2023 May 8 AB 1313 Budget Proposal – California Dept of Aging Supportive Services Case Management Pilot Program

May 8, 2023

The Honorable Joaquin Arambula, Chair
Assembly Budget Sub-Committee #1
State Capitol Building, Room 6240
Sacramento, CA 95814

Re:   Budget Proposal – California Department of Aging Supportive Services Case Management Pilot Program (Assembly Bill 1313, Ortega)

The County of Marin requests your support of a modest FY 2023-24 State Budget Request of $3 million annually over three years for a total of $9 million that would create a pilot program for California Department of Aging Supportive Services Case Management programs in Alameda, Sonoma, and Marin Counties under Assembly Bill 1313 (Ortega).

Currently, Case Management services are funded with Federal Title III B Older American Act (OAA) dollars, which has remained flat for the past decade. Providers of case management and visiting programs have been unable to grow capacity to meet the growing population needs despite additional local government assistance. 

In Marin County, there are approximately 76,000 older adults (age 60+) comprising 29% of our population (ACS 2017-2021, Table S0102). Some 56% of our older adults who rent state they spend more than 30% of gross income on rent and 35% of those who own spend more than 30% of gross income on monthly housing costs. Approximately 20% of older adults in Marin, or 15,000 residents, fall in the gap between Medi-Cal eligible and being economically secure. Currently in Marin, Health and Human Services has one contract for older adult case management with West Marin Senior Services and funding for this program from the Federal Older Americans Act totals approximately $44,000.

While the FY 2022-23 Enacted State Budget included some new state dollars for nutrition and information and assistance programs, no state dollars have been provided for Case Management since FY 08-09 cuts and California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) does not fund these programs. The requested funding would increase the capacity of these Case Management programs to serve older Californians who are low income but are not eligible for Medi-Cal, and who need assistance maintain health and economic stability. In addition, it would capture valuable qualitative and quantitative data to measure the impact of case management on resolving unmet social needs and improving health outcomes in low-income older adults.

The County co-sponsors are proposing that the State allocate at least $9 million one-time over three years in State General Funds for FY 2023-24 to support the three counties. This investment will protect vital services from further erosion, begin to build capacity to adequately serve older Californians, and provide data to inform the Master Plan for Aging and its effectiveness in leveraging the powerful impact of community-based services.

For these reasons, Alameda County, Sonoma County, and Marin County are proud to sponsor the budget request on behalf of our local Adult and Aging partners.  We urge you to support this budget proposal that would benefit older adults statewide.

Thank you for your consideration of this important project to our community.

Respectfully, 

Stephanie Moulton-Peters, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors

Cc: Marin County Board of Supervisors
Senator Mike McGuire
Assemblymember Damon Connolly