A budget of nearly $29 billion was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Monday to be used for a range of reforms and services throughout the county.

“This balanced budget, while providing essential funding for services across the county, aggressively supports the board’s agenda for transformative change in four key areas—homelessness, child protection, Sheriff’s Department reforms and the integration of our county health agencies,” said Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai. “There are always competing demands for County dollars, and I believe this budget honors not only the board’s longstanding commitment to fiscal responsibility but also to lifting the quality of life for all our residents.”

Supervisors in April approved the county’s recommended budget. Their action Monday completes the “final changes” part of the budget cycle, with the addition of 910 new positions across key service areas.

Some highlights of the final changes approved today include:

$54.6 million in new funding and 400 new positions to help the Department of Children and Family Services reduce social worker caseloads.
$43.7 million in Mental Health Services Act funding and 123 new positions to expand community services and supports.

$18.7 million transferred to various County departments to continue implementing strategies to combat homelessness. These funds are part of the $98.7 million the overall budget provides in dedicated funding for the Homeless Initiative.

Critical resources for placing jail health services under the leadership of the Department of Health Services. This includes the transfer of 100 clinical positions from the Sheriff’s Department and 367 positions from the Department of Mental Health. It also provides 44 new positions to expand mental health services in county jails to comply with DOJ settlement agreements.

Beyond these priorities, the budget also addresses some unique departmental challenges.

In one instance, it provides $1.6 million in funding and 12 new positions in the Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office to address backlog issues, as well as the increased volume and complexity of cases.

And, to improve the services of the Department of Animal Care and Control, it allocates $2.7 million and adds 20 positions to fund medical services, field services, animal housing and other operational costs.

The budget assumes that property assessments will grow by 5.05 percent, as forecast by County Assessor Jeffrey Prang in May.

Additional information on the final budget is here.

For videos and more background on the County budget, click here.