By Los Angeles County Politics
The LA County Board of Supervisors last week led the county’s annual Quality and Productivity Commission Conference — an internal accountability event, bringing together department heads, managers, and frontline employees to assess performance, share best practices, and recognize innovation across county government.
The Commission was established in 1981 specifically to promote efficiency, innovation, and service quality across county departments. Its annual conference is the centerpiece of that mission — a structured review of how the county’s sprawling network of agencies is performing and where improvements can be made.
“Los Angeles County is the safety net for people who have reached the end of their rope — physically, mentally, or financially. Right now, more people than ever are depending on us during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Even as we face our own financial challenges, we have a responsibility to keep showing up for them,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D, San Pedro, Long Beach, Compton, Carson, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Cerritos).
The conference featured panels drawn from the county’s largest and most consequential departments. Among them were the Department of Health Services, which runs the county’s public hospital system and faces an estimated $662.2 million decline in federal revenue in FY2026-27; the Department of Children and Family Services, which oversees child welfare; and the Department of Aging and Disabilities, which administers in-home supportive services for hundreds of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities.
Not represented on the dais was the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), which administers CalFresh food benefits — the county’s version of the federal SNAP program — along with Medi-Cal enrollment and cash assistance for the county’s most economically vulnerable residents.
DPSS has an annual budget of $5 billion, a workforce of nearly 14,000 employees, and provides services to one out of every three residents in Los Angeles County.
The county’s 2026-27 recommended budget includes a $40.1 million investment to protect more than 1,000 DPSS jobs and sustain $194 million in federal and state support for CalFresh food benefits in the face of cuts threatened by federal legislation known as H.R. 1.
“Our responsibility is to honor our deep commitment to the people we serve. The ‘Care Reimagined’ conference exemplifies that commitment in action by highlighting the intentional approaches county employees are taking to ensure residents receive the support they need with dignity, compassion, and respect,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton).
LA County employs nearly 116,000 people and serves 10 million residents.
