Santa Barbara County’s Department of Social Services will be getting 39 new staff positions to help meet state and federal mandates. The positions — costing a total of $1.5 million — will be funded almost entirely by state and federal money. During the economic downturn, as the need for programs like Medi-Cal and CalFresh has expanded, the department has been cutting to help balance the budget. There will be no new cost to the county, according to the director of social services, Kathy Gallagher.
