Alameda County Social Services Committee Meeting on July 30, 2026
Alameda County Social Services Committee Meeting on July 30, 2026
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors Social Services Committee met on July 30, 2026, to receive three informational updates. The committee discussed the Department of Children and Family Services' 10th status update on the state auditor's findings, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for the 2025-2026 tax season, and the Workforce Development Board's program update. Supervisors Lena Tam (Chair) and Nikki Fortunato Bas participated. No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- Department of Children and Family Services Status Update: Director Michelle Love presented data on sibling placements, reunification rates, timely investigations, and workforce vacancies. As of July 2026, Alameda County had 607 children (ages 0-17) and 196 non-minor dependents (ages 18-21) in foster care. 51.9% of children were placed with relatives. For children entering foster care with siblings in 2024, 88.2% were reunified with some or all siblings. Timely investigations declined from 77.1% in March 2026 to 50.8% in June 2026. The department’s overall vacancy rate was 21%, but continuous hiring (165 new child welfare workers since 2019) and a new recruiter were underway. Supervisor Fortunato Bas expressed concern about declining investigation timelines and closures, and asked about the ombudsperson position and Victor Community Support Services contract. Chair Tam asked about placement safety and mental health services. The department will provide an update on Victor Community Support Services at the August committee meeting and continue working on the ombudsperson position.
- Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program Update: Pamela Powell and Marissa Hollenback reported that the program filed 2,050 tax returns across three sites, securing $3.4 million in total refunds, including over $980,000 in Earned Income Tax Credits and over $1 million in Child Tax Credits. The average adjusted gross income for filers ranged from $41,000 to $44,000. The program introduced a weekly communication series and an apprenticeship. Apprentice Brittany Lampkin recommended separating program operations from community engagement roles. Supervisors thanked volunteers and asked about outreach methods. Looking ahead, the program will expand the apprenticeship, explore becoming a Certifying Acceptance Agency for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), and enhance outreach.
- Workforce Development Board Update: Rhonda Boykin and Carl Pasqual presented on program performance, labor market trends, and legislative impacts. The board was designated a high-performing board. In program year 2025-2026, over 400 participants were enrolled, with 50% entering employment—80% in priority sectors. The unemployment rate in Alameda County was 3.8% (May 2026). AI was the fastest-growing in-demand skill (92.5% increase in job postings from May to July 2026), while healthcare jobs were least exposed to AI. The board spent over $1 million on training for 249 participants, with top programs including AI-driven administrative assistant and healthcare certifications. Over 3,000 employees were impacted by layoffs, with rapid response provided to 700 individuals. Legislative concerns included unfunded mandates for HR1 work requirements for CalFresh/Medi-Cal recipients and proposed OMB changes to federal grant guidance. Chair Tam asked about reconciling layoff news with low unemployment and about implementation of work requirements. The board will continue coordinating with Social Services and provide a joint update with the Health Committee.
Key Outcomes
- All three informational items were received and filed by the committee.
- The Department of Children and Family Services will report back on the Victor Community Support Services contract and the ombudsperson position at a future meeting.
- The VITA program will expand its apprenticeship and explore ITIN certification.
- The Workforce Development Board will collaborate with Social Services on CalFresh work requirements and provide a joint update with the Health Committee.
- No formal votes or resolutions were adopted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made on any agenda item or on non-agenda matters.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Social Service Committee meeting for Monday, July the 27th, 2026. May I have roll call, please? Supervisor Fortunato Bass. Present. Supervisor Tan present. We have a quorum. Thank you. Would you go over instructions for participation online and in person? In person, the meeting site is open to the public. If you'd like to speak on an item, fill out a speaker's card in the front of the room and hand it to the clerk for remote participation. Follow the teleconferencing guidelines at www.acgov.org and use the raise your hand function. Thank you. So we have three informational items today, and we will start with the one from the Department of Children and Family Services, our 10th update and the findings from the state auditors report to the joint committee on legislative audits. And this is the item that Supervisor Fortunato Bass is here for, she said. Take it away. Good afternoon, supervisors. This is the 10th presentation of where we are with the findings for the audit. Next slide. So one of the things we have tried to make sure the Social Services Committee supervisors that you are aware of is everything we present at the task force. So a majority of these slides are the ones that were covered in the previous task force. So the Alameda County Children and Non-Mordependents in foster care, you can see below the total numbers of children ages 0 to 17, which is 607. And the total number of non-minor dependents, those are our youth that are ages 18 to 21. And that total number is 196. 51.9% of Alameda County foster children are placed with their relatives. And 48.5% of Alameda County non-minor dependents are placed in traditional uh transitional housing. Next slide. So Alameda County children in foster care, their placement with siblings and relative or non-related extended family members caregivers. So Director Ford myself had a meeting with Senator Wahab on June 15th, and she had some very specific questions. Data requests regarding children and their siblings foster care. And they are what are the characteristics of sibling placements? Are they in county, out of county, out of state? Um, how many children are placed with relatives? How many children are reunified after placement with siblings? What is the average length of stay for all children and for children placed with relatives? How many children are receiving kin gap? And that's the guardianship for relatives is called kin gap. And what care and services are provided to youth placed with relatives. Next slide. So for Alameda County children in foster care, for 45.1% of all Alameda County foster youth are placed in Alameda County. And 41.3 of Alameda foster youth with siblings in foster care are placed within the county. So the numbers are laid out a little more specifically for you. That 45.1% comes out to 128 youth. And for youth with no siblings, 146 for a total of 274. For those placed out of county or out of state. Youth with siblings and foster care is 182. For those with no siblings, uh 151. So we have 310 total youth placed in Alameda County and 297 placed outside of the county. Some numbers are masked. So if you are in a state and there are less than 10 children out of state, the way our data runs is it doesn't count them because it wants them for you not to be able to identify who they might be. So I referred to that a couple of times in this presentation, but we have some numbers that are massed.
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