional state investments. Danielle Brewster, director of external affairs at Women’s Health Specialists, described the geographic scale of some nonprofit providers and urged continued state support to sustain telehealth and mobile services in rural counties.

What panelists said would be affected: clinic staffing and non‑reimbursable roles (nurse practitioners, community health workers), teen‑only clinic hours, outreach and education programs, school‑based services and mobile clinics. Khalfani said Title 10 supports 41 school‑based health sites in California and that many patients served have household incomes below federal poverty thresholds.

The committee chair also thanked California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office for prompt legal action and said state officials were coordinating on possible budget responses to mitigate federal cuts. No formal legislative action was taken during the hearing.

Panelists asked the Legislature to consider state backfill funding and other contingency steps while litigation and federal processes continue; they emphasized the limits of local capacity to absorb a sudden loss of Title 10 funding.

Ending

Panelists left the hearing urging quick state action to stabilize clinics’ finances and preserve access to time‑sensitive family‑planning services. Committee members said they would consider budget proposals and legal strategies while monitoring HHS’s actions.