Date:
November 17, 2026 26
To: Board of Supervisors
Title
Authorizing Supplemental Grants to Address Critical Gaps in Healthcare Access and Hunger Relief (Districts: All)
End
Overview
When the County adopted its Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, the Board anticipated that federal cuts to healthcare and food assistance under H.R.1 would create significant gaps in San Diego County's social safety net. To prepare for these impacts, the Board set aside one-time funding to protect essential services and help meet the growing need for healthcare and hunger relief.
On October 22, 2026, the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on the Social Safety Net and Behavioral Health Systems Transformation (“Subcommittee”) met with community-based organizations that focus on social services referrals, hunger relief, and affordable health care to assess the frontline impacts of H.R. 1 and the regional cross-sector response. Community partners described growing needs outstripping the regionwide resources available to meet them, reinforcing the urgency of deploying the resources the County had already set aside.
CalFresh recipients are down 32,000 from last year and about 1,800 residents lost CalFresh benefits for the first time in October under new H.R. 1 work requirements, pushing residents onto the local hunger relief system. Food providers reported a 20% increase in demand compared to a year ago, with one pantry serving a record 5,000 households in a single month this fall, up from about 500 on average in 2023. With the federal government cutting food assistance programs across the board, the San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego now receive 57% of all food referrals through 211 San Diego, up from 38% a year ago. The County’s Safety Net Bridge Program food distribution events are stepping in to provide meaningful assistance, already distributing nearly 70,000 pounds of food to over 5,000 people, yet demand for hunger relief continues to climb month after month.
Meanwhile, Medi-Cal r...
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