L.A. County to pursue more federal aid for poorest residents [Updated]

With Los Angeles County facing record levels of unemployment, and with more state welfare cuts looming, the Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to begin shifting responsibility for helping some of the most destitute to the federal government.

County officials set aside $7.2 million in this year’s budget to help general relief recipients though the difficult process of applying for federal disability assistance or finding work. They plan to use the funds to help beneficiaries get into stable housing, locate medical records and obtain the detailed health assessments they need to apply for supplementary security income or veterans’ benefits.

County officials say the program will be mutually beneficial. Instead of getting $221 a month in county-funded general relief, people with qualifying disabilities and little or no income could get up to $850 in supplemental security income. Instead of relying on county emergency rooms, they would become eligible for Medi-Cal.

L.A. County is projected to have nearly 100,000 general relief recipients by June, the highest level in more than a decade, as more jobs are lost and unemployment benefits run out. Faced with a persistent budget gap, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing cuts to state welfare programs that could increase the general relief rolls even further.

Even with one of the lowest cash-assistance rates of any urban county in the nation, payments to this population are expected to reach $200 million by the end of this fiscal year. Nearly $800 million more will be spent on other services for general relief recipients, including healthcare and law enforcement costs, according to county projections.

“That’s not some small potatoes,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who submitted a motion in April calling for a restructuring of the general relief program. “While the effort is to save net county costs and to get them into the right program...at the end of the day the people who need these programs are going to get better treatment. So I think it’s a win-win.”

[Updated at 6 p.m.: County officials estimate as many as 60% of general relief recipients are homeless. A significant number also suffer mental and physical disabilities that can make it difficult for them to navigate the welfare system.

A pilot project that began under the county’s homelessness prevention program in 2006 found that general relief participants who received housing subsidies were twice as likely to find work or get approved for Supplemental Security Income. 

Central to the current plan is a decision to increase the number of subsidies available to those seeking employment or federal aid from 900 to 10,000 by December 2014. Recipients would be required to contribute $100 of each general relief check toward their housing costs and the county would provide an additional $400 month.

Community-based groups that work with the poor welcomed the approach Tuesday, saying that getting the chronically homeless into stable housing would make it easier to link them to services that can help them find jobs and obtain benefits.

“While the grant levels aren’t going up ... the program itself I think will assist many more people in successfully getting on to another stage in their lives, and not be dependent on this resource which you can’t really live on,” said Ruth Schwartz, executive director of Shelter Partnership, which participated in a working group that produced most of the proposals approved Tuesday and at an earlier board meeting in October.

Two pilot projects are planned to test different ways in which community organizations can help the county sign up more general relief recipients for federal aid. County social workers told the board they have already helped thousands to do this and want to remain part of the process. 

Among those who recently moved from county to federal benefits is Mark Kelly, a military veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I went eight months on the streets in the same clothes," Kelly told the board.  "Now I'm in a system that works if you are willing to work it."

County officials believe the program will pay for itself and expect to recoup $14.3 million in savings from the $7.2 million investment. But given the magnitude of the expansion in housing subsidies, board members were anxious to include review mechanisms.

Although the board rejected a proposal by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to appoint a dedicated oversight group, it approved a recommendation that the county’s chief executive and director of public social services report back to them in June 2012 on the outcomes. The number of subsidies in effect at that point is not allowed to increase without authorization from the board.

“We have a very obvious stake in this,” said Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes nearly four in 10 general relief recipients. “The good news from my point of view is that [general relief] is being made more efficient and more cost-effective and therefore it will do a better job of servicing more people.”]

-- Alexandra Zavis at the County Hall of Administration

Comments

[Julia B]

And remember to encourage everyone to complete and return a Census 2010 form - that's the only way we're going to be able to get our fair share of the Federal pie. *Everyone* should complete the 10 questions that take about 10 minutes. The information is sealed for 72 years and can not be used by any other governmental agency. Even if you have warrants, immigration issues, or whatever - it's all safe. Be counted!

[Mark]

Great! Rewarding the lazy and "alledgedly" disabled people who are absolute drains on society with even more money! Now they will have even less incentive to go out and find a job. It is absolutely no wonder the state is going bankrupt.

[Mike Tambor]

Don't forget, the more aid we offer, the more poor and uneducated people from other areas within California, other states and countries will come to Los Angeles to use our water, tax benefits, roads, schools and otherwise take up space.

[Jose]

Why don't we just send the money to Mexico...a tenth of their illegal aliens are being supported by US taxpayers anyway.

Imported poverty...when we can't even take care of poor Americans.

Our sleazy politicians are a disgrace.

[Tara]

This is a step in the right direction for several reasons: it brings the costs of general relief in CA to the attention of Washington D.C. and it reaches out to the many thousands who are homeless. However, I think CA should conduct a thorough scrutiny of all means-tested programs (general relief, MediCal, food stamps, subsidized housing etc.) for instances of fraud and immediately disqualify those who are gaming the system.

[ferenc]

you are right. people from nevada, arizona, new mexico and texas, drive to ca each month to pick up their CHECKS.how many illegals pick up their checks?before you give out more, or any, have some oversight, otherwise it's a waste of taxpayer's money.

[KDnLA]

How about reforming the section 8 program that pays an exobitant amount of rent for these lazy people who want to keep having kids they cannot support. I went to Lancaster not too long ago with a friend to visit one of their relatives and was so annnoyed that this young girl with five kids was living in a mini-mansion paying only $125 a month, while hard working people get stiffed by the government. Maybe if Schwarzeneggar looks at reforming section 8 and other welfare programs, like WIC for people driving BMW's (my neighbor), maybe the state can get ahead. I do not oppose giving aid to people with jobs that don't pay that much, at least they pay their taxes. What I'm taking about are those lazy, drug using, think the world owes them something people who are mooching off the system.

[Bobby]

More RAPE of the U.S. taxpayer, in order to carry out the re-distribution of wealth plan that liberals and neo-cons are hellbent on. Money goes from the U.S. middle-class, what's left of it, to finance Mexico's criminality as shown by its planned poverty. Soon, American seniors will have nothing, compared with those here illegally. It doesn't matter how many times liberal democrats, screw the American taxpayer,those taxpayers just don't get it.

[Jimi]

Kick the financial can down the road. Let the Feds pay for it.

Who will bail out the Feds when THEY go broke?