A proposed 24 percent cut in services for the county's most vulnerable citizens was averted Tuesday night.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted not to make any cuts to essential social service programs in the 2009-2010 budget, which is expected to be finalized and adopted before the end of this month.

On the chopping block was almost a quarter of funding allocated this year for the programs that are financed by the general fund. The staff-proposed cuts would have totaled $1.3 million, and would have reduced domestic violence shelter services, juvenile justice programs, food assistance, and utility and rent assistance for hundreds of South County residents, community advocates said.

Supervisor Don Gage voted in favor of a motion to keep the funding for the county's Social Services Agency at the 2008-2009 total of $4.2 million.

"I voted that way because the cuts were too severe," Gage said. "(Service providers) would lay off staff, and not serve people. My heart was bigger than my mind on this one."

The board is still seeking a combination of budget cuts and funding sources to make up a $273 million deficit going into the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Falling property tax revenues and cuts in the state budget - two primary sources of funding for county services - have contributed to the deficit.

The proposed cuts in the social safety net were intended to chip away at that deficit, and now equivalent cuts or funding will have to be found elsewhere.

Community Solutions President and CEO Erin O'Brien attended Tuesday's public hearing on the cuts to provide testimony urging the board to keep the current level of funding intact.

She was concerned that domestic violence victims, homeless people, and low-income children, families, and senior citizens would have nowhere else to turn if the cuts went through.

"Part of the burden is it's year after year of cuts, to where we're down to the most essential services," said O'Brien. "If these are gone, there is no safety net."

Community Solutions provides a variety of services to South County residents who do not have anyone else to turn to. The nonprofit organization receives annual county funding for programs such as shelter for domestic violence victims, mental health services, and rehabilitation programs for juvenile offenders.

The proposed cut of about $81,000 to the organizations budget for next year would have resulted in assistance for 16 fewer domestic violence victims in South County, elimination of counseling and therapy services for low-level juvenile criminal offenders, and case management services for 100 fewer troubled children and their families.

Furthermore, a proposed $29,000 cut to St. Joseph's Family Center in Gilroy would have meant about 260 low-income families or 958 individuals would no longer receive food assistance, and nearly 60 families could no longer receive rent payment assistance, according to a memo from O'Brien.

Little public testimony was needed to sway the board Tuesday. One attendee said Supervisor Liz Kniss made a motion to keep the Social Services Agency's general fund budget intact before any members of the public had a chance to speak.

"It was a total shock to us," said Tom Kinoshita, public policy director for the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits.