Santa Barbara County’s Department of Social Services is facing a $9.7 million budget shortfall, and county leaders are proposing cuts to more than 100 positions to close the gap.
The restructuring plan, set to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, October 7, would eliminate 121 funded jobs, 65 of them currently filled and 56 vacant. The cuts span nearly every division in the department, but the biggest impacts fall on frontline staff.
According to county documents, the list includes:
- 38 Eligibility Workers: staff who process Medi-Cal and CalFresh applications
- 28 Social Services Practitioners and Workers: who handle child welfare and protective services
- 7 Social Services Case Aides: who support foster care and family programs
- 6 Supervisors overseeing those teams
- Dozens of more positions in administration, IT, and clerical roles
For residents like Perry Will, who rely on the department’s programs, the thought of losing those positions feels personal…