Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Director, Laura Burch, is Retiring.

On Thursday, April 17, Shasta County announced the pending retirement of Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Director Laura Burch, effective August 1.

Burch has worked for the County for nearly a decade and for other government programs for another 10, according to the press release. Since 2022, Burch has served as the head of the County’s largest department, HHSA, managing a budget of more than $300 million and a staff of about 1,000. 

She was promoted to the position from her former role as the Director of Housing and Community Action, a department she later consolidated under HHSA. Last September Burch began what has become an extended medical leave from her role at the County. In her absence, Assistant HHSA Director Christy Coleman has been serving as Acting HHSA Director.

According to the County’s press release, Burch has been “instrumental in strengthening health and social services delivery across the region.”

“Laura’s dedication to public service and her deep compassion for our community have made a lasting impact,” said Shasta County Executive Officer David Rickert. “We are grateful for her many contributions and wish her all the best in her retirement.”

Burch helped oversee what the County describes as “a complete reorganization” of HHSA, including merging the Children’s and Adult Services departments together to form the Behavioral Health and Social Services Branch (BHHS) and transitioning the County’s Housing department under the umbrella of HHSA’s leadership.

One of the first changes Burch made at the Agency after becoming the appointed HHSA Director in late 2022 was the creation of the Internal Accountability, Compliance and Performance team. According to the County, the IACP is responsible for “further increasing efficiency and accountability across the department” although there have been no public reports of what’s been accomplished through the IACP so far.

Other changes that have occurred at HHSA under Burch’s leadership included closing the Opportunity Center (OC), which supported disabled adults with employment services. She also relocated management of the seven-county NorCal Continuum of Care (CoC) under HHSA before deciding to terminate the County’s role as lead agency for the NorCal CoC altogether. Both the decision to close the OC and the decision to step away from administrating the NorCal CoC have drawn significant scrutiny but were made to reduce unsustainable program costs, Burch has said.

As Shasta Scout has previously reported, under Burch’s leadership several new top departmental positions were added to HHSA, including the currently vacant role of Assistant Director of HHSA, and the role of Chief Fiscal Officer, which was just filled after an eight month vacancy. 

The decision last year to add a CFO to HHSA’s ranks came after a number of financial issues, including a year-long delay in bringing significant budgetary adjustments to the Board of Supervisors and a legal warning from a State agency. Last July the County’s first CFO left after only two months, prompting more questions from the public.

HHSA also saw a huge turnover in staffing under Burch’s leadership, including the departure of Mental Health Director Miguel Rodriguez, Public Health Director Robin Schurig, and Administrative Branch Director Megan Dorney, among other top leaders. In April 2023, documents released by the County in response to Shasta Scout’s records requests showed HHSA had seen the loss of about 200 staffers, or a fifth of its workforce, in the last year.

On April 22, the Board of Supervisors will discuss a possible appointment to the HHSA Director position in closed session. Coleman will continue as Acting Director of HHSA, the County says, until a permanent replacement is named.

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