The Social Services Committee of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors met on April 27, 2026, to receive informational updates on the CalFresh program, Child Abuse Prevention Month activities, foster care services, and the eighth audit update on child welfare services. Key discussions centered on the impact of federal HR1 legislation on CalFresh eligibility, declining enrollment, foster care placement challenges, and progress on audit recommendations.
Good afternoon and welcome to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Social Services Committee meeting for Monday, April the 27th, 2026. May I have broke call, please? Supervisor Fortunatar Boss. Present. Supervisor Tim. Present. We have a core. Thank you. Could you go over instructions and participation in person and online? For both in-person and remote attendees when addressing the committee, please give your name for the record prior to your presentation. If you wish to speak on a matter not on the agenda, please wait until the chair calls for public comment on non-agenda items. To notify the clerk you wish to speak, please fill out a speaker clip, speaker slip and submit it to the clerk. Only matters within the board of supervisors' jurisdiction may be addressed. Time limitation shall be at the discretion of the chair. If you're online, please please use the raise hand function. If you're calling in, please dial star five to raise and lower your hand. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will start with our first informational item, which is the CalFresh program update. Yes, I'll like to invite Roland Shell and Jaime and Desco to the podium. Um next month is CalFresh Awareness Month. So we typically try to give you all the CalFresh update in preparation for Calfresh Awareness Month. And what you'll hear is a little bit about HR1, but the focus really is just about the CalFresh program. So Jaime. Good afternoon. Okay, sorry about that. Um good afternoon, Supervisor Tam, Supervisor Fortunato uh Bass, Director Ford. My name is Jaime N Domesco. I am an associate program specialist at Alameda County Social Services Workforce and Benefit Administration. I am joined by my colleague Roland Shaw, who's a program specialist. We're here today to provide an update on the CalFresh program. Uh thank you for having us today. Next slide, please. Thank you. Next, I'll go through the agenda. We'll start with a brief overview of the CalFresh program, followed by CalFresh Awareness Month activities. Then we'll cover Sunbugs, the Calfresh Fruits and Vegetable EBT Pilot Program and EBT theft. We will also go over recent non-citizen eligibility changes and updates to the able-bodied adults without dependence under HR1. We'll close with a snapshot of current Calfresh program data. Next slide, please. Thank you. To provide a brief overview of the CalFresh program, CalFresh is federally known as SNAP. It's one of the largest food assistance program, actually the largest food assistance program in California. It serves as a critical safety net for low-income individuals and families. The program provides monthly benefits on an EBT card, which is which functions similar to an uh a debit card to purchase food at grocery stores or farmers markets. People can apply for CalFresh through multiple channels, including in-person at any of our social services agency offices, uh, by phone, mail, fax, and online at benefitscal.com. Next slide, please. Thank you. Calfresh Awareness Month. As Director Ford mentioned, May is CalFresh Awareness Month, and our focus is on making sure people understand that the CalFresh program exists and understand how to access it.