Job update

Well, the news with my job is not much in the way of news, by this I mean that I think my whole department is even more confused as to what exactly is going to happen to us and when than we were the first day that they told us we were likely being laid off. But here's how the situation stands now for anyone who's interested. My department's overall budget is being cut by at least 2/3rds next fiscal year which starts July 1st. Most of our services, including ALL cessation services(which is basically my entire job function) will be contracted to outside agencies or run through the state level. Maricopa County will employ 3 community liasons instead of the 40 something employees we have now. So this makes it sound like my chances of getting laid off are pretty good.
However, we will be getting information about supplemental grant funding that we can apply for the end of April, and then won't know if we've been awarded that funding until the end of May at the earliest. These special grants could add as many as 10 more positions back in with one of the areas being working with At-risk youth, which is an area that myself and one other co-worker (who already took a different job) have been working at since last May and have been piloting an adolescent Cessation program. So theoretically I would be the only person with experience working with at-risk youth if that's one of the grants we get, so I would very likely be kept on.
However, they aren't sure when this will all be decided and even once the grants are decided, they won't start until October of next year, which means that there will likely be two or three stages of lay-offs in my program between now and then and could happen as early as June 1st even though the fiscal year that we are fully funded for doesn't end until June 30th. Needless to say, we're all wondering if its a blessing or a curse that we know all this is coming, but don't know exactly what to expect or how soon to expect it. I feel for all of you out there who have been unexpectedly laid-off with no notice, but wonder if that might not be a better way. It's kind of like pulling a band-aid off your arm. Is it easier to rip it off all in one motion or do it slowly?