Tuesday, February 7, 2012

STORYLINE Sacramento County Budget

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Severe budget cuts to Sacramento County programs and controversial layoffs for 186 employees in the Child Protective Services unit are part of the 2009/2010 fiscal year budget that was approved by the Board of Supervisors Friday. The county, which had faced an immense budget gap of $76 million, laid off 300 workers last month.

The total budget the supervisors approved is $4.2 billion. Around $1.9 billion of that total is the county’s general fund. More than 700 county employees have been laid off since July.

CPS has faced criticism from the county’s grand jury and MGT of America, Inc., a management consulting firm, over child fatalities. Ann Edwards-Buckley, director of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, told The Sacramento Press outside the meeting that the cuts to CPS will harm children’s safety.

“As I've said before, I’m concerned about the welfare and safety of children in our community — that we won’t be able to do the same kinds of things that we’ve been able to do in the past,” Edwards-Buckley said. “So, kids may stay longer in foster care, waiting for family reunification. They may stay longer in an unsafe home.”

The entire budget was approved by four of the five supervisors.

Supervisor Roger Dickinson voted against significant parts of the budget including the general fund, saying the cuts harm the community. “I think this budget does not adequately consider our fiscal circumstances, either currently or for the future,” Dickinson said.

Approval of this budget means that the county would need to make deeper cuts in the upcoming years and “decimates” the county’s ability to protect important segments of the community, he said.

Dickinson is running for Assemblyman Dave Jones’ seat in 2010 against two current members of the Sacramento City Council, Lauren Hammond and Kevin McCarty.

The county’s contentious plan to shorten work schedules for about 7,000 employees represented by unions is still unresolved. The approved budget says that the the plan will go into effect if the supervisors do not pass a different plan on Oct. 20.

Dickinson voted against the proposal for shortened work schedules. “I’m not willing to be on record supporting that,” he said.

Photo of Roger Dickinson by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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Randi

October 3, 2009 | 10:57 AM

What Edwards-Buckley doesn't tell you is that CPS contracts out a large portion of their caseload work to private child welfare groups. The state gives the county the funds, the county in turn pays other private child welfare groups to work their cases, and yes, this does include going out and seeing the children and doing the paperwork involved. CPS makes it sound as if the county child welfare workers do all the work themselves, and this is just not the case. I believe it's a good 50% of their caseload that is contracted out. And, where the State is fighting to NOT have their work contracted out, because they actually WANT to do the work, the county is voluntarily doing this so their workers don't have to do as much work, but they receive credit for such a "big" caseload.

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