Senate Standing Committee on Rules

Alright. Good afternoon again. I want to be my last time I apologize, but I do want to apologize. Your time is incredibly important. And I want to apologize that we're starting a bit late here today again. One of our caucus meetings ran late. We have several committees today.

Thank you so much for being with us and thank you for your patience. What we're going to do is we're going to set our quorum and then we're going to get into some housekeeping items, our administrative items. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL]

Quorum has been established. All five members are present. Thank you so much. What we're going to be able to do is we're going to move forward on some administrative items. We're going to ask Director Wimbley to be able to please come forward.

And as we are, Director Wimbley come on forward, we're going to be taking up some administrative items. As we do. Yeah, come on up. As we do we'll just have the Director come on up and then we'll be prepared to be able to move into our first action item of the day.

So, ladies and gentlemen of committee, we'd like to take up our first administrative item today, and that's governor appointees not required to appeal here. This is item 2D and E on our agenda. We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Do we have any discussion or debate? Hearing, seeing, none.

Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL] 5 to 0.

That's a 5-0 vote, motion passes for closing the roll. Members, we're now going to be moving on to item three, reference of bills to committees. We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Do we have discussion or debate on the dais?

Mr. Chair.

Yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be supporting the motion today. But I do want to point out for folks that are watching the budget process here in California that budget referral bills AB 100 through AB 219 are at this point in time empty budget trailer bills that will be properly appointed to the Budget Committee.

Assuming yes.

But just wanted folks to know that to keep an eye on those bill numbers as they become filled with bill information through the process. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. Leader. Very grateful for that. Would like to be able to see if there's any discussion or debate, any additional discussion or debate. We Have a motion by Madam Vice Chair on the floor. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL] Five to zero.

It's a 5-0 vote. That motion passes. We're closing the roll. Thank you so much. We're now going to be moving on to committee appointments and Select Committee requests. This is item 4 through 15. 4 through 15. On today's agenda, we have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Motion by Madam Vice Chair. Discussion or debate with the committee?

Discussion or debate? Hearing, seeing none. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL] Five to zero.

That's a 5-0 vote. Motion passes. We're closing the roll. We're now advancing to items 16 through 28. This is under floor acknowledgments. Floor acknowledgments. Is there a motion to approve? We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Look to discussion or debate on the dais. Discussion or debate? Hearing, seeing none.

Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL] Five to zero.

5-0 vote. Motion passes. We're going to close the roll. All right. Director Wimbley, how you doing? It's good to see you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. We're grateful that you are here today. Director Wimbley is advancing to Committee today as the Director to the Department of Community Services and Development.

Mr. Director can talk a little bit about how we're going to roll, if that works for you. Today, we're going to provide you two to three minutes for your opening statement. What we're then going to do is open it up to the committee to be able to ask any questions, advance any concerns in your opening statement.

We welcome you to acknowledge any individuals who may be here with you today. Your family, your friends or anyone who's watching online. After that, we'll move into public testimony and then take a formal vote. Again, Director Wimbley, we're really grateful you're here. We're going to start the clock. You have up to three minutes.

I'll give you a 30 second prompt. The floor is yours. And thank you to the service. For your service to the people of California.

Thank you, Chair. Mr. Chair and Members. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here before you today and thankful to each of you for considering my appointment as the Director of the Department of Community Services and Development.

I also want to thank Governor Newsom for having the confidence in me to lead this Department and serve California in this role. I'd also like to recognize my family, friends and colleagues for taking the time to be here today in person or virtually.

First, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my mother, Vilma; father, Sam; daughters, Dominique and Marissa; son, Jason; my wife of 30 years, Cheryl; and the rest of the family for all of the love and support they have given me.

You are all my biggest champions. And to my parents, thank you for instilling in me the values of family, hard work, and commitment. CSD's mission is to improve the economic security of vulnerable Californians through programs and partnerships that support the state's diverse communities.

We fulfill that commitment through federal and state programs and most importantly our local partners that offer services and resources that help low income Californians keep their lights on, ensure they benefit from the state's climate investments and reduce poverty, revitalize low income communities, and empower families and individuals to become more self sufficient through a range of community based initiatives.

This mission is one I've come to fully embrace over my 32 year career with CSD and aligns with my deep commitment to public service.

I started at CSD in my early 20s as a file clerk and I've been lucky enough to have been able to work my way up through the department, most recently serving as the Chief Deputy Director for seven years.

Over this time I've been deeply impacted by seeing the meaningful difference our programs make in the lives of California families. By the talent of the amazing staff at CSD and the commitment of our local partners who share our devotion to improving the lives of Californians in need.

I'm excited to have the privilege to lead this department that, while smaller in size, is big in impact and use my expertise, experience, and energy to contribute to our vision of building a California for all. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide these remarks and appear before you today. I look forward to our conversation.

Thank you so much Mr. Director. Very grateful.

Obvious how personal this is to you and the dedication that you have shown throughout your life. Thank you so much sir.

We're now going to open it up to the committee to better see if we have any questions, comments we're going to start with Senator Laird.

You're welcome.

Thank you very much Mr. Chair. I don't know if you've had a chance to see the New York Times article that was just at 1:00 and so you probably didn't, but apparently the entire Washington staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, was laid off and there's nobody there.

And I know that's a $4 billion program and California gets a significant chunk of that and it comes in your direction.

Yes, so-

Even though you probably haven't seen this yet, talk about what that program is in your department and what it might mean if it is delayed or discontinued.

So thank you for the question and familiar with the situation that are-

That's the way we do it here. We ask you about it first and then we give you the answer.

I see that. Yes, I see that.

So I will first start by speaking to the program just for context. So the program that's referenced in this article is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. And you're absolutely right that California receives a share of the LIHEAP appropriation each year and those dollars come to CSD.

And in the state, its importance is that it provides an array of services that help address the energy needs of low income families.

There's a multitude of services that that program provides that includes home weatherization, which includes retrofits to low income housing at no cost to the homeowner to help improve the energy efficiency performance of the home in the process of saving energy and then in the course of that work, improve the health, safety, and comfort of those homes that we treat.

In addition, there's financial assistance that we provide to clients to help offset the cost for home energy, whether that be natural gas, electricity, or those that use wood, propane, and oil. There's also a crisis component that helps to provide crisis intervention services for individuals that have lost access to power due to nonpayment.

We can provide financial assistance benefits to help restore services in those circumstances, as well as providing emergency heating and cooling services to address or repair or replace heating and cooling equipment in homes to make sure that those homes remain safe and have the ability to regulate their indoor temperatures safely.

As far as this article, we have heard the reports and are tracking the events that took place yesterday in terms of the layoffs. We are still trying to assess the impacts, if any, there are to our programs.

But at this time, as you mentioned that it's really too early to speak to that. But we are looking to see confirmation.

One thing that that we do know is how the program has operated.

Yes.

And it's basically been we offer whatever the federal government funds. Is that the way it has worked? We haven't ever augmented that, have we? We being the state.

State. Well, I will be dating myself, but-

Well you've been there a long time.

Yes, I have. So I will. I guess I will date myself then. Yes. In the early 2000s, during the energy crisis, there was a supplement of state funds that was used to augment LIHEAP funding and services at that time. I will speak to that.

In terms of funding, the LIHEAP funding, we have received 90% of the funding based on last year's funding level. There was a continuing resolution that was recently passed that was signed into law by President Trump on March 15th that will provide level funding to 2004 levels. So there's-

And in each case through when? How long does that last?

So that's federal fiscal year. The program operates-

That'd be through the end of September.

So our contracts will end through, so it carries through the end of the year. Yes.

But the end of the federal year.

Yes.

Okay. Well, I think we have been having lots of discussions trying to ascertain what might be the impacts of different things to the state, education and health care, and many other things.

And so I think we're going to want to stay on top of this as much as possible because it, it really goes to the most vulnerable Californians and it meets our goal in the weatherization piece of actually addressing their situation in a way that lowers costs going forward. So it's a very important program.

Let me ask first, I forgot at the outset to thank you for meeting with me. I appreciated that.

So did I.

And we talked about your long service and I would just ask what do you think are the positive things about you being there for a long time and what do you think are the challenges that present you by you being there a long time-

Good question.

and moving into this role?

Good question. So I would speak to the advantages, obviously being around the department for as long as I have.

I have an intimate knowledge of our core business, our programs, our structure of administration, our partners, which are the local agencies that we contract with and rely on for local administration, as well as the importance of cross department coordination when the time presents itself.

So in the case of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, there's a lot of cross collaboration between the department and the CPUC that I'm instrumental in leading and see great value in maintaining.

I think as being the resident historian with our department, if you will, I have come to recognize that in my leadership role that I can't be as hands on in operations and the programs as I used to be and have transitioned into a more of a leadership role.

Understand the importance of seeking out contributions from others throughout the department as well as sharing the knowledge that I have with others.

So as part of our workforce and development and succession plan, that is the knowledge that I have in my head. I want to share and make sure that it's not lost and is retained and others can benefit from it.

There's a real conscious effort to make sure that I'm building up the leadership team of the future and ensuring that CSD can continue to fire on all cylinders in terms of its program administration.

Thank you. And then one last question and you sort of alluded to it. You mentioned the Public Utilities Commission and you have served almost two decades as the department's representative. I need to get it right on the Low Income Oversight Board.

Thats correct.

That's over, that advises the Public Utilities Commission.

And I was, when we talked I asked if you had any advice to us. But sort of what have you learned and what do you bring to this sort of policy wise from that service.

Bringing it to the board.

To your job from the service on the oversight board where you've been almost two decades.

Great. So serving on the Low Income Oversight Board, that board is an advisory board that helps, you know, that provides advisement to the California Public Utility Commission on low income programs such as the California Alternate Rates Program, the Energy Savings Assistance Program and alike.

And through that experience, you know, I've come to appreciate that one, that California is a fortunate state because we have these rich investments in program funds and energy forms of energy assistance that can help low income individuals maintain their energy, maintain the cost for home energy as well as benefit from the state's climate goals that are supported by these programs.

In terms of my long service to this board, it's helped me in the sense that through that board I've built a strong rapport with our utility partners, with our utility partners that are ultimately the recipients of a lot of the assistance that we provide.

And we are able to leverage that relationship with our utilities in a way that benefits customers. So for example, under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, I mentioned earlier that there's a crisis component.

So if an individual has lost their, is at risk of disconnection or lost services due to non payment, we have an arrangement with utilities that at the time a client is enrolled in the program, they will accept a payment pledge from the department.

And basically what that does is it provides a reprieve to the customer from the energy collections, the credit action that the utility has taken against that client and they're able to maintain continuity in the services. So I would say that that was kind of a long answer.

But in short, the experience that I've gained from the board helps me to, helps us to be a better department in terms of how we interact with the key stakeholders, Utilities Commission, as well as lead effective program coordination between LIHEAP and some of the much larger investor owned energy assistance programs that are out there.

Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate the responses.

Madam Vice Chair.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chair, without trying to put you in the middle of a argument between my colleague and I am going to attempt to try to correct the attempt at his misinformation on the previous question that he asked you.

Is it true that President Trump in the Congress just authorized $4.1 billion for the 2025 year to come to this program, this LIHEAP program, the LIHEAP program, 90% of it is in our position?

Yes. Yes.

So it was authorized for 4.1 billion and 90% of it is in our possession.

Yes. So the only thing I can't confirm is the, the total appropriation, but just doing the math is 90% of whatever was appropriated has been awarded to states.

Okay. And so we have our 90% of that $4.1 billion.

Or assuming the appropriation is $4.1 billion. And the other thing that I want to correct is that my colleague referenced the 10,000 workers that were laid off. Only 25 employees were associated with this program. Correct?

I'm not sure. Okay, okay, okay.

It's okay. I just am trying to credit 25 employees. Okay, 25 employees.

10,000 is for representation.

10,000 was the number that you mentioned. 25 employees were part of this LHEAP program. Anyways, thank you for that, sir. I want to applaud you for your 30 years of being in the same department.

And there was a question that my colleague asked you about, you know, what the benefits and the withdrawals or the back, you know, the not beneficial things that would be for that.

But I think it's very, it speaks volumes of your integrity and who you are to make sure that this program works for our low income vulnerable communities. And I listened to your opening statement.

You really touched my heart thanking your mom and dad bringing you up, hard work, all of those things that make and build the character of a person. And so I really didn't have any questions to you until my colleague asked you those questions.

Because the questions that I had were just about, you know, what gives you strengths or weaknesses to being in the same department. But you know, I ran a business for 30 plus years. It doesn't make me better or less a person because I didn't run another business, I ran this particular business.

And so I think it just you grow and you learn through that process. And constant changeover causes, causes sometimes some adverse reactions to department with success and employees and trust and the relationships that you build. And so I don't have an issue with that at all.

And then so I guess the last question or that I'll ask is how has the Community Block Service Grants, the GCSBG, changed over the course of your tenure at the department? And how does the Community Block Service Grant add value to local services and programs in California?

So good question. So the Community Services Block Grant is a federal fund, federal funding source that is flexible in nature and by design and is intended to provide a variety of services and supports to help alleviate the causes of poverty.

We contract with over 60 organizations throughout the state, which we refer to as Community Action Agencies that carry out the charge of administering these dollars at the local level and then the local communities that they serve. Last year the CSBG or the Community Action Network celebrated 60 years of existence.

And I'm proud to say that the Community Action continues to thrive in California.

And even though the structures that we utilize to award these dollars to the local providers or the Community Action agencies hasn't changed much in terms of structure, as you can imagine, that their efforts to address poverty is ongoing and is something that requires constant evolution, thinking, strategy planning, and resourcefulness. A lot of our providers leverage the CSBG funds in a way that best addresses the needs of the local communities that they serve.

So every year, not every year, but a core requirement of the CSBG grant is that they have to complete or conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of needs in their area and based on the results of that will inform how the CSBG dollars will be utilized and also what role the organization will play in providing supports to the community based on the things that they've identified as a need and where there are gaps and resources available.

So in most cases, the CSBG dollars or agencies are impacting sectors such as health, home housing, energy assistance, food insecurity, things of that nature. And- And these organizations are tremendous in using the resources at the community in a way that enables them to serve as many large or scores of low income individuals in their area.

In most cases, the CSBG program serves the most vulnerable low income individuals in the communities and that's represented or supported in statistics and the outcomes of the grant in terms of 69% of those individuals that receive CSBG services or services through our Community Action agencies have incomes at or below 100% of federal poverty, and 40% of those individuals have incomes that are at or less of 50% of federal poverty.

So you can see that the organizations that we fund through this grant are positioned to help the individuals in our community that have the greatest need.

So in your department or in office under your purview, is there some type of accountability and audit for these programs to make sure that the resources that are spent are meeting the needs of those people that need them in the community?

Yes.

And do you have positive outcomes on those audits?

Yes. Good question. So I will touch real quickly on the layers of oversight. So there's oversight between the fed and the federal government and CSD. So the feds will routinely perform programmatic compliance visits of our program. In addition, we have contractual requirements or contractual service agreements with the entities that we contract with.

That spells out all of the requirements of the grant. We provide regular program monitoring and oversight of the contracts. So we provide on site monitoring visits and we also do desk reviews.

There's also reviews of financial reports that are submitted to the department as well as on the back end, there are outcomes, outcome reporting that tie into federal standards and national performance indicators and things of that nature so we can quantify the outcome results of the services that our agencies are providing because there's so much flexibility, but doing so in an organized way that's measurable and that can be measured against other states as well.

So. But to your point, your question, our monitoring visits and oversight has not detected any significant irregularities. In many cases are things that, as you can imagine with any other program compliance, there's things that need to be corrected or fixed or whatnot, but nothing that's, you know, egregious or things that are, you know, detrimental to the program.

Is this part of this program, administration and doing business.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. I'm excited that you're at the helm, so I look forward to your confirmation.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Madam Vice Chair. We're going to look to please Senator Caballero, then the leader Jones.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and welcome to the Rules Committee. Mr. Wimbley. Thank you for your service. I know that, I know the kind of energy and commitment it takes to start at a low level and work your way up. And it indicates a real level of confidence in people in the department to keep you moving. So congratulations.

Thank you.

I'd like to go back to the beginning in terms of these federal funds that come in. The federal funds are based on what the federal government's priorities are. Am I right in that?

In other words, the different funds of, of resources are priorities that they set that actually end up mirroring maybe some of the issues that we're concerned about as well.

So the federal programs are authorized through congress and the programs that we administer have been around for quite some time.

Yes, but they're the ones-

Yes.

They pick the subject matter areas and then we have partners that help us to distribute services or to distribute resources all over the state consistent with what the priorities that they have set.

Yes. So the grant funds, for example, with LIHEAP there are states will administer those dollars differently, but the purpose still remains that the dollars have intended uses. And so that is to address the energy needs of low income families.

And in California, our administrative model is that we rely on those organizations I referred to earlier to support local administration at the local level.

And that also pertains to the, I'm looking for the program that does the housing services. Housing Assistance Services.

The Community Services Block Grant?

Yes.

Yes.

Under the Community Services Block Grant.

So what kind of services are provided under that particular category? Are we talking about homeless services? Are we talking about families, seniors, or all of the above? Or we leave it up to the local organization?

Right.

Yes. So it's locally determined. But housing can include a variety of forms of assistance. So it could be temporary. You know, some of our agencies use those funds to support and operate temporary housing shelters. Some use it for housing assistance. Some will use it to help folks that have been evicted from their homes. There's.

And so there's an array of services that could be used. It just depends on the local agencies assessment and how they feel that they can best impact the housing needs that they've identified in their community.

So for example, one of the programs may take people that are homeless into permanent housing, but another program may not do that. I'm trying to-

Yes.

I guess what I'm trying to get to is there's no way to look at or evaluate overall because every program may be a little bit different.

Right. But on the outcome reports that I was speaking to, you could have a client that is unhoused that goes to one of our local agencies for assistance or temporary shelter. So the temporary shelter is one form of intervention that community based organization has provided.

But most of our community action agencies are oriented to try to figure out how to put this individual on a path to gaining permanent housing. So there's a lot of steps that will need to be completed from that step of going to a housing shelter to getting that end result.

So there could be health, you know, underlying social or health issues that need to be addressed. There also could be a need for helping them retain secure the documentation that is needed to apply for various housing supports and assistance that's available in the community.

There's also a need where there could be where a client is in a situation where they might need a job, you know, in employment. So all of those various needs, you know, would be addressed and they are tracked and reported.

So it's almost like a very comprehensive approach to case management, to helping this individual that has this one specific need of being unhoused and how that leads to the path of achieving self sufficiency and economic stability.

Got it. And would that, would they necessarily count that as multiple touches?

Yes. It would be multiple touches. Correct.

Right. I don't have any further questions. I appreciate that. Because part of the challenge, I think as we, with another hat on, look at the budget, is trying to figure out where we put our housing resources and what is the most cost effective and the most successful in terms of long term housing goals that we may have.

So thank you for that. I do appreciate it.

You're welcome.

Thank you for being here today.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you Mr. Chair. A couple of my issues have been sufficiently debated by my two colleagues at the other end of the dais to my satisfaction. So just a couple of questions on the budget information that we have. I'm watching,

kind of the overall budget of your department has decreased from the so 2023-24 it was 450 million. 24-25, 363. Next year it's proposed to be at 350. So the budget is decreasing, you know, 20% and the personnel numbers have increased about 10%. Can you kind of speak to that a little bit?

As the budget's coming down, why is the number of personnel increasing?

Yes, good question. So during the pandemic, the department was the fortunate recipient of additional funding to support a variety of new programs that were tied to pandemic relief. So that was, and we received state funds for the CAPP program, which was the arrears payment program of the California Arrears Payment Program.

We also received additional supplemental grants through LIHEAP. There was also grant funds through CSBG. So as a result of receiving all those grants, we did see some additional staff support. We did add some additional staff supports to the department.

But now as funding is normalizing for the department, we're starting to see where funding will be getting back to normal levels. And so our staffing will probably, staffing levels will probably remain static and then through attrition will scale down accordingly.

Okay, yeah, that's in line with it. Increased staffing increased from 23-24 to 24-25. It is showing the same staffing. So you're- you're- you're expecting staffing levels for next year and the outgoing years to remain similar to what it is now?

Correct.

Okay. And then just to give you an opportunity, if you want to speak to it, you can if you want. And if we would rather get back to us on it, it's not really. I'm just noticing it here as a line item that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in 23-24 was 37 million.

Last year 3 million and next year proposed to be 0. Would you like to have an opportunity to speak to that or get back? That's not prevalent of my support of you today. I was just noticing that and wanted to see if you had some comments on it.

Well, I would speak at a very high level. So the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds are funds that are used to support two main programs that the department administers. Basically, they all operate under the umbrella program, the Low Income Weatherization Program, which is also referred to as LIWP

in short. There are two major sub programs that operate under that umbrella. One is the Farm Worker Housing Program that provides energy efficiency and solar PV systems to improve the again the energy performance of housing owned or occupied by farmworker families, individuals.

And then the second is a multifamily program that provides energy efficiency and solar PV investments in system installations on low income affordable housing. And so through the budget process and since the program's inception, it's not a program that receives regular funding each year. It receives funding on kind of these odd cycles.

And a lot of it is really based on how we are able to spend out those dollars that have been appropriated to us. So for example, the multifamily program, the multifamily program is focusing on large buildings and there's a lot of extensive work that goes into those buildings, permitting, planning, retrofitting.

So those projects can take anywhere from eight, you know, from six to eighteen months to complete. So usually funding kind of follows the cycle of how dollars are being spent.

So are we not going to do those programs next year if there's no funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund? Or we're going to fund them through a different source. And if you don't know right now, that's fine.

Yeah, I can follow up with you on. But those programs are under contract even though we don't have an appropriation, they still continue to operate. So I can follow up with your office.

I think the main thing I'm trying to point out for conversation and for an opportunity for you to get back to us and explain what, you know, what's happening is it's gone from 37 million, almost 38 million 2 years ago to zero this year. And if it's not going to you, where's it going?

Yes, so glad to follow up.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much.

I guess in final comments, I align myself with the positive comments that have been said by my colleagues and glad that you're willing to stay on board and seeking this appointment and congratulations.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Leader Jones, any additional questions or comments before we open up public comment? Seeing none. Thank you, Mr. Director. We're going to open up public comment now. We're going to start with those who may be in support. If you could please advance the microphone here to my right.

Thank you so much.

We're going to ask you to provide your first last name along with the organization that you are with. We respectfully request you to keep your comments to 30 seconds or less. Welcome. It's nice to see you.

Great to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Chairman, Senator McGuire and esteemed Members of the Rules Committee. Good afternoon. I am David Knight. I'm with the California Community Action Partnership Association with a nonprofit member organizations that comprise of the 60 community action agencies across the state serving all 58 counties.

Our partnership with the Department of Community Services Development is critical. Jason Wimbley brings a vast level of experience to the table and will continue to lead the department effectively during some extremely challenging times in California and across our nation.

Even with the news yesterday that the federal HHS has completely dismantled whole departments that fund programs to CSD and our agencies, I am more confident in our resolve with Director Wimbley. He possesses a strong analytical mindset that complements his collaborative nature.

He has adapted, overseeing multiple programs simultaneously and clearly laying out what steps need to occur for our programs to adapt and change as policy changes. On behalf of the board of directors and members of CAL CAPA, we support this nomination. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time to be here today. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Thank you for your time. Justin Llata with the California Housing Partnership here in strong support of this appointment for Mr. Wimbley. He's been a fantastic partner on the Low Income Weatherization Program. Under his leadership, it's become one of the most effective sustainability programs that supports affordable housing. He's very knowledgeable. He's responsive to outside input.

Just a superb administrator of the programs and the things that he does. You know, we see him as the ideal public servant and we are, believe he'll be a great director. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Hey. Hey. Good afternoon.

Honorable Committee Members. My name is. I'm a little bit short here. My name is Marco Lizarraga and I'm the Executive Director of La Cooperativa Campesina de California. And I'm here to support strongly the gentleman here, Mr. Wimbley. He has been an incredible source of assistance to the farm worker community throughout the state.

Our organization serves over 55,000 farmworkers per year and we have donned hundreds and hundreds of homes now through the liveweight program. Thanks to Mr. Jason that has worked with us closely for farm workers. You know, we strongly support him because of the, you know, efforts that he has done in working with us, serving our communities throughout the state of farm workers. So we strongly support Mr. Wimbley.

Thank you. You. It's really good to see you. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Good afternoon Chair Members. Alejandro Solis, on behalf of Los Amigos De La Comunidad and Proteus in support of Mr. Wimbley's nomination, just like to say thank you and congratulations.

Thank you so much for your comments. How you doing? Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Members. My name is Wilfredo Cruz Jr. As a board Member of the Association of California Community and Energy Services, I want to express enthusiastically our support for Mr. Jason Wimbley. His confirmation of the Director of the California State Department of Community Services Development. We've had the privilege of working closely with Mr.

Wimbley in various capacities and are confident in his exceptional leadership skills and unwavering dedication. He's consistently shown an impressive ability to address the distinct needs of low income communities paired with a genuine commitment to driving positive change.

On a personal note, I've worked with him from Bakersfield to Sacramento now and I can attest to the dedication and the respect that he's put into his work and that we feel in the community. So we fully support this nomination.

Bakersfield in the house. Thank you so much. Good afternoon.

Hi, I'm Brenda Callahan-Johnson and I'm the Director of the Merced County Community Action Agency. I've been there for 31 years. So Jason and I started almost at the same time and he's put up with me for a long time. He does a great job as a director and we're here to concur with his confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you for making the treck. Very grateful.

Thank you. Mr. Chair and Members. Jason Eichert on behalf of the California Municipal Utilities Association, CMUA. Very happy to be here in support of Mr. Wimbley's confirmation. Not just because of his excellent first name, but because during the depths of the pandemic, CMUA got to work with Mr.

Wimbley and his team on standing up programs very quickly to get aid to people who had fallen behind on utility arrearages. It was incredibly important work. So thank you.

Thank you so much. Good to see you. Hi. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. My name is Marisa Semense and I'm the Executive Director of the Long Beach Community Action Partnership. I am also, I'm very proud to support the confirmation of Mr. Wimbley. I've known him for 15 years. My agency actually received the LIHEAP program in 2010.

And so we had an opportunity to work very closely together to ensure that the service providing in our area was sufficient and up to par. And I credit Jason with being able to help us get to that level. So thank you very much.

Thank you so much. We're grateful you're here. Thank you. Hi. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. My name is Evelyn Daskalakis. I'm with the Urban Services YMCA, the community action agency for the city and County of San Francisco. And I would just like to say it's been a wonderful partnership and we are fully supportive of Jason's appointment and confident in his leadership. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. We're going to do one last call for the those who may be in support, if you could please come forward this time. Looking for those who may be in support. Seeing no one rise, we're now going to go to those who may be in opposition, if you could please stand at this time.

Looking for those who may be in opposition. Seeing no one rise, we're going to bring it back to committee for any additional discussion or debate. We'll also welcome a motion.

So move, Mr. Chair, move Mr. Wembley or Director to the full Senate Floor for a vote.

Thank you so much. We have a motion on the floor by Madam Vice Chair. Motion on the floor floor by Madam Vice Chair. Last call for discussion or debate hearing. Seeing none. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[ROLL CALL] 5 to 0.

5 to 0 vote. Motion passes. We're going to close the roll. Mr. Director, congratulations. Very grateful.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you members.

Next stop will be the Senate Floor here in the weeks to come. Thank you so much. Mr. Director. We're now going to have Madam Director, Ms. Erickson-Donadee, if you could please come forward. We're going to take a 30 second recess. 30 second recess. We're going to change out the name plates.

Get a fresh bottle of water up there. Madam Director, we'll get started in about 30 seconds.

We are back.

Madam Director, welcome. One of the toughest jobs in state service, and very grateful that you are here today. I'd like to talk a little bit about the administrative items that are—that we're going to run through. You have three minutes to be able to provide testimony.

I'll give you a 30 second prompt when you get close to the three minutes. During those three minutes, we welcome you to acknowledge any individual—individuals—who may be here with you or watching online. When you get close, I'll give you that prompt. We're then going to open it up for discussion or debate.

We will then—after that is concluded, we'll open it up for public comment. Again, Madam Director, thank you so much for your work on behalf, especially—kids here in California, families in California. The floor is yours. You have three minutes.

Thank you so much, Chair Mcguire and esteemed Members of the Committee. First, I'd like to thank you for considering my nomination today. I would also like to express my gratitude to Governor Newsom for the opportunity to serve as Director for California's Department of Child Support Services.

The Director holds a vital responsibility in improving the lives of children and families across California and plays a crucial role in providing economic stability for many families.

I'm deeply grateful to my husband, Andrew, my son, Nate, and my daughter, Blake, for their unwavering support, boundless patience, and the grace they've extended to me, as I carved my professional path. Their love and encouragement have been my anchor.

Andrew and Nate were able to join me here today, while we opted to keep Blake in school, as first graders aren't often known for their ability to sit still for long. I'd also like to thank my parents—I'd like to thank my parents, who are watching remotely, for instilling in me a passion for public service and the profound importance of giving back to the community.

I'm equally grateful to my colleagues, several of whom are here in person and watching remotely at our office, which is our staff, our local child support agencies, and advocacy partners, for their steadfast support, encouragement, and shared dedication to serving California's families.

Their commitment and hard work inspire me every day and I'm honored to stand alongside them in this mission of supporting families holistically. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I think there may be some tension in the household in not having the first grader here. So, my goodness, he's going to be upset not seeing mom. So, wonderful job. Thank you so much.

What we're going to do is we're going to open it up to questions, comments, and any debate that we may have. We'd like to be able to see if—who would like to lead us off. We're going to go to Madam Vice Chair. The floor is yours.

Thank you. Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here. You do have one of the toughest jobs in the State of California and thank you for being willing to take it on. I just have one question, and it's regarding the $17 billion in child support debt across the state.

$17 billion is a lot of money, and that's a lot of kids that could be going without—because that child support debt is not collected.

Is there some plan to reduce that debt, to make sure that the children who are supposed to be receiving those dollars from the parent that is, you know, that owes those dollars, as part of the, whatever agreement that was come, you know, from a court agreement that says you owe these dollars to help support, to financially support your child?

Is there some kind of plan to help get that 17 million—billion, sorry, with a 'B'—dollars into the hands of the people who are actually taking care of these kids?

Yes. Thank you so much, Senator Grove, for that question. The point of the child support arrears and unpaid child support in California has been studied for over 20 years. So, the Urban Institute released a study in 2003, analyzing the collectability of arrears in California's Child Support Program.

And interestingly, in that 2003 study, the balance between the support that was owed to families, versus that that was owed to the government, was actually the reverse of what it is today. So, at that 2/3 of that $18 billion, it was almost the same amount in 2003.

Almost 2/3 of that was owed to the government and only 1/3 was owed to families. We've actually implemented a number of reforms. There were about 20 recommendations from that 2003 study, and a number of them were implemented.

And some of the really key points and changes that we've made in the program, with the commitment and partnership that Legislature, are to change how we establish orders. We also are working to establish—or to implement, excuse me—a final rule change.

This is from Senate Bill 343, which allows us to focus on parents' earning capacity, rather than making any sort of presumption about what they could earn, so that we make sure that we are right sizing orders, based on that parent's true ability to earn. So, that is effective January 1st of 2026.

So, we are working very hard to get that implemented and in place. I believe it's vital to make sure that the initial order, and any continuing order or modification, truly reflect a parent's ability to pay. If it is too high, that's when we end up having arrears.

So, I'm very proud of a lot of the reforms that have come into place. One that was just effective in September of 2024 was a wholesale change to our guideline formula. So, under the federal law, each state is required to have a mathematical formula for calculating child support.

And in California, we were able to work closely with the Legislature to achieve reforms. One of the biggest reforms was in the low-income adjustment. So, it now ties to the minimum wage in California, which adjusts each year. So, it alleviates the need to return to the Legislature over and over.

So, we're quite proud of that negotiation and how we were able to work that out. We also do have two programs available to relieve debt, if it is owed to the government and the parent is just not able to pay.

So, there's a compromise program where we have been able to compromise almost $90 million last year, while receiving $9 million in support. So, it's a small portion of what was owed, but it's in recognition that the parent is not able to pay 100% of that support.

I apologize. I appreciate that very much. I—we do have—we have had constituent cases that have come to the office that there's—sometimes they bring me this dollar amount, and I couldn't afford to pay the dollar amount, much less the people who brought it to me.

So, I appreciate you addressing that and making sure it's an affordability to pay, but then also making sure that the kids have the opportunity to have those resources to better their life, as well. That's the only question I have. I'm not being rude—I have another Committee. I'm going to pop up there, vote, and come right back.

So, that's why I'll be leaving, but thank you for answering that question.

Thank you, Senator Grove.

Thank you so much. Senator Laird.

Thank you. First, I appreciated meeting with you and enjoyed the conversation.

Let me ask a question that follows up on what Senator Grove just asked about. And we talked about it, and there's this fine balance between going after people, and then having them either be jailed, or paying a fine, or doing things that then makes them farther away from being able to catch up.

And it's—you mentioned there are certain programs or rules or things. How do you approach that balance in a way to try to make it work the best, for both the state and people involved?

So, in our program at the state, we administer the budget and policies and implement new laws. We work closely with our county offices, so our local child support agencies have the direct day-to-day case management. We work carefully to ensure that we're delivering services with respect.

One of the things that we talked about in our conversation is a personal passion of mine, which is connecting to the human services side of child support and where we sit within the Health and Human Services Agency.

And truly, I think if we can assist parents and give them a leg up, try to remove barriers for them. If the parent who's paying support has a barrier, what could we do to assist them and help remove those barriers, so that they can be a big part of their children's lives?

We believe that children are better off when they have both parents able and willing to be part of their lives. So, I like to look at what we can do to remove any sort of barriers. One of the things we talked about was the Medi-Cal expansion and opportunities to get health insurance, and items like that.

There's also a new federal final rule which will allow child support agencies to engage in employment services for parents, which is really important to speak to those cases holistically, and not just turn someone away.

If they come to us and say they need assistance in finding a job, to pay that support. We want to be able to help them to the extent possible.

And I think that's the important point, is—because when the question was asked about what's the amount of debt, it was with no context.

And I think we could go after the debt, and there could be a bunch of people in jail, and they would just be farther and farther from ever being able to earn their way to pay things for their kids.

And it's not that I think they should get off, but I think there's a balance there that needs to be pursued. And my impression was, as you are working on that balance—the other question I thought I'd ask, just—I asked it in the meeting and for everybody's benefit—is you have all these different local departments.

How do you, at the state level, overlook them to make sure that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing and they're not going sideways in some way that you're not intervening?

Thank you, Senator Laird. We have a close relationship with our county offices and have meetings with them frequently.

We also have four regional administrators, who are assigned to each of the four regions that we've carved out, and they are in constant communication with their directors and meet monthly with them to have discussions about how their cases are going and what we can do to support them.

We have—we have really dived into data and are looking at that. We have a number of practice indicators we've developed, that allow us to track, monthly, our progress on cases, and understanding that we're not just looking at numbers because these are truly outcomes for families.

So, what is our outcome for families, in terms of the percentage of current support that we've been able to collect? So, we track all of that very closely and have conversations if anything looks off. But we also do have statewide Director meetings, where we meet in person and as well as plenty of virtual meetings.

Great, thank you. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Senator Laid. Gonna be looking at Senator Caballero. Leader Jones, any items? Leader Jones, please.

Just a quick question, and I appreciate my colleague's question, and this might be too deep in the weeds, but let me know if it is or isn't.

In 2022, then Senator Kamlager had a Bill, SB 1055, which I think I supported, that prohibited child support agencies from suspending a driver's license as an enforcement tool, for low-income parents and child support. Do you have an opinion on how that Bill has worked out?

We are very early into the implementation of that Bill, as it was just effective on January 20, 2025.

Oh, okay.

Yes. We worked closely though, with the Department of Motor Vehicles, to ensure that we secured a release for licenses for everybody who was suspended, as of January 2025, as our data showed that many of the individuals had incomes below that threshold. So, we wanted to ensure that we were not adding barriers for those individuals.

So, they did not need to go to court, they did not need to go to the DMV. We proactively ensured that their license was released. So, any hold from the Child Support Department was released. So, that was over 140,000 individuals.

Wow. Okay. And do you have an opinion on how that's going to affect collections, going—moving forward—or is it, might be too early to tell?

I think it is certainly too easy to tell—or too early to tell, excuse me. We have implemented various tableau dashboards for—to—enable our counties to do—manually review those cases, to see if their income is over that threshold and really do a determination.

And what I like about that manual process is that it gives them a chance to look at that case holistically and see what else might need to happen, to help the family.

Okay. It's not very often that we get an opportunity to look at a Bill that we either supported or didn't support, you know, several years later. And so, I was just—more out of curiosity than anything. So, thank you on that. And I meant to ask Director Wimbley this, and I forgot to.

Of the number of employees that you have—I think our report is showing nearly 700, is that right? Are most of them—all of them—what's the percentage of them that are back to work in the office, versus work remote?

So, I believe we're at about 95% in compliance with the two-day minimum for the return to office. So, quite a few. Most of us are, yes.

And the requirement now is two days a week?

It is two days, until July 1st.

Okay. And then it's full time?

It would be a four-day minimum.

Four-day minimum. Okay, great. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Senator Caballero.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much for being here today and for answering our questions. I was, I was happy to hear that there is a move away from penalizing individuals that owe money.

Over the years. I think in error, we've put a whole bunch of penalties on things and then, they, and then, we're surprised when poor people can't comply and then, they're put in jail, or there's an adverse consequence, like the driver's license. And so, we've tried it. It didn't work. And I think something else needs to be done.

So, I appreciate you talking about that, because it's important to understand that not everybody is similarly situated. And part of the problem is once you get behind the eight ball, it's really difficult to believe that you need to work extra hard to get out from behind the eight ball, because it just doesn't happen.

And so, thank you for that. In terms of the Skinner Bill, the—SB 343—that the implementation date is January of next year. Can you talk a little bit about how your—what the process is you're using to figure out how exactly to operationalize it? The devil's really in the, in the details.

And I appreciate the work that's been done with, with the driver's license, so that people actually don't need to come in. We've made, we've, we've created some, some opportunities for people to clear up their criminal record, but they have to do something in order to do it.

And if they're working and trying to live life, it's hard to imagine going back to court and asking for mercy from a judge. So, do you have—can you explain what you're thinking at this point?

Certainly. Thank you, Senator Caballero. So, specifically, and I'll try to make it a little less technical, because there's a lot of weeds with this. If our Department, or our local child support agencies, are not able to identify actual income, this statutory framework would have us plead for an earning capacity.

So, there are 14 different factors that this law requires us to consider, when trying to estimate what somebody's income could or should be. Generally, though, we have very detailed access to actual income. So thankfully, it is not a very large percentage of our cases for which we do not have this actual income.

So, we look at these 14 factors, and the Department has undertaken research with an Economics Professor, which is right in my wheelhouse. I studied Economics in my undergrad, so it's been very interesting to look at it. He's a Labor Economist and expert on those labor conditions.

So, what we've been doing is building out a framework, where we look at the County of residence for the individual, their age, any known skills, any known health impediments, and all of those 14 factors to help us build, with the help of data.

So, things like the Census Data, something that can be an estimate that is introducible in court, because it's backed by real data. It's not a guess. This is what the Census Data and other labor data says could, or should, be their earning capacity. And at that point, the individual will be served with these pleadings.

They have an opportunity to file an answer. And whether or not they file an answer, we must have a court hearing. And then the court makes a final determination and makes findings of fact about what they believe the earning capacity to be.

So, in that answer, they can actually bring in their, their—I can think of it in Spanish, but I'm losing the term in English. Check stubs, pay stubs. And that can be part of the evidence the judge determines?

Absolutely, or they could indicate any other barriers that they have. For example, one of the factors is lack of transportation. That might not be something the local agency knows about. And this really invites the parents to come in and let us know what else do we not know about and how can we help.

So, you also talked about—thank you for that answer, that's really helpful. You also talked about the ability to—or you're creating the ability to help, in terms of job training or job—actually getting a job. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Would you do it, or would you partner with someone that has maybe the skills to be able to go through a job—an assessment of the skills that the individual has?

Because the real issue, and I represent a rural agricultural district, and so, the real problem, in many instances, is that the individual may not have a full-time job and they work seasonally. And so, they have a good salary for a period of time, but then it ends, and for three to six months, they're not employed.

And so, then it becomes difficult for—and they never catch up, is what it amounts to.

Yes. Thank you so much. So, first, if I could respond to the agricultural community and the seasonal income as well. In my younger years, I worked for a pear orchard, pear cooperative. So, I absolutely understand the kind of seasonal nature of the work there.

We actually in California have case law that allows us to set child support with a base amount, and then an adjustment each month, if that's the appropriate thing to do. So, it's interesting. It's generally used for higher earners, but I think that it has a lot of promise in that type of scenario as well.

So, the final rule that I was mentioning is the employment services in child support. And so, this makes it an allowable activity for child support agencies to engage in these employment services, but it's generally left very open to the states to determine how best to implement that. We are just at the exploration stage.

This was very recently made final at the end of 2024. So, we're exploring what that could look like. We do have already engagement with the workforce boards. We're part of their state plan and have been for many years.

But we're looking at how we can be really good partners to them, whether that's a warm handoff or some co-location. So, we're really at the brainstorming stage right now.

That's great. Thank you for your answers. I really appreciate it. I'm done, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Senator. Before we go to public comment, we'd like to be able to do a check in, if there's any additional discussion with the Director. Thank you, Madam Director. Hearing seemingly no additional discussion, we're going to open it up for any public comment.

We're going to start out with those who may be in support. If you are in support of the Director, if you could please step forward to the microphone at this time. Hey. Hey. Welcome. Good afternoon. If you don't mind providing us your first and last name, organization. You have 30 seconds. The floor is yours.

Rebecca Gonzales, and I'm with the Western Center on Law and Poverty and also representing—as part of the Truth and Justice and Child Support Coalition. And we want to strongly support the nomination of Kristen Erickson-Donadee to be the Director of the Department of Child Support Services.

We've had the privilege of working with her while she was Chief Deputy Director of DCSS, and in her previous role as Chief Counsel. Ms. Erickson-Donadee brings a deep expertise to this role, having worked at the Department in different capacity, over the years.

Equally important, she approaches this work with the goal of reducing child poverty, and the understanding that children and their parents are better off when the child support system strives to improve the financial stability of the entire family unit. She also brings a genuine commitment to listening to the diverse voices and communities impacted by California's child support system.

As Chief Deputy Director, she was instrumental in restarting quarterly meetings, with advocates and community organizations, that work directly with impacted parents to keep us updated and to provide a forum for questions and concerns.

This collaborative leadership has improved communication among the stakeholders and strengthened the implementation of the Department's recent efforts, such as implementing policy changes to better aid CalWORKs' families and parents who were formerly incarcerated.

It is imperative that the person leading DCSS not only has a deep understanding of child support and its administration but also has an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those in poverty. Kristen Erickson-Donadee will help—will bring—both her tenure as Director of DCSS, and we enthusiastically support her nomination. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

Thank you.

We'd like to be able to see if there's anyone else who would like to be able to speak in support. You're more than welcome. Please step forward at this time. All right, we're now going to move to those who may be opposed. We're looking at opposition. If you could please step forward at this time. Last call.

Let's bring it back to Committee. Let's see if there's any.

Look at that.

All right, Madam Vice Chair.

Send Director Erickson-Donadee to the full Senate Floor for a vote.

We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair, a second by Senator Laird. Final discussion or debate? Hearing, seeing none. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

That's a 5 - 0 vote. We're going to shut down the roll. Motion approved. Madam Director, congratulations. Thank you so much. Fantastic news. Thank you for all your hard work. Next stop will be the Senate Floor. To Andrew and Nate, thank you so much for being here.

It's really good to see you and so happy that you're here today, as well. All right, thank you so much. We're going to take a 30-second recess. We're going to call Madam Deputy Director to please come forward. We're going to switch out the nameplate. We're going to take a little bit of break as well.

Let's say two minutes. I think we need two minutes. Two-minute break. Madam Deputy Director. Come on down. We'll get you—got your own water?

First of all, Madam Deputy Director, thank you so much for your patience here today. It's good to see you. Welcome. I'm going to run through and I know you are, you're hearing your baton cleanup right now and you've heard it before, so I apologize. So we're going to have three minutes for an opening statement.

We're going to invite you to welcome and or acknowledge any individual, friends, family who are here today or watching online. What we'll then do is we'll open it up for questions or comments from the committee. Not at all trying to be rude. We have Members of the Committee, Madam Vice Chair is going to have to go vote, Senator Laird just had to go vote. They'll be back.

So just don't be surprised if folks are going to be coming in and out. And again, not at all trying to be rude and do apologize about that. But it's a busy day around the around the Capitol.

Once we complete the questions, comments, we'll open it up for public comment and then we'll move towards a vote. Thank you so much for all of your incredible work. It's wonderful to have you here. Thank you for your patience in waiting for us today. The floor is yours. You have three minutes.

Good afternoon and thank you Chair McGuire and Senators. I'm honored to be here today and be considered for confirmation. I want to thank the Governor for the opportunity to serve in this role.

And I also want to extend my thanks to Secretary Johnson, Director Boss, Anne Tyler Sadwith, who is our Chief Deputy Director and State Medicaid Director at the Department of Healthcare Services, along with all of my colleagues who make up our incredible team at the Department.

On a personal note, I want to thank my life partner of 17 years, Stan Lang, who is in the room behind me today. And also acknowledge my siblings who may be watching online, Brandon Wilhelm, Janice Santangelo and their families. I am sitting in the chair today because when I was younger I experienced some health challenges.

Fortunately, none of that was permanently life altering. But even though I was a college graduate with a full time job, I struggled to get the care I needed and I was left to deal with not insignificant medical debt.

So after those experiences, I really had to ask myself, if someone with the advantages I have can't access basic health care, where does that leave people with far fewer resources. This prompted me to go back to school for health policy.

And as a graduate student, I actually had the opportunity to work with the California Senate Office of Research to study the rollout of the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System.

In doing that work, I was blown away by the passion and expertise of the people I met in the behavioral health field who dedicate their lives to helping others through addiction and recovery. I was also awed, frankly, by the scope of the challenges facing Californians who need help with alcohol, drug use or mental health.

I've worked on behalf of the publicly funded behavioral health system ever since. In recent years, the Newsom Administration, in partnership with the Legislature, counties, care providers and Californians, has made unprecedented investments to improve our ability to deliver the behavioral health services people need when and where they need them.

I am deeply grateful to be part of a statewide team that believes every Californian, regardless of background, income or circumstances, should have what they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives, including access to behavioral health care.

My primary goal as Deputy Director for Behavioral Health is to provide effective leadership for DHCS during a time of extraordinary change and opportunity. So I thank you all again for the chance to be here today and I'm happy to take your questions.

Thank you so much Madam Deputy Director. Very, very grateful and hearing your story I think people are even better at their jobs when it's personal for them and please push back on me and hearing why and how you got involved. Love it and that's why folks should go into state service. So thank you so much.

Let's open it up for questions or comments to see if we have any questions or comments. I know I have one, but would like to be able to see if we have any. Madam Deputy Director, represent a rural part of our state.

The Department has made significant investments, as you just said, over the last half decade in particular represent Humboldt County, Del Norte county, and we're finally starting to see those investments from the state, but they still trail urban areas. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Because if you take a look, especially in rural parts of the state and especially areas with high Native American communities, you look at substance abuse, mental health, many dual diagnosed. There's a real need.

Can you talk about what that looks like for the Department, for the outreach and what you see in the years to come when it comes to investment?

Yes, thank you for that question and I will share very briefly that when I'm asked about rural health, that's also close to my heart because I grew up in southeastern Wyoming in a town of 3,000 people.

So we really do strive as we are implementing new initiatives and programs to ensure that we implement them in a way that can reach all communities across the state. And we do indeed have a lot of geographic and other types of diversity in California.

And so specifically with some of our recent initiatives, we have been looking really carefully with the bond dollars authorized through Proposition 1 and the Behave, we refer to it as Bond BCHIP Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program to look at where and how we're making those awards.

And so to be specific, you know, in the previous rounds of BCHIP funding, we identified, I believe, around 17 mostly rural count that received no awards. We do know that those rural counties have gaps in behavioral health and infrastructure, and we need to build up services there as well as in the more populous parts of the state.

And so going into the opportunity with the bond funds, we did proactive outreach and technical assistance to areas from which we'd received no applications. Obviously, we can't award grant funding unless we receive a competitive application.

And so we did outreach to geographic areas where we hadn't received applications to entities that had submitted applications that didn't meet the bar and broaden sort of our technical assistance offerings online.

And we're really excited to see that we got seven additional-our projects, I should say submitted from seven additional rural counties that were not represented in those previous rounds of funding. So that's specific to our infrastructure treatment funding, but happy to speak to other opportunities if.

One hundred percent, no, thank you, Madam Deputy Director. I think one of the challenges that we have seen is, and I'll just speak in the area that I represent on the north coast. So for example, like in Humboldt, Humboldt has a total of about 130,000 folks countywide, but the county just north has 26,000, the county to the east has 13,000 countywide..

There is one facility that is critically acute for those struggling with mental health and very little substance use disorder facilities in either of the three counties. And under Prop 1, if beds were already planned, and this is something we're working, by the way, with DHCS, and I'm very grateful to DHCS for the engagement.

If beds were already planned for deployment, if you will, they don't count under Prop 1 because they were already in progress versus Prop 1 funds new beds, but they couldn't be in progress prior to Prop 1 passing. I'm oversimplifying a bit, but it's pretty close.

So that's an issue that we're working through because as we know, especially in rural parts of the state, it's very difficult to be able to get a facility propped up and running even if they have some money.

It is very challenging for a small county, a rural county, to be able to get a facility even with 15 beds. Moving. So that's an issue that I'm going to want to continue to engage on.

There's a public hospital, Mad river, that we're working on and working with that I think we're going to be able to get some additional infrastructure dollars with, but there's still going to be a gap.

But the biggest challenge is they already had these beds already planned prior to Prop 1, so they don't count against Prop 1 for the funding. It's a bit of a loophole and would love to continue the conversation with the Department.

Yes, and thank you. Appreciate your point about Prop 1 and some of the infrastructure dollars needing to follow the parameters that were set forth in law. I would also just mention we are looking at opportunities to prioritize and award projects that will serve broader regions that are maybe done through regional collaboration.

You're absolutely right, which is fantastic. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You're absolutely right.

So again, happy to speak to any other strategies, but I want to be mindful of our time and where the committee wants to go.

And I think the last item, and I'll just mention is that it's going to be on workforce and I think continuing to work.

I know what we're needing to be able to do is develop a health care hub and one of them is going to be focused on drug and alcohol counselors, obviously growing out from many who have faced addiction before and who are personally passionate about it.

But I think that's the other issue that we're faced with in rural parts of the state. And again, I will not belabor the point and love to be able to follow up with you, Madam Deputy Director. Thank you so much. And it's great that Stan is here as well. So very cool. Thank you so much.

We'd like to be able to see if there's additional comments from the committee, please. Senator Caballero.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And welcome, it's great to have you here. I want to second what the Chair had to say in regards to rural California, the services are just not there. And you talked about the difficulty of finding services for a health issue. Ditto. I cannot find services, period.

And I say if a Senator can't find services, then it's pretty darn sad. But I want to talk about mental health or behavioral health, because that's really, to me, the crisis of today and tomorrow. I've been going into classrooms for many, many years, really to talk to students about the importance of education.

But also, so they see someone that looks like them. And I am overwhelmed by the number of students now that talk about mental health as the number one issue. As I said, I've been doing it for years, and there were always different issues until about six or seven years ago.

And now the number one issue is mental health. And they're really worried about it for their friends along with themselves. And so the training and the preparation of professionals or paraprofessionals to be able to do group programs and the kinds of things that help students in particular, and this probably goes back to their families as well, to help them process some of the things that they're feeling and that they feel hopeless about is going to be really, really critically important.

And so the opportunity to create drug and alcohol counselors, peer counselors, is going to be critically important and then all the way up to more professionals.

And part of the challenge is that when we change the rules for how we deal with behavioral health with children, and we eliminated the ability to have residential facilities, it became very difficult for parents to figure out what happens if I have a child that's hurting themselves or that could hurt me, because those kinds of facilities, the highest levels, are in short supply.

And they're really not treatment facilities. They're really, they're diagnostic more than anything else. And I know, I've spoken to parents about being at their wit's end because they just don't know how to be able to help their children. There aren't enough therapists in the community.

And so that the lack of services really means that parents feel under siege because they just don't know how to help their children who they love and care about. But the mental health issue is really significant.

The question that I have is, can you tell us a little bit about any programs that you may be implementing to improve youth mental health? It's really where it starts.

And so if you've got some idea of programs that you're looking at, I think it would make us all feel a little bit better about there's at least a direction that we're going in that could be helpful.

Absolutely. Thank you for the question, and I'll mention a few things, but there is, as I mentioned, we do have a lot of relatively recent investments in this area that we're looking to grow and scale. And so happy to follow up if you are curious beyond what I mention.

I think first, just to respond a little bit to your reflection on residential care and in home care. I mean of course obviously we want children to be in their homes with appropriate caregivers wherever possible and receiving community based care.

And so as you said, a lot of our investments in developing the community based behavioral health workforce over time should help increase those resources available to families.

We also can, through the Bond BHCIP funding that I mentioned earlier, Fund facilities like crisis residential programs for children which are for short term stabilization and treatment and of course intended to then transition children back into their homes. And we know that that's a gap that sort of crisis care for children. So we are working on that.

But meanwhile I'm sure you're familiar with the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and I want to be careful not to take too much credit there because it's not something I manage directly. That's led out of DHCS's Office of Strategic Partnerships by my colleague Autumn Boylan.

But within that Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative there's an array of interventions that are designed to help reach children where they're at often that is in school or online. Right. So we are focused on building out school based behavioral health services.

We've done rounds of grant funding to increase collaboration between schools and our Medi-Cal managed care plans.

We are also in the process of rolling out a school based fee schedule so that local education agencies that want to directly provide behavioral health services on site have a straightforward mechanism for billing an array of services, you know, certainly to Medi-Cal and also to commercial payers.

And then you have probably also heard about the online platforms or applications that we've launched targeted specifically to young people and families. So those are BrightLife and Soluna are the names. And we've begun to see significantly increased uptake of those online services, which is great.

Children and families are able to get access to mental health counseling and coaching, et cetera. And the last thing I would mention because you mentioned workforce to start another part of that children and youth behavioral health initiative is training wellness coaches.

So I would say we know we have shortages of licensed providers, often a longer term investment and project to increase the number and the representativeness of our licensed providers. But we also are focusing on growing our paraprofessional sort of often refer to it as the base of the pyramid.

So these are our community health workers, our wellness coaches, our peers and SUD counselors. And under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative we've been able to begin certifying through the Department of Healthcare Access and Information a number of wellness coaches.

So I could talk a lot more about workforce development, but I will pause there and see if you have any follow ups.

Great. That's excellent because that's really, I think, the basics needed. Are you working in conjunction with the community colleges on the program that you just talked about certification of, like the promotores or the wellness coaches, for example?

There certainly are community colleges and educational institutions that have developed or are developing educational programs specific to each of these classifications and would have to follow up with you for sort of details on what the collaboration looks like under, again, particularly under Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, since I don't directly manage that.

That sounds great. Well, I would appreciate that mostly because my experience is that the programs that are least likely to get into rural areas are the programs that where there isn't necessarily the support. And I don't mean that people don't like it. I'm talking about the program support, classrooms, teachers or instructors, that kind of thing.

And that's rural California. So I would be really interested in learning more about that because I'm very familiar with the Promotores Program in the healthcare sector. And I think those programs, because they're peer counselors, have the ability to speak the language and also to understand the cultural context in which people talk about behavioral health.

So I'd be very interested in kind of following up with you on that. And I really appreciate your comments because the workforce is going to be critically important if we're really going to get our arms around this.

We don't have enough money and enough time to wait for the training for licensed individuals to solve or to help us to deal with the issue. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much. Madam Vice Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, Deputy Director. I have two questions. California passed a Housing First several years ago and to me it's made it more difficult, I think, to keep people in housing because we're not addressing the serious issues that sometimes put people in a homeless situation, drug addiction. And I apologize, I was in another committee.

So if they've already asked you these questions, I am really sorry. But you know, we're not really addressing the issues that may have caused the homeless situation in the first place. Obviously affordability is one. But you know, there are a lot of people on the street that have drug addiction, substance abuse problems, mental health issues.

But we have a Housing First program. And I can give you a perfect example in one of my counties. They had a hotel room key thing, and they had a mom with two kids right next to a guy that caught the room on fire with a meth lab.

So there has to be some type of accountability when you give somebody the opportunity to live indoors for housing. So I guess what models of housing have you come up with or that you oversee based on numbers, real outcomes, is the best way to put people off the street into housing.

And being the first female veteran here, I'd like to start with veterans. I hate to see our veterans, I hate to see anybody on the street- hate to see our veterans on the street. So what's the solution to I guess get people off the street into housing but address those concerns that have them on the street probably in the first place?

Yes. Thank you. And we'll try to respond on a couple of different angles and then you tell me if I'm hitting the note you were looking for. But I think first to say we agree with you that making behavioral health care more readily accessible and making high quality care accessible is a tool to help keep people housed.

And so obviously our one first line strategy is to continue expanding the services we can cover through Medi-Cal, making sure we reach people through different interventions, making sure that we're prioritizing evidence based practices that we know work. So focusing certainly on getting people care and getting people treatment.

And then when we look at housing strategies specifically, I think you'll often hear us talking about having multiple tools in the toolbox or trying to ensure that we fund an array of different types of settings and interventions.

So to your point about housing, first, you know, we certainly follow those principles and follow the law and we want to get a roof over people's heads so that they can then get other services they need.

At the same time, we do want to make sure that people have settings that meet their needs, such as sober living can also be something that is valuable for people in the recovery journey.

The last thing I think I'll bring up is we have really focused on trying to leverage the Medi-Cal program to your point, to help people access housing. And so we have coverage through our Medi-Cal managed care plans for community supports which can include housing, navigation, housing deposits, tenancy sustaining services.

And so those are really sort of those wraparound services to get people into an appropriate setting and help stabilize them there. And then forthcoming, we'll also be able to offer coverage for up to six months of rent for individuals with really complex health needs who are also experiencing homelessness and transitions of care.

So we'll be able to leverage federal dollars to hopefully rapidly connect them to housing through their managed care plan. Bring in some of those wraparound supports and then develop a more permanent housing plan. So that was sort of a laundry list of strategies. But please feel welcome to tell me where to double back.

No, I mean, I appreciate that. You know, at Peoria, I live off of the 80 and I drive in and it turns into 12th street and goes underneath that bridge. And I must pass a hundred homeless people a day. Three days ago, it's 45 degrees.

You know, we got up here on Tuesday, so two days or when we get here Monday? So Monday morning when I got here, it was, you know, 45 degrees and there's a naked guy in the middle of the street, sitting in the middle of the road. He don't know he's in the middle of the street.

You have a lady standing up facing the wall and hitting her head on the wall. She doesn't know she's there. There's serious mental health issues and something going wrong with society and especially in our homeless population in these large areas. And so I just- it makes me sick to my stomach.

I say often I have to find a new route to work because there are people really hurting and there are some out there that just look like they're living on the streets and living on the streets, but there are people that I pass that they don't know their on the streets.

And there's an elderly population on the streets that, you know, in walkers and wheelchairs and, you know, it just, it needs to be addressed and fixed. And I do believe a lot of it has to do with behavioral health issues. You oversee the behavioral health programs.

How is the department working with counties that appropriate treatment services to provide appropriate treatment services that comply with Prop 36?

Yes, thank you. And should state that DHCS does not have a prescribed role in implementing Prop 36. But as you said, counties are in the process of implementing and responsible for identifying, you know, developing treatment plans and identifying treatment options for people who are.

I know Ina's giving me the dirty look because I interrupted, but you oversee the accountability part or not. Am I misinformed?

For Proposition 36, we do not have a specified role under law, but we happy to speak to. As counties are identifying treatment options for people, obviously some of those individuals will qualify for Medi-Cal funded treatment to the extent it's medically necessary. And then at that point, point, were overseeing county's execution of their Medi-Cal contracts.

Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you for that very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. See if there's any discussion or debate. Any additional. Okay, please Senator.

I'm sorry, I missed some of this too. Let me ask just one follow up question on Senator Grove, because when you read, and I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to meet, when you read all the responsibilities, it's all these overlapping programs. It's implementing the Care Act and the Ackman Bill.

You've got Prop 36 hanging out there and yet everything has all these co factors. I think some of the people that Senator Grove was talking about have cofactors. And if you look at drugs, there was a time when meth was it. And then it comes to fentanyl and norco and oxycontin was in there somewhere.

And you're running these programs that are these established programs with established protocols. How do you move with where the clients are to deal with the changes that happen in either the, like the drugs they're using. How, how do you do that? How do you know that you're actually moving with where your clients are moving?

Yeah, I really love that question. Thank you. I think two things I would start with. One is that we try to be really mindful from our state policymaking seats that we need to be listening to people on the ground. And that includes Medi-Cal Members and people who are accessing services. Right.

Who might have those co occurring conditions that you're speaking of and may be able to tell us what their experience has been trying to access care and what some of the barriers might be. We work really closely, their probably they're probably tired of hearing from us, but with our county partners, right.

Who have a primary responsibility for administering many of these services, we work with provider organizations who talk to us about sort of, as you said, how the programs do and do not fit together and what we can do to improve our policymaking. So I think being really conscious about how we do engagement.

I think in some ways and excuse me for interrupting, I think in some ways it's the flow of information coming the other way. And I have this story from when I was in the assembly where I'm watching somebody I know that's elected to the Board of Supervisors accept victory on TV. And he says, the number one issue in my district was meth.

And I said, how's that true? When I was running for local government, it was potholes, it was transportation. How did you get there? And he said, well, when I went door to door, that was the number one thing I heard. And he did it from going door to door.

So then I used to, when I had a half sized district than this. I would meet with the social services director and the health director and the sheriff in the fall. And I did. And I said, you got a problem with meth? The sheriff said, number one, co factor for entry to jail.

And I said to the health director, you got a problem with meth? And she says, well, it's blowing up our methadone and other programs. And I asked social services, you got a problem with meth? And she says, number one, cofactor for child protective services calls. And I said, well, when were you going to reflect it to me?

You know, because we came back, some of us, and worked to get things in the budget. But the point I'm trying to make is how are you open to getting the information coming the other way in a way that those trends are changing and you are picking up on them rather than it coming from Sacramento to them?

Yeah. Thank you. I think we do rely on many of the stakeholder bodies and meetings that we have. We have people that are actively reaching out to us all the time to give us input on how we're implementing policies.

And I think it's incumbent on us not just to hear that right, but then to look at where do we have flexibility, and we often do, within the parameters of state or federal law to improve upon the program and to pivot sometimes to address emerging conditions.

And one, you know, one example I would point to actually, since you are mentioning stimulants, et cetera, is we, as you probably are aware, since 2017, have been braiding state and federal funding into what we refer to as state opioid response projects.

And it's a large portfolio of projects intended to improve opioid safety, access to medication, assisted treatment, et cetera, that also has been broadened to address treatment for stimulant use because it would be blinkered, right, to say we're only helping with opioids.

Excuse me for interrupting again. I think just to close out, I would encourage you to be sensitive that way, to listen to see if there's differences because that's the way you're going to hear. And there's going to be something that comes that we all can't figure out right now.

And the people that you deal with at the local level are going to be the ones that first interact with it.

And so I'm just hoping that that's part of your role, is to encourage that in a way that you catch that things are changing and that there might be something going on that doesn't fit what has been going on in the year before. So anyway, thank you for bearing with me. I appreciate and look forward to the vote.

All right, hearing and seeing, no additional questions. What we're going to do is we're going to open it up and see if there's anyone who would like to be able to talk with the committee today. We're going to ask folks if you could please come forward over the microphone.

We're going to look to individuals who would like to be able to speak in support. Respectfully. We're going to ask you to keep your comments to 30 seconds. First and Last Name the organization. We welcome you. Hey, good afternoon. Come on down.

Good afternoon. Linda Way with Western Center on Law and Poverty. Pleased to support Ms. Wilhelm's confirmation. Having worked with Ms. Wilhelm in her current position at the Department as well as in her previous role at the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, I'm confident that she brings the in depth knowledge of the very important programs that she'll be leading as well as compassion and thoughtfulness and so fully support her confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thanks for hanging with us today. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Chair and Senators, and thank you so much. My name is Amar Rashid here on behalf of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California in strong support of Paula Wilhelm's confirmation here today.

Ms. Wilhelm's deep understanding of Behavioral Health Policy Area and Medi-Cal and her focus on collaborating with organizations like County Behavioral Health Directors Association has made her an incredible partner. And we look forward to continuing to work with you.

Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. We'd like to be able to see if there's anyone else who would like to be able to speak in support. You're more than welcome to come on up. We're going to now transition to those who may be in opposition.

If you could please step forward at this time to the microphone. Alrighty, let's bring it on back to committee. See if there's any additional discussion or debate or a motion.

I move to move Director Deputy Wilhelm to the full Senate Floor for a vote.

All right. Thank you so much. Madam Vice Chair. Last call for discussion or debate from the committee. Madam Secretary, can we please call the roll with the motion by Madam Vice Chair?

[Roll Call]

5-0 vote. That motion passes. We're going to close the roll. Madam Deputy Director, congratulations. This is really wonderful news. Everybody feel free to clap. You better believe it. Hot dang. Come on now. Next stop is going to be the Senate forum. Madam Deputy Director, again, just want to sincerely say thank you for your incredible work on behalf of the state and the people of California.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Big day. Ladies and gentlemen, we want to say thank you. We're going to hit a quick pause and we'll be right back with you. All right.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's public portion of the agenda. Again, thank you all for taking the time to better be here. We're going to adjourn our public portion of today's agenda. Then we're going to convene under our Executive session. Thank you all very much for your attendance.