Children’s Budget Includes Increased Funding for Fiscal Year 2023-24

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. – Despite a challenging fiscal year, the County of Santa Clara increased funding for programs supporting children, youth, and families, and the recently released annual Children’s Budget highlights some new key areas of interest.

Spending directly focused on children, youth and families increased by 8.7% to $1.18 billion – that’s about 11% of the County’s total expenditures. More than $954 million comes from State, Federal, and other sources, yielding a cost to the County of just over $226 million. This year’s additional funding is in categories concentrated toward the safety and health of children in the county.

“Enhancing support for children and families is one of the County’s five stated priorities and a proven way to combat poverty and its ripple effects,” said Board President Susan Ellenberg. “The impact of these investments include economic stability, mobility and safer communities for us all. Each year we make a commitment to young people in Santa Clara County, and despite difficult fiscal times, this year will not be an exception.”

The three key programs that are being expanded in this fiscal year’s budget are a School-Based Wellness Center Grant Program, a Childcare Expansion Grant Program, and a Homelessness Prevention System.

School-Based Wellness Center Grant Program
This program supports the implementation of Wellness Centers on school campuses, with a goal of increasing access to mental health services for students with behavioral and emotional needs, promoting mental health awareness, and supporting students as they re-engage with an in-person school experience following remote learning during the pandemic. Wellness Centers are a designated physical space with drop-in access for services, staffed by mental health professionals working closely with school personnel. The centers are supported by $10 million in one-time grants from Federal and State sources.
 
Childcare Expansion Grant Program
The goal of this program is to increase families’ access to quality childcare across the county. It will use $15 million in federal grant funds to add classroom spaces and enhance facilities, as well as hire additional qualified childcare staff. The funds will be focused on supporting providers that serve communities that were most impacted by the pandemic, and whose businesses experienced childcare disruptions and drops in enrollment.
 
Homelessness Prevention System
This program provides rental and financial assistance for a limited time to families with children and individuals who are at imminent risk of becoming unhoused. Countywide, about $17 million will be invested in homelessness prevention services for fiscal year 2023-24.
 
“Every year we continue to strive to best serve the interests of the children who live in Santa Clara County, keeping their welfare, safety and ability to thrive at the fore,” said County of Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez. “Campus access to behavioral health services, addressing childcare challenges and homelessness prevention are critical investments in our children and our future.”
 
HIGHLIGHTS IN FY2022-23
The County of Santa Clara serves the needs of nearly two million residents, of which approximately 411,000 are children under the age of 18, who comprise more than 20% of the total population.
 
“Spending on children, youth, and families is not only an investment in our County’s future prosperity,” said County Executive James R. Williams. “It is essential to reducing disparities and upholding the County’s mission and core values in creating a community that is more equitable, inclusive, and just.”
 
The Office of Children and Families Policy completed its inaugural year, meeting its goal to amplify the most critical needs of children and families in the county. The office provides data and evidence-based recommendations on policy, programs, and system coordination.
 
Sarah Duffy, who started as the County’s first Chief Children’s Officer in 2022, said the office is an example of how the County works to ensure children have the necessary support to be safe, healthy and successful in learning and life.
 
“This Children’s Budget offers an important look back at what we’ve done and informs the community about what our priorities are going forward,” Duffy said. “It helps guide not only this office and other County agencies, but also our partners, to best identify, understand and track the critical investments we make in our children and families.”
 
In May 2023, County leaders updated Bill of Rights for Children and Youth for the County of Santa Clara – a pledge originally adopted in 2010 to keep the needs of children and youth in the forefront when making decisions on policies, budgets, and practices. These rights include the right to healthcare, mental health, developing life skills, job opportunities, meaningful connections with caring adults and peers, and the right to have a voice in decisions they are impacted by. This year’s updates took into consideration input and support from the County’s Youth Task Force in the spirit of “nothing about us without us.”
 
Also in May 2023, the Board of Supervisors integrated the Juvenile Justice Systems Collaborative into the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council. Both bodies were created to best support collaboration involving the rehabilitation of justice-involved youth. The combination of the two bodies is to ensure the effective and efficient use of resources to analyze juvenile justice issues through a multidisciplinary lens and maximize the resources available to support programs and policy initiatives. As part of integrating JJSC into JJCC, County Supervisors included two new workgroups for consideration, focused specifically on justice-involved youth of color.
 
For 2024, a new section on child/youth wellness and mental health will be added to the Santa Clara County Children’s Data Book, which will be released in March 2024, a document on the status of children and families across the County. Created in partnership with the Santa Clara County Office of Education and Kids in Common, the annual dataset includes information on child safety, health, success in learning and thriving in life. The addition of wellness and mental health data is aimed at helping focus attention on common opportunities and goals among stakeholder groups.
 
Open Data Portal
The County is committed to making the Children’s Budget information accessible and digestible to the public on its Open Data Platform, available at https://data.sccgov.org/stories/s/Children-s-Budget-2024/wmmp-y7p4.

ABOUT THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA 
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multicultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, Calif., making it more populous than 14 states in the United States. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Laurel Anderson / Eric Kurhi, Office of Communications and Public Affairs
408-299-5119, [email protected]