Proposed Spending Plan Includes an Office of Constitutional Policing and Fulfills the Mandate of Measure J, Takes Into Account Potential Liabilities From Child Sex Assault Claims and Seismic Retrofit Costs.
By Staff Writer
Los Angeles County CEO Fesia Davenport has announced a proposed budget of $43 billion for 2023-24. The budget proposal includes investments in mental health services, homelessness programs, and establishing an Office of Constitutional Policing. These measures are part of the county’s “Care First and Community Investment” effort to overhaul its criminal justice system.
The budget proposal dedicates $288.3 million to community service programs and $692 million to combat homelessness. The proposal adds 514 new positions to the county’s workforce, bringing the overall budgeted workforce to 114,106.
However, the proposed budget also takes into account potential liabilities from child sex assault claims, which could range into the billions of dollars. The county faces an expanding number of allegations of childhood sexual assault at various county and non-county facilities, with estimates of financial exposure ranging from $1.6 billion to over $3.0 billion.
The budget proposal also addresses the need for an overhaul of county probation and juvenile facilities and the possible high costs of conducting seismic retrofits on multiple county facilities.
It will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for initial adoption on Tuesday and will be subject to months of public hearings and review before being finally adopted in October.
The proposed budget reflects the county’s effort to address growing fiscal uncertainty, including a looming state budget deficit and an unsettled economic environment in which a recession remains a very real possibility.
Despite this backdrop, the county’s proposed budget for 2023-24 reflects a commitment to investing in community service programs and alternative solutions to incarceration, along with measures to address the ongoing crisis of homelessness in the county.
