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HHS presents strategic plan, housing gains and staffing, funding pressures in 2025–26 budget
Summary
Health and Human Services director Rob Oldham outlined a new three‑year strategic plan, a record increase in permanent supportive housing units, growth in Medi‑Cal population and rising audit and compliance and contractor management burdens; HHS requested no supplemental general‑fund increases for 2025–26.
Rob Oldham, director of Health and Human Services (HHS), presented the department’s 2025–26 budget update on April 30, emphasizing a new three‑year strategic plan, expanded homelessness housing capacity and continued pressures from state policy changes, growing caseloads and audit/compliance demands.
Oldham said HHS added 96 permanent supportive housing units in the prior year — a county record — and has an application pending for another 55 units. He said the county’s point‑in‑time count remained roughly flat (about 16 per 10,000 residents), a rate that Oldham said compares favorably with many jurisdictions. HHS described recent successes in Homekey applications and other housing projects and credited cross‑departmental work, including county counsel and facilities, for those results.
Oldham described the department’s fiscal profile: roughly $335 million in total revenue for the coming year, with about $275 million in intergovernmental revenue (federal, state and realignment streams). Salary and benefits and services/contracted providers account for the bulk of expenditures. HHS reported it has reduced reliance on the county general fund — to roughly 14.4% of its total expenses — and has achieved an average staff fill rate near 95% recently, while still carrying vacancies and recruitment needs.
Emerging challenges Oldham and deputy Vicki Grenier listed include: state and federal policy changes (behavioral health, child welfare, Medi‑Cal transformations) that will change program requirements and funding; tighter resources for local community‑based nonprofit contractors as some state/federal grant flows change; growing complex client needs (children and seniors); and increasing audit, monitoring and PRA obligations. Oldham said HHS now manages more than 700 contracts and that many contract partners have limited capacity to absorb new administrative requirements.
On performance measures, Oldham highlighted the specialty mental‑health plan meeting 100% of the state’s quality performance standards (noting the county was the only county over 200,000 population to do so) and other indicators such as veteran claims activity and homelessness counts.
Oldham and Grenier said HHS submitted no supplemental requests for 2025–26. Supervisors and other board members praised the department’s outreach, prevention orientation and public engagement work, while asking about grant access for an affluent county, and whether rising demand would unlock more state dollars. Oldham said some funding is allocation‑driven (for example HUD allocations tied to point‑in‑time counts) while other opportunities reward performance; he said Placer’s performance metrics are favorable in several areas.
The presentation includes staffing and workload data showing the county has fewer HHS staff per 10,000 residents than peer counties (19.3 vs. a peer average of 34.4), and noted that the department has relied more heavily on contracts to meet service needs as the county’s population and Medi‑Cal rolls have grown.
