The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) urges caution on
the Governor’s Budget proposal of delaying the availability of a
portion of the one-time funding provided for the California
Department of Social Services’ (CDSS) administered Bringing
Families Home (BFH) Program, the Home Safe Program, and the
Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP) provided in Fiscal
Year (FY) 2022-23. These programs originally had expenditure
authority through the end of FY 2024-25; the proposed budget
would now defer availability of a portion of these funds to FY
2025-26, rather than allowing the entirety of the funds to
continue its multi-year appropriation in FY 2024-25. The
resulting gap in expenditure authority could jeopardize some
counties’ ability to maintain current levels of services and
enrollment to clients and could have implications for counties’
operations in continuing to serve clients and implement the
program. Although some amount of deferrals may be possible, CWDA
will be working more with our members and the Administration to
understand the implications of these delays and to determine
whether the proposed amounts of the deferrals are appropriate.
