SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some of the state’s most vulnerable residents, foster youth, are at risk of losing out on important services, as California grapples with a massive budget deficit.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature are considering budget cuts to a wide variety of services and programs that fall under the California Department of Social Services.

Foster youth, caretakers and welfare experts from across the state recently traveled to Sacramento to testify in the Human Services Budget Subcommittee to keep the state’s welfare system fully funded. 

Assemblymember Corey Jackson, who chairs the subcommittee, says he is going to do everything he can to avoid cuts that disrupt services.

“It’s my responsibility to make sure that I’m helping to be a part of the budget solutions, but at the same time, I want to let people know we see them, that we hear them,” Jackson said.

One of the many people Jackson heard from was Ed Center, who testified about the importance of keeping the Family Urgent Response System (FURS) in the state’s budget.

FURS is a 24/7, 365-day support hotline for foster youth and their caretakers. The program connects those in the foster system with counselors who are trained in de-escalation and conflict resolution. According to data from the state, FURS serves around 5,000 families each year.

Center shares when he and his husband fostered and later adopted their first child, they were not prepared for how high the highs would be and how low the lows would be.

Center says FURS helped keep his family intact during the pandemic when his young son went through a mental health crisis.

“I don’t think our family would still be a family unit if we didn’t have that resource. They were there for the darkest, hardest parts,” Center said.

FURS isn’t the only program in danger of budget cuts as another state program designed to help those who have aged out of the foster system find housing is also on the chopping block.

Merissa Arias is a 22-year-old college student who is advocating for California lawmakers to keep a program called Supervised Independent Living Placement (SILP). Arias explains without SILP, she would have been homeless and unable to prioritize her education.

In Newsom’s January budget proposal, he proposed defunding FURS and SILP to help mitigate a budget deficit that could range anywhere between $38-$73 billion. 

“Even though to them it’s just a budget cut and they just think they are just saving money — to us, it could really jeopardize our futures. Like this is just a matter of us being able to function in society, being able to live,” Arias said. 

“Closing a shortfall of $38 billion poses a substantial challenge and requires difficult decisions to reduce spending — and this proposal reflects that,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the California Department of Finance.

Newsom and legislative leaders agreed on an early budget action plan that will lessen the deficit by $17 billion. It does not include elimination of the FURS or SILP programs, but foster youth advocates like Arias and Center are concerned they may go away if they’re not part of the final budget negotiations.

“We need to hear these stories and we’re going to take our time to make sure that these stories are being heard so that we make sure we have a process that everyone has confidence in,” said Asm. Jackson.

Palmer adds discussions between the Legislature and Newsom administration to achieve a balanced budget will continue in the coming weeks.

“This is not the final word on the budget, this is the first step,” said Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel during a committee hearing on Tuesday.