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Community groups urge Los Angeles County to fund food programs and community violence intervention during budget hearing
Summary
Dozens of speakers at the May 6 hearing urged funding for Market Match, grocery voucher programs and community violence intervention (CVI), pressing the Board to use limited discretionary dollars or identify one-time/supplemental options to sustain services as federal aid wanes.
A steady stream of in-person speakers and remote callers at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ May 6 budget hearing urged the Board to prioritize food-security programs and community violence intervention (CVI) as federal funding diminishes.
Speakers representing the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, L.A. Regional Food Bank and other nonprofits asked the Board to adopt a package of roughly $37 million: $20 million for grocery vouchers targeted to immigrant food justice, $3 million to preserve Market Match and $14 million for CalFresh Healthy Living programs. "We urge the county to support funding for nutrition programs including $20 million for the grocery voucher program," said Chris Carter of the L.A. Regional Food Bank.
Multiple community-based violence-prevention organizations and workers testified that CVI programs are underfunded at the county level and faced federal and state grant losses. "Community violence intervention is not just a program, it is a public-safety strategy," said a workforce and reentry case manager with the Los Angeles Violence Coalition. Speakers asked the Board to honor its Care First, Jails Last commitments by shifting resources from incarceration to prevention, youth development and housing supports.
Chair Hilda Solis and other supervisors asked staff to analyze where food and CVI funding currently resides and whether one-time or supplemental allocations could be used; Interim Executive Officer Nicchitta said the $40 million CalFresh administrative investment in the recommended budget is intended to preserve $194 million in federal revenue and about 1,000 DPSS jobs, and described roughly $20 million in local discretionary capacity as the near-term "delta" available for priorities.
Speakers also called for countywide rent protections, expanded legal services for immigrants and tenants, and for the Board to examine pots of unspent funds that might be redirected toward community-based services. Staff said they would research current allocations (including CFCI and Department of Public Health grants) and return to the Board with options prior to final changes or in a supplemental budget.
