California budget plan would delay housing funds for Stanislaus CARE Court. What else?

Stanislaus County officials are concerned about delays in funding for housing connected with CARE Court and a substance use treatment effort, after taking a look at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to deal with a $37.9 billion state budget deficit.

The county was counting on a $10.8 million state allocation for “bridge” housing for adults treated for severe mental illness through Community Assistance Recovery and Empowerment Court. Stanislaus is one of seven counties in California that launched court-supervised treatment in October and also needs temporary housing for getting homeless people into substance use disorder treatment under Senate Bill 43.

The county expects to receive the share for 2023, but the housing funds for 2024, 2025 and 2026 could be delayed, Supervisor Terry Withrow said. And opportunities for additional competitive grants for bridge housing may be off the table.

“It is concerning,” Withrow said Wednesday. “We felt we were making headway with good legislation and good programs, but now they might be pulling the rug out from us.”

Patrice Dietrich, chief operations officer for the county, said it was encouraging to see funding for homeless services, called Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention, maintained in the state budget proposal. The state budget for 2024-25 does not appear as dire compared with the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimate of a $68 billion shortfall in December. The state Department of Finance calculation in Newsom’s budget talk Wednesday was $30 billion lower.

Dietrich said staff continue to examine the new budget proposal for additional impacts on the county. “We will be digging through the details,” she said. “There is a lot to look at.”

A report to the county Board of Supervisors is planned for its Jan. 23 meeting.

The League of California Cities released a statement noting that funding for services assisting the homeless remains in the state budget, but a proposed $1 billion in cuts to housing programs is a setback for efforts to house homeless people.

Modesto officials didn’t have a comment on any budget impacts on the city.

Health Access California, a leading advocate for health care services for the poor and immigrants, said Newsom’s budget proposal maintains support for expanding Medi-Cal, which is a primary source of health benefits for low-income residents in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

“California can be relieved that, despite a deficit, no one is losing access or affordability assistance to needed care and coverage,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access. “We appreciate the governor’s continued budget commitment to expand Medi-Cal and improve our health care system for all Californians.”

Protections for schools and colleges

Henry Yong, chancellor of the Yosemite Community College District, said Wednesday it’s a good sign the $68 billion deficit figure was drastically revised to $37.9 billion. The community college district, including Modesto Junior College and Columbia College near Sonora, does not anticipate any job losses for YCCD employees as the state reduces spending, Yong said.

“While the state has a large deficit, the state also has $24 billion in savings,” he said via email. “I would expect the governor and his team to lessen the impact by strategically dipping into the savings. While (a $37.9 billion shortfall) is still problematic, it looks less frightening in light of the state’s savings account.”

The state budget plan would cut $8.5 billion from a variety of funds, including reductions to climate change and housing programs and school facilities. It also delays and defers more than $7 billion in funding for transit and intercity rail, early childhood education grants, clean energy and behavioral health housing.

According to Ed Source, Newsom’s budget plan aims to protect schools and community colleges despite an $11.3 billion decline in revenue that goes to education. A 5% increase in revenue promised to state universities, like Stanislaus State in Turlock, and the University of California system will likely be deferred, however.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.