Proposed 2026-27 Budget

Overall Budget Summary

The Proposed Budget includes a status quo staffing of 28 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, including negotiated salary and benefit increases. The Proposed Budget includes appropriations of $6,066,078, funded by revenues of $6,066,078.

Expenses increased $190,304 from the 2025-26 Adopted Budget, primarily due to negotiated salary and benefit increases. Increased revenues include a $100,000 funding reallocation from San Benito County to Santa Cruz County and the use of $90,304 in available federal performance incentive funds, resulting in no General Fund Contributions.

The net result of the Proposed Budget is an overall net increase of $190,304 funded by revenues of $190,304.

Service of Process Accountability, Reform, and Equity Act: Assembly Bill (AB) 747, the Service of Process Accountability, Reform, and Equity (SPARE) Act modernizes California’s service of process rules to ensure transparency, accountability, and protection of due process rights. Local child support agencies must update intake and case management workflows and IT systems, train staff on new “reasonable diligence” standards, and be prepared for more motions to vacate default orders due to improper service. DCSS will work with service vendors to ensure they are ready to implement the new AB 747 requirements by January 1, 2027. Training will be implemented to ensure that caseworkers complete thorough initial participant research and confirm that all required service attempts and support verification, such as GPS data and photos, are included with service response.

Final Earning Capacity: Senate Bill (SB) 343 introduces new federal requirements that affect the income verification process, requiring updates to case processing workflows and increased staff oversight responsibilities across the program. The department has been anticipating and preparing for the impacts related to SB 343. Staff have been trained on the new requirements, procedural documents have been updated, an e‑intake interview template has been developed to capture the new data elements required, and impacted cases are now being tracked with calendared follow‑up.

Software Tools to Support Service Delivery: The department is developing and implementing tools including regional Tableau dashboards, macros for case processing, an electronic intake interview, and a SharePoint intranet site to improve efficiency and consistency in case processing, enhance staff access to information, and support service delivery across the program. The e-intake interview template uses Language Learning Model (LLM) artificial intelligence to generate summary reports for ease of reference for case managers.

Artificial intelligence in Service Delivery: State DCSS is expanding the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including exploring closed‑circuit AI search engines that provide fast, accurate access to state policy and procedure manuals. The State is also evaluating AI tools that can summarize years of case Activity Log history in seconds, reducing administrative workload for caseworkers. The department is moving forward with a subscription to Co‑Counsel, an AI‑driven legal research platform that uses vetted Westlaw materials to generate high‑quality legal information and summaries in just minutes. DCSS continues to assess emerging technologies and AI solutions that can help us enhance service delivery and better support the communities we serve.