Los Angeles County released a proposed over $30 billion budget Monday, emphasizing the need to combat and prevent homelessness and to provide crucial social services.

The proposed spending plan for the nation’s most populous county supports a range of vital commitments — from its vast health care system to its essential public safety operations to its broad beaches and world-class cultural institutions.

“Of all of the issues confronting the county, none is more urgent and complex than homelessness,” Sachi Hamai, the county’s chief executive, said at a news conference.

The county is making “unprecedented progress” on the issue, largely because of Measure H, the countywide quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters last year that is expected to generate $355 million annually, according to Hamani.

In the last six months of 2017, more than 7,000 people received temporary housing and 3,000 received permanent supportive housing.

See Related: Measure H Funds For Homeless Services To Be Allocated

If approved, the budget for 2018-19 would allocate $374 million in Measure H funds for homeless services and prevention, according to county officials.

Separate from Measure H funds, $45 million would go toward affordable housing and $34 million toward permanent supportive housing for those who have been in the criminal justice system.

The budget also includes $52 million for the county’s child welfare agency to find permanent homes for foster youth and to support the families that take care of them. Nearly $100 million would fund a wide range of mental health and substance abuse services.

An additional $2 million would go toward the establishment of two new outpatient primary care facilities in Lincoln Heights and Canoga Park.

A new item this year includes $511,000 for “Bringing Our Loved Ones Home,” a program to help families and caretakers find relatives with Alzheimer’s disease or autism who wander off.

The initiative grew out of the disappearance in 2016 of 57-year-old Nancy Paulikas, a former computer engineer who suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

See Related: Los Angeles County Approves New Strategies For Missing Persons With Dementia, Autism

The county’s recommended budget of $30.8 billion represents a slight decrease — of about $800 million — from last year’s final adopted budget, primarily due to one-time costs in last year’s budget that were not renewed this year, according to officials.

“This recommended budget demonstrates the county’s determination to elevate the quality of life for all residents, no matter what their circumstances or paths,” said Hamai.

At the same time, it embraces the county’s longstanding commitment to conservative fiscal practices, which have consistently led to strong credit ratings and taxpayer savings, she added.

The recommended budget is the first step in a process that will stretch across the next several months, and will also include public hearings and budget deliberations. Adoption of the budget is expected in late June.

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