May Revise Budget Update
Below are some of the key issues impacting children’s wellbeing in the 2020-21 May Revision budget proposal released on May 14. The overall Children Now statement on the May Revise can be found here, and a letter from over 760 organizations with Pro-Kid budget asks sent before the May Revise can be found here.
- Prop 56 funding would be moved away from prioritizing children. There are a number of changes that pull back on the Governor’s January proposals that would have supported children’s health and mental wellness, as well as proposals that shift funding that was previously earmarked for children’s health into more general uses. For example, the May Revise shifts Proposition 56 dollars for supplemental payments to providers for developmental screenings, well-child check-ups. and dental services for kids into a general category of Medi-Cal growth that does not specifically support health care for children and youth. About $67 million in Proposition 56 funding would continue to support rate increases for home health providers, pediatric day health care facilities, pediatric sub-acute facilities, AIDS waiver supplemental payments, already awarded physician and dentist loan repayments, and trauma screenings (and associated trainings). See page 61 of the summary document.
o However, detailed May Revise documents from the Department of Health Care Services show that provider training and screenings for trauma (Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs) are actually in the “reduced but not eliminated” category (see page 9), so funding for those purposes would be reduced under the May Revise. There is no mention of this reduction in the summary document.
- Home Visiting would be cut by $34.5 million. Evidence-based voluntary home visiting can help connect families to health and social services that they need to thrive. The May Revise would reduce funding for CalWORKs Home Visiting by $30 million General Fund in 2020-21, and Department of Public Health Home Visiting and Black Infant Health funding would be reduced by $4.5 million General Fund ongoing beginning in 2020-21.
- Postpartum mental health expansion would be rescinded. The May Revision proposes not to implement the 2019 Budget Act expansion of Medi-Cal to postpartum individuals who are receiving health care coverage and who are diagnosed with a maternal mental health condition, for a savings of $34.3 million General Fund in 2020-21.
- Would cut $90.5 million from the child welfare services budget, including:
- Eliminating the Family Urgent Response System, cutting $30 million.
- Eliminating Foster Family Agency social worker rate increases, cutting $4.8 million.
- Eliminating the Public Health Nurse Early Intervention Program in Los Angeles County, cutting $8.3 million.
- Revising Continuum of Care Reform Rates, cutting $28.8 million. This proposal will not occur if the federal government provides sufficient funding to restore it.
- Would provide CARES Act funding to counties—The state is allocating $1.3 billion of its CARES Act funding directly to counties based on population size to address the public health, behavioral health, and other health and human services needs that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Would provide a one-time investment of $4.4 billion ($4 billion federal Coronavirus Relief Fund and $355 million federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund) to local educational agencies to address learning loss related to COVID-19 school closures, especially for students most heavily impacted by those closures. Specifically, funds may be used for: providing integrated student supports to address other barriers to learning, such as the provision of health, counseling or mental health services; professional development opportunities to help teachers and parents support pupils in distance-learning contexts; access to school breakfast and lunch programs; or programs to address student trauma and social-emotional learning.
- Would cut funding available for community schools. The May Revise eliminates the community school grants ($300 million). California received $1.6 billion in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. Of this amount, $100 million is for grants to county offices of education for the purpose of developing networks of community schools and coordinating health, mental health, and social service supports for high-needs students. It appears that these funds are meant to partly backfill the community schools grant elimination (1/3rd of the original amount, and federal dollars).
For more information:
Full summary from the Administration: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf
Detailed May Revise highlights from the Department of Health Care Services: https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Docume...ighlights-051320.pdf
Initial comments from the LAO: https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4232
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