Shasta has discussed cutting essential social services. California says that’s a legal risk
Financial issues at Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency have led to talks of cutting some of the essential programs that California requires, like housing supports and food assistance. The state said doing so could result in legal action to protect mandated services.
Last month, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors discussed the idea of cutting some of Shasta’s state-mandated services in response to a severe shortage in the social services fund, a pot of money managed by Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency.
HHSA director Christy Coleman noted to supervisors at the time that while such a decision would ultimately come down to the board, cutting such programs should only be a last resort because they’re mandated, or required, by the state.
Supervisors didn’t take any action to cut programs last month, but the possibility raised concern from a state agency, and from advocates, who say doing so would risk legal action.
Since California is a county-administered state, required social programs are largely administered by county employees in individual county offices under the supervision of the California Department of Social Services.
State-mandated programs include essential services such as CalFresh, which provides food benefits to low-income individuals and families, and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), which provides home-based assistance to eligible aged, blind, and disabled individuals. The county also has other such state-mandated services including CalWorks and housing programs.
While supervisors have suggested that cutting some state-mandated social services would save money, there’s been no clear discussion of the potential consequences of such a decision.
That’s no longer unclear.
Theresa Mier, a spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services, which oversees county implementation of mandated social services programs, said the state is authorized to take legal action to ensure that counties fulfill their required duties.
She referred to CDSS as the “single state agency with full power to supervise every phase of the administration of public social services,” excluding health care services and medical assistance.
She also said that state law empowers her agency to use the courts to ensure compliance with mandated programs, citing Welfare and Institutions Code section 10605. That section of state law outlines the state’s options to force counties into compliance, including imposing sanctions like withholding state and federal funding or even temporarily taking over the county’s administration of mandated programs.
“The administration of public social services is a county function and responsibility,” Meir wrote in an email, “and rests upon the boards of supervisors in the respective counties pursuant to the applicable laws.
Lauren Hansen, an attorney for the Public Interest Law Project, a statewide legal support center with a focus on public benefits, said she hoped the state would follow through to take such legal measures, should Shasta or any other county resort to cutting mandatory programs.
“It is undeniable that counties are in a bind with their budgets, but equal access to public benefits should not depend on a person’s ZIP code,” she wrote in a recent email to Shasta Scout.
Should the state not take legal action, she said, legal services advocates are also standing by to ensure counties take their local responsibilities regarding vulnerable populations seriously.
Here’s what else you should know
The board’s discussion of cost-cutting options comes amid ongoing struggles with HHSA’s social services fund, which is currently in debt to the county’s general fund. There are also other signs of agency-wide instability, including a vacancy rate of just over 17% and the recent unexplained departure of HHSA’s second CFO in two years.
Financial issues over the last year have led to significant budget cuts at the agency, including hiring freezes and eliminations of vacant positions. HHSA officials and supervisors are also worried about how H.R.1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, will impact county costs in the years ahead.
During a June board meeting, District 2 Supervisor Allen Long doubled down on the idea of cutting mandated services, telling California State Association of Counties CEO Graham Knaus, who had just presented to supervisors, that “there’s only so much we can cut until we start bumping into unfunded mandates.”
Asked in an interview last month if that’s really a realistic step for counties to take, Knaus told Shasta Scout that while all California counties are struggling with shifts in federal policy, “if it’s a mandate, we’re not allowed to [cut].”
Supervisors have also suggested that they could reduce Shasta’s legal risk by collaborating with other counties to make a unified set of cuts to mandated services to avoid being singled out by the state.
That’s not the plan in Modoc County, which borders Shasta to the southwest and has a population of around 8,400.
Chester Robertson, the county’s administrative officer, told Shasta Scout that HHSA funding shortages aren’t going to impact Modoc straight away. He said the county is prepared for the upcoming fiscal year, having “planned for this and built reserves in order to continue administering the HHSA programs.”
Fiscal sustainability is likely going to be a concern for Modoc in the long-term though, Robertson said, due to more typical factors such as inflation and increased wage costs.
Meanwhile, federal policy shifts have prompted CSAC — alongside departments such as the County Welfare Directors Association of California — to actively advocate at the state-level to attain more county funding for mandated programs.
It appears to be working.
In an email to Shasta Scout this week, HHSA Administration Branch Director Erinn Watts wrote that while the agency hasn’t received final funding allocations from the state budget, staff anticipate additional funds that will reduce H.R.1 impacts.
Donnell Ewert, who served as the county’s HHSA director for decades before retiring in 2022, noted in an interview last month that he sees this kind of advocacy as a more reliable strategy for HHSA financial stability than making cuts to mandated programs.
“I think putting the onus on the state to provide the revenue so you can carry out the program is a very fair and justifiable strategy,” he said.
“Making cuts to programs with some kind of, ‘we’re going to show the state,’ doesn’t make any sense,” he added. “You just hurt your own people.”
Moe Shimizu is a student at Yale University. She’s reporting for Shasta Scout as a 2026 summer intern, with support from the Nonprofit Newsroom Internship Program — created by The Scripps Howard Fund and the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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One of the first priorities of the new BOS must be to take a 5 year furlough on CALPERS contributions. That 25 to 30 million dollars will go a long way toward fixing the county’s budget.
Sounds like Shasta County support services is in for an economic blow, only cooperation with the state and astute demands to the State will resolve this boondoggle. And I believe that Supervisor Allen Long was taken out of context after speaking to him on his comment. He’s totally on-board with keeping and strengthening public services and how to resolve this edgy issue. Like he says, it’s going to take some coming together of other county leaders to have a summit meeting with the state.
During budget hearings in response to the HHSA presentation, Mr. Long said: “At some point …. we might have to look at the unfunded mandates and which ones we can start to not do, but we have to collectively probably do that, because if we stand alone, then we’re going to invite the wrath.”
“…supervisors are also worried about how H.R.1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, will impact county costs in the years ahead…”
That ship has sailed. The time for the supervisors to worry about cuts to public health funding was before they cast their votes for the president and his regime who stated they we’re going to cut public health funding. You created this.
Yes, Mow, and again, the economic tsunami is here….. And yes, Shasta County, like much of rural America, voted for this Red Tidal Wave…
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Regarding Shasta County Social Services. The Shasta County General Fund pays out around 3.5% of the social service budget. California and the feds pay out the rest, over $300 million annually, providing roughly 800 jobs. If social services were to go away tomorrow, around 1,200–2,200 aggregate jobs could be lost locally. Seems like our 3.5% investment gets a good return if social services are run correctly, and not run by MAGA – Trumpian trickle-down economics; or, as Supervisor Crye has said, by the churches.
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Locally and nationally, the far right created much of this mess, affecting every rural county in California and America. Empowered by the Republican Party, while millions are losing health care and counties are hurting, America has just been asked to give $88 billion to cover Trump’s Iran war, a war that has been going on now for roughly four and a half months, that most economists project will cost American taxpayers way over a trillion. And we’re not even talking about the externalities of inflation, the job loss, and a lower quality of life for 90% of Americans, of whom 67% currently live paycheck to paycheck.
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Meanwhile, the head of the Republican Party, a convicted 34-count felon and adjudicated rapist, and his family have made close to 4 BILLION off this war alone. And thanks to the Republican Party, during Donald Trump’s second term—which began in January 2025—the wealthiest Americans have seen their wealth grow by approximately $2.5 trillion.
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Like everything in our lives now, Shasta County is directly connected to the socioeconomic conditions, policies, and laws of the federal government; Shasta County does not live in our own little Trumpworld bubble. Like all of rural America, Shasta County voters must decide: do we make the Trumps, the Musks, and the 10%, who own two-thirds of all U.S. household assets, with the top 1% alone controlling approximately 31% to 32% of all American wealth? Maybe we should ask prominent supporters of Trump and the Republican Party, the Red Emersion family, whose net worth is estimated at roughly $6 billion, and owns more land than the entire size of Delaware. (I’ll bet they’re not supporting CA. Prop 40….).
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If Shasta County goes economically, legally, and morally bankrupt, like all the qualities of MAGA’s Measure B, the State of California will have to step in. If Shasta County revokes its social services mandate, the state may have to come in and run social services for us. Our social services, maybe with cuts and finding ways to raise 3.5%, will survive.
All of this sound reasoning falls on the deaf ears of the MAGA faithful. They only care about how good the tribalism feels in their withered gonads and inflamed amygdalas. If they’re falling behind, it’s Newsom’s fault. Never mind that the working and middle classes are falling behind all across America.
When Donnell Ewert was in office HHSA was in good standing. Then he retired and the BOS brought in Laura Burch to run the department. While knowing nothing about the financial side, she immediately brought in 4 of her friends to fill managerial posts. None of them knew the financial side either. She started making changes in that department when she knew nothing about it. Employees started transferring out or quitting. The ones that loved their jobs stayed and tried to work with her and advise her on the correct procedures were ignored. Programs were taken from employees that knew their jobs and given to new employees that knew nothing about how to bill them out. There was very little training. Some employees went out on stress, others retired early. Some very good programs were cancelled because they had no one that knew how to bill the State for them. Dollars (a lot) were lost. HHSA started going down hill because of lack of billing and untrained employees. A lot less money was coming in to support HHSA. I wish Donnell would come back – he knew what he was doing.
This is the first of what are probably many shoes to drop because of the malignant incompetence of Anselmo’s puppets. One of the first priorities of the new BOS must be restoring development impact fees and renegotiating the service contract for the new casino.
Selah