San Francisco DAS approves two-year budget submission, preserves client services amid city shortfall

San Francisco’s Department of Disability and Aging Services (DAS) approved a proposed FY23–24 and FY24–25 budget submission on Feb. 16, 2023, directing staff to submit the plan to the mayor’s office next week. Commissioners voted to forward the budget after presentations from HSA Deputy Director of Finance and Administration Dan Kaplan and DAS Executive Director Kelly Dearman.

Dan Kaplan framed the proposal in the context of a broader city budget gap: “the City has projected a $728,000,000 budget shortfall over the upcoming biennium,” he said, and the mayor’s office has asked agencies to propose 5% reductions in discretionary general funds in the first year and 8% in the second. Kaplan said DAS’s discretionary portion across HSA, DBFS and DAS totals roughly $40,000,000, with a 5% target of about $2,000,000 that the department expects to cover without cutting client benefits, staff positions, or community-based organization contracts.

The approved submission kept core services intact while adjusting internal allocations and identifying program-specific requests. Kaplan said the DAS budget shows modest overall growth once one-time pandemic-era food coordination funds are removed, with notable increases driven by the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. “IHSS MOE is projected to be 168,000,000 in 22–23,” he said, and added this figure depends on forthcoming negotiations with SEIU Local 2015.

Kelly Dearman detailed program initiatives included in the proposal. She said San Francisco remains the only county in California that uses contract-mode IHSS and that the Homebridge contractor has struggled to recruit and retain home care providers; Homebridge has launched an artificial-intelligence recruitment campaign and increased wages by $2 an hour. DAS is considering additional financial support for Homebridge and is piloting a waiver of the $47 live-scan fingerprinting fee for newly enrolling IHSS independent providers to reduce barriers to enrollment.

Dearman also summarized the department’s planning for the state’s Care Court initiative, an effort Gov. Newsom has promoted to provide court-ordered care coordination for people with psychotic disorders. San Francisco is a first-wave county; Dearman said local estimates anticipate 1,000–2,000 potentially eligible individuals and that DAS has requested temporary frontline positions for the public conservator, public guardian and representative payee programs to handle anticipated referrals.

Other elements of the submission include continued growth in the Dignity Fund (about $3 million annually) and progress on the Disability Community Cultural Center at Grove and Van Ness, which is under construction and expected to finish in 2024 with 112 units (25 reserved for people with disabilities requiring supportive services). Dearman also listed multiple state and federal investments included in the plan (including ARPA funds and several California Department of Aging grants) and an online DAS resource directory planned for roll-out.

Commissioner Lum moved to approve the budget submission; Commissioner Pennington seconded. The roll-call vote recorded Yes votes from President Martha Knudson, Vice President Janet Spears, Commissioner Zheng, Commissioner Lum and Commissioner Pennington, and the commission approved the submission for mayoral review. Kaplan said DAS will continue negotiations with the mayor’s budget office and unions, with the mayor’s proposed budget due June 1 and Board of Supervisors hearings in July.

The department and commissioners emphasized they had structured the submission to preserve client services despite citywide fiscal pressure. The DAS presentation and budget materials are available on the agency website; staff will return to commissioners and the Board of Supervisors as the mayor’s process proceeds.