In the second day of workshops on Sacramento County’s budget crisis, county officials continued to present harsh statistics on how proposed budget cuts would seriously harm residents’ quality of life.

The acting director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department Thursday said the budget cuts could create a series of problems, ranging from the shuttering of a parenting program for low-income people to a possible rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases.

The county is examining possible cuts to confront a $180 million budget deficit.

About 250 people packed the county Board of Supervisors’ chambers Thursday morning, according to an estimate from Ken McIntosh, a county facility security operations supervisor. He estimated that another 80 people were watching the workshop on televisions just outside the hearing room.

Ann Edwards-Buckley, acting director of the county’s department of Health and Human Services, said in her presentation that staffing cuts would stop the county from providing HIV/AIDS education and prevention services for high-risk residents. Her presentation connected budget cuts to these services to a potential rise in HIV/AIDS cases.

“Elimination of HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention to 5,500 high risk individuals resulting in an increase in HIV/AIDS cases,” her presentation noted.

The health and human services department would face a total reduction of $15.7 million and need to lay off 120 people, according to Edwards-Buckley.

During the workshop, county residents and advocates for a variety of groups expressed anxiety and fear about the county’s budget crisis.

Several speakers spoke in favor of preserving the parenting program, Birth & Beyond.

A woman seated in the audience held up a sign supporting Birth & Beyond that read: “Don’t let our babies die.”

Sheila Boxley, president of the North Highlands-based Child Abuse Prevention Center, urged supervisors to save Birth & Beyond’s funding. “Demand has increased dramatically,” she said.

Boxley noted that she would come before the supervisors in June to address a report on child fatalities, saying that cuts to Birth & Beyond’s funding could lead to deaths of children. “I can’t fathom what (the child fatality report) would be like a year from now if that program goes away,” she said.

The audience applauded Boxley’s remarks.

Edwards-Buckley emphasized the importance of Birth & Beyond.

“These services are key strategies in the prevention and/or reduction of child abuse and neglect,” according to her presentation.

Edwards-Buckley’s presentation also noted that the budget cuts to the public health division would mean that dental services would not be performed for 12,530 cavities in children’s teeth.

Topics that will be discussed in Friday’s budget workshop include general government departments, internal services departments, and animal care and regulation.

Areas that fall under general government include the county assessor, human rights and fair housing, the transient occupancy tax, neighborhood services, county planning, voter registration and elections. The May 15 workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. at 700 H St.

The county’s proposed budget is tentatively scheduled to be released June 5. County supervisors are scheduled to consider and enact the budget June 15, June 17 and June 18.