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Social Services Agency outlines FY 2025–26 budget priorities; supervisors press for service‑level detail
Summary
The Social Services Agency told the Children, Seniors and Families Committee it is proposing a FY 2025–26 budget designed to preserve mandated child‑welfare and benefits services while sustaining senior‑nutrition programs and expanding veterans outreach amid state and federal funding pressures.
The Children, Seniors and Families Committee reviewed fiscal year 2025–26 budget proposals from the Social Services Agency on Thursday, including requests to sustain child‑safety staffing, maintain CalFresh and Medi‑Cal enrollment operations, preserve senior nutrition services and expand veteran outreach.
Sarah Duffy, deputy director of the Social Services Agency (SSA), told the committee the proposals are designed to preserve mandated services amid budget pressures and cited four programmatic priorities: child safety and family engagement through the Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS), continuous benefits enrollment through the Department of Employment and Benefit Services (DEBS), sustained senior nutrition programs and expanded veterans outreach and enrollment support.
“Our proposal is to maintain staffing levels at the social worker level to continue providing mandated services,” Duffy said. She also described requests to sustain senior‑nutrition vendor contracts and to fund outreach tied to veterans’ suicide‑prevention efforts and the annual Veterans Stand Down event.
Committee members asked for more granular information on where proposed reductions occur and why some contracts appear underused. Daniel Crick of the County Executive’s office explained state and federal funding streams drive much of SSA’s budget and that counties often must adjust after the governor’s May revise and federal budget actions. Crick said the county may need to submit a revised request in June and that a broader round of state‑level changes could require further midyear adjustments.
Supervisors pressed SSA to identify which contract vendors are under‑utilizing funds and to provide a breakdown of senior‑nutrition spending and service locations. Duffy said the team will return with more detailed data; staff said the senior‑nutrition request includes vendor contract increases to account for higher food and delivery costs.
Separately, Duffy and SSA staff noted increases in CalWORKs and CalFresh caseloads and proposed limited overtime funding in DEBS to maintain enrollment timelines. Committee members welcomed SSA’s efforts to protect staffing for core mandates, while urging the agency to prioritize equity‑based distribution of program expansions and to consider consolidating overlapping services where appropriate.
The committee voted to receive the budget proposals and directed staff to bring back quarterly updates on contracted services and senior‑nutrition details.
