This story was updated Oct. 29, following a Cuyahoga County council budget hearing (also attended by Cleveland Documenters) in which more details about the proposed cuts were shared. Updates are indicated below.

Cuyahoga County is proposing millions of dollars in cuts to next year’s budget for programs that provide healthcare, housing and education. 

About $20 million could be chopped from the 2026 budget that funds health and social services, while $22.5 million could be axed in 2027. Next year’s cuts represent an approximately 8% decrease in the fund for health and social services, compared to 2024 and after wage increases, according to the proposed Cuyahoga County budget. 

The move is vital to keep the budget balanced, County Executive Chris Ronayne told county council members at a meeting in mid-October. Two county property tax levies fund health and human services, but many property owners are behind on paying their taxes, he said. The county is also paying significantly more money for healthcare for county employees. 

Ronayne said the goal was to protect important social service programs while still being responsible with taxpayer dollars. 

“The budget I present to you today accomplishes those goals: Maintaining vital services while preserving both the general fund and [health and human services] reserves,” he said. 

The two taxes that pay for health and social services make up just a fraction — about one quarter — of what the county spends in total on social services, health, justice and public safety.  

The agencies reeling from the proposed budget cuts vary widely. The charity care program at MetroHealth could face a large drop in funding, as could the board that dispenses dollars to providers that address addiction and mental health. County programs offering subsidized pre-K and that support people experiencing homelessness are likely to see fewer dollars in their future, as are nonprofits that contract with the county to do social service work.  

Some of these nonprofits are already fighting back. Canopy Child Advocacy Center coordinates efforts to support children and families after child abuse is reported. Under the proposed budget, the nonprofit would face a 26% funding cut from the county in 2026 and 2027. The organization is urging the Cuyahoga County Council to reject it.  

“No line item is more important than a child’s life,” said Jennifer Johnson, executive director of Canopy Child Advocacy Center, in a press release. “When we cut protection for abused and neglected children, we jeopardize their futures.”

Not all health and social service programs are facing the same reduction in funding, and the budget contains no employee furloughs, which the county had discussed, Ronayne said. Instead, the county combed through all its expenses to determine how best to make cuts, Ronayne said. 

“These cuts were more strategic than they were across the board,” said the county’s budget director, Walter Parfejewiec, during a budget hearing in mid-October.  

Over the next several weeks, county council members will hear more detail from department leaders about the proposed cuts and what they mean for services that the county provides. Signal Cleveland will add additional information below as it is made available.

Here’s a look at some of the largest cuts proposed for programs and agencies in Cuyahoga County. 

Each year, Cuyahoga County gives the ADAMHS board dollars that it then passes out to agencies that address mental health and addiction. That includes programs ranging from mental health crisis response teams to housing to therapy.  

The $4 million cut Cuyahoga County is proposing for next year is a 10% funding reduction. And it’s likely to devastate the budget the ADAMHS board had planned for 2026.  

“It’s not a pretty budget picture,” said Felicia Harrison, the interim CEO and president of the ADAMHS board, at a board meeting in mid-October. “We had to make some very hard decisions, some very tough choices.”

The ADAMHS board had already been considering significant across-the-board cuts in 2026, with plans to end its support for a crisis center on the city’s West Side and a psychiatric emergency department run by MetroHealth in Cleveland Heights. MetroHealth said late last week that it planned to close the department at the end of the year following the board’s plans to divert funding. 

The county’s proposed budget, though, forced ADAMHS to go even further. It’s now planning to make 20% cuts to each program, Harrison said.

Update, Oct. 29

Harrison told county council members at a budget hearing on Oct. 28 that the decision to make major across-the-board budget cuts is about more than the county’s levy. The agency will also potentially be losing federal and state money. 

Several nonprofits told council members that the 20% funding cut would likely reduce the number of staff who can provide mental health and addiction services. Crisis response teams at FrontLine Service are especially at risk, said Rick Oliver, the agency’s director of crisis services. That includes clinicians who can respond to mental health crises in person and others who support residents who lost a loved one to homicide.

Cuyahoga County gives MetroHealth a large chunk of money each year to help pay for healthcare that residents aren’t able to afford themselves. The hospital has historically had a generous charity care policy that could slash bills for people who made up to four times the federal poverty level.  

The county, though, is proposing an 8% cut to the subsidy. 

Even before the news, the hospital was navigating rocky financial waters. The cost of charity care is growing, and MetroHealth recently proposed paring back its policy to bring it more in line with other hospitals.

Cuyahoga County’s Division of Children and Family Services investigates child abuse, neglect and dependency cases and coordinates foster care and adoption. 

In some cases, the department has to remove a child from their home and find another place for them to stay — with another family member, in a foster home or in a group home.   

Cuyahoga County is proposing budgeting about 3% less for these costs next year, according to numbers shared by Jacqueline Fletcher, director of the Division of Children and Family Services, in a presentation to the county council Oct. 20. 

That’s because the number of kids needing those services is trending down, Fletcher said. The office is seeing hundreds fewer cases this year than it did from 2020 to 2023. 

The county also hopes to save money by prioritizing less-restrictive settings, like placing a child with a family member, Fletcher said. That’s also typically better for children.  

If cases don’t fall as predicted, the county would have to buckle down and find money elsewhere, said David Merriman, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services. 

“We’ll always place kids,” Merriman said. “And they’ll always place kids in the most responsible placement. We don’t look at what’s the cheapest placement; we look at what’s the best placement.” 

The Division of Children and Family Services contracts with nonprofits that run neighborhood-based centers that offer social services, including Catholic Charities’ St. Martin de Porres Family Center and Murtis Taylor’s locations in Garfield Heights and East Cleveland. 

These facilities provide resources and support for families who are and are not involved with the child welfare agency. That includes parenting classes, employment assistance and counseling. 

The county is proposing to put $1.2 million fewer dollars into the program, called neighborhood collaboratives, in 2026 and 2027. 

The proposed cut represents approximately 25% of the funding for the neighborhood collaboratives program. Council member Sunny Simon said in a meeting Oct. 20 she’s worried it will come at a time of high need, as residents rely on neighborhood center when federal changes to SNAP and Medicaid benefits take effect. But Fletcher told council members that the county is working with the groups to adjust their services in light of the cuts. 

“We truly believe nothing will be missed,” Fletcher said.

Children and youth involved in the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system can enroll in the county’s Tapestry program. It connects them and their families with a mental health professional and a parent advocate who helps link the family to resources, according to the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University. The center evaluates the program on whether it reduces recidivism in juvenile justice and child welfare.  

This year’s proposed budget cuts funding for Tapestry approximately in half, according to numbers Fletcher shared in a presentation to the county council Oct. 20. 

Fletcher said she doesn’t predict any reduction in services. That’s because the other half of the budget can be made up for in Medicaid billing, which more providers are becoming eligible for, she said.   

The county’s court system operates the Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime program. It aims to connect individuals in the criminal justice system with treatment for substance use disorders. 

The large cut was an “easy reduction to do,” Parfejewiec said at the county council meeting Tuesday. That’s because the Common Pleas Court has a sufficient cash balance to operate the program, so the subsidy isn’t needed, he added.   

The health and human services levy makes it possible for the county to offer reduced cost pre-kindergarten programs for three- to five-year-olds. Residents who earn up to four times the federal poverty level can get half off tuition at pre-schools in the universal pre-kindergarten program. 

Update, Oct. 29

The proposed cuts are about 11% of the county’s total spending on universal pre-K, said Alyssa Swiatek, interim director of the Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood and Invest in Children, in an Oct. 29 budget hearing. The universal pre-K program has underspent its budget by about that much since August 2024, when the current contract began, she added.

FrontLine Service Inc. is a nonprofit that offers housing services for people experiencing homelessness. The county proposed less funding for FrontLine’s coordinated entry program, which takes calls from individuals needing immediate shelter and directs them to the best place to stay. 

The county’s budget would also cut funding approximately in half for next year’s North Point program, a transitional housing facility with 150 beds for working people and young people moving out of homelessness. And it would zero out funding for the program in 2027.

North Point’s longtime location at a former motel closed earlier this month after other funding challenges and maintenance issues. 

FrontLine CEO Corrie Taylor told Signal Cleveland earlier this month that she hoped to find a new location for North Point to operate out of next year.

The proposed cuts would eliminate North Point completely, Taylor told county council members at a meeting on Oct. 20. 

“Eliminating North Point means higher shelter costs, slower progress on the county’s own strategic goals and more individuals unhoused next year,” she said.  

Update, Oct. 29

Taylor told council members that FrontLine Service secured a building that North Point could begin using in 2026, if funding were made available.

For several years, the county housed children needing foster care in the Division of Children and Family Services’ buildings overnight, when there was nowhere else for them to go. The situation led to complaints from staff members, who said they were victims of assaults by kids housed there.  

To alleviate the situation, the county brought in sheriff’s deputies for 24/7 security. Now, it no longer needs them, Fletcher said at a county council meeting Oct. 20. The number of children staying in buildings has fallen precipitously, she said. 

“It’s not fixed, but we’ve seen some significant improvements,” Fletcher said. “We are averaging less than two kids at any given day in our building. And many days there are none in our building.”

Canopy’s child protection team brings together medical experts and child welfare services when there’s suspicion that a child experienced severe physical abuse or neglect. The professionals provide medical evaluations, forensic interviews and mental health and advocacy services in one place and in a trauma-informed way.

The proposed funding reduction would put those services at risk, according to a press release from the organization. Specifically, it foresees “fewer medical exams, delayed evaluations, limited access to experienced, trauma-informed therapists, and greater risk for children who have already been hurt” if the cuts go through, the organization wrote in a press release. 

The county said the reduction is because Canopy underspent dollars it had been given to establish the child protection team in the past two years. In response, Johnson, Canopy’s executive director, said that time was spent doing careful, deliberate work to bring different hospital systems together to create the program.  

“That foundation has now been built, and the team is fully operational, actively serving children every day,” Johnson told county council members on Oct. 20. “… The county’s investment is now producing exactly what it was intended to: better protection and care for our most vulnerable children.” 

Starting Point is a nonprofit that links families with child care and early education initiatives. 

The county is proposing cuts to several different programs. One of them helps childcare providers who operate out of their home by offering training and professional development. One helps fund after-school and summer programs, and another program focuses on care for children with special needs.

Update, Oct. 29

The cuts to after-school and summer programs amount to about 7% next year and 13% in 2027, according to numbers shared by Robin Martin, director of Cuyahoga County’s Family and Children First Council in an Oct. 28 budget hearing. 

“We’re working with the team over at Starting Point to ensure that the children do not feel these cuts – that it’s as minimal as possible,” Martin said. 

Twenty part-time customer service associates will be laid off within Cuyahoga County’s Jobs and Family Services division. 

This department assists residents in signing up for government assistance programs like Medicaid or food benefits. Community complaints about wait times at the department are long-standing, but call times at the department fell to less than 20 minutes this summer, cleveland.com reported. 

Kevin Gowan, director at Cuyahoga County Job and Family Service, said he does not believe the wait time will go up by eliminating the positions. Some of the associates will have the opportunity to join as full-time customer service workers, for which there are vacancies open.

Say Yes Cleveland offers college tuition costs for graduates of Cleveland’s school district who hit the program’s eligibility requirements. The nonprofit organization also pays for its employees to offer “support services,” including tutoring and mental health assistance, directly in the city’s school buildings. 

Cuyahoga County has been one of the program’s funders since it launched in 2019, largely paying for the in-school support specialists. In recent years, the county has reduced the dollars it gives over the years.

Say Yes also receives money from many other local power players, including the Cleveland Foundation and College Now Greater Cleveland. 

The proposed cut in 2026 represents about 25% of what Cuyahoga County gives Say Yes, according to numbers Fletcher shared with county council members.

Cuyahoga County’s Office of Reentry assists people after leaving jail or prison. Several programs within the division are facing cuts. That includes a $200,000 cut to a justice housing program and a $100,000 cut to grief counseling for those individuals. 

Update, Oct. 29

None of the three programs facing cuts had begun yet, said Simeon Best, director of Cuyahoga County’s Office of Reentry, in an Oct. 28 budget hearing. They were meant to help people getting out of jail with housing, transportation and mental health. Best said the office is exploring other ways to bring the programs to life. 

Greater Cleveland Works is a local workforce center that connects people with jobs and offers training scholarships. The dollars it receives from the county are used to provide scholarships for county residents who need funding to complete training for a certification or degree in careers like healthcare, information technology and manufacturing. The scholarship supports residents who aren’t eligible for a separate, more common type of grant.

Greater Cleveland Works currently receives $500,000 from the county for the scholarships — so the proposed cut appears to halve the program next year and eliminate it in 2027.  

“We are hopeful that the County will preserve this important funding beyond the coming year to benefit jobseekers and employers in the community,” wrote Michelle Rose, chief executive officer of the organization, in an email to Signal Cleveland. 

First Year Cleveland is a maternal and infant health initiative based at Case Western Reserve University. It receives funds from private donors, philanthropy and government sources and passes them along to community-based organizations seeking to improve birth outcomes, like the Pregnant with Possibilities Resource Center and Birthing Beautiful Communities.

“While the budget is not finalized, we recognize the tough times our community and many others are dealing with currently and appreciate the financial support and will look for other funding opportunities to address any potential cuts that may occur,” wrote Richard Stacklin, the senior director of community impact at First Year Cleveland, in an email. 

The Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) uses funding from the county to operate several shelters for people experiencing homelessness, including the Men’s Emergency Shelter on Lakeside Avenue and a shelter for youth. The funding also helps the nonprofit with its guardianship program, in which it connects adults who cannot care for themselves with legal guardians.  

Maria Foschia, the organization’s CEO and president, wrote that the proposed funding changes would require Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry to adapt its services. 

“We are committed to work with the County to minimize the impact of these funding challenges and are hopeful that resources are prioritized to fund the safety net,” Foschia wrote in an email. “From youth to older adults, these services and supports are vital to the safety, health and wellbeing of residents of Cuyahoga County.”

Bright Beginnings, a local nonprofit, offers parent support services to families throughout Cuyahoga County. That includes the parents as teachers program, in which educators visit homes to coach parents through challenges like potty training and to offer developmental screenings for toddlers. Bright Beginnings also specifically supports parents whose children have been exposed to lead.  

Closing the Achievement Gap partners with school districts around the county, including Cleveland Metropolitan, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and East Cleveland. Through the program, students are partnered with mentors who also act as life coaches and advocates to help them graduate.  

The proposed cut is a 20% reduction in funding. 

Update, Oct. 29

The budget cut will not cut the mentorship programs from any schools where it’s already used next year, said Martin, with Cuyahoga County’s Family and Children First Council, in an Oct. 28 budget hearing. Instead, it represents money that would have been used to open the program in two new school buildings. Now, those new schools won’t get the program.

MomsFirst is a public health program designed to reduce disparities in infant mortality in the City of Cleveland. Through the program, community health workers do home visits to provide guidance on prenatal and postnatal care until babies are 18 months old.

The Cleveland Clergy Alliance is a nonprofit led by local religious leaders, meant to help connect senior citizens with social services. That can include healthcare benefits, property tax discounts, prescription drug discounts and food and housing assistance. 

The alliance hires “navigators” to assist senior citizens.

The cut represents all of the funding the agency receives from the county.