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Friday, February 10, 2012
County homeless programs could face major cuts
by Kathleen Haley, published on June 11, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Storyline: Sacramento County Budget
The director of the county department that works with the homeless population said Thursday that the department is still significantly hampered by the budget crisis even though county managers want to provide it with additional funding.
Bruce Wagstaff, director of Sacramento County’s Department of Human Assistance, told the Board of Supervisors the department is facing a general fund budget gap of $36.8 million and will no longer have the ability to fund 154 shelter beds for homeless people. Wagstaff presented his department’s outlook during the board’s third day of budget hearings on the county’s $180 million budget gap. A proposed budget for the 2009/2010 fiscal year may be approved by supervisors next week.
The social services presentations, which included DHA, attracted a crowd of more than 250 people Thursday morning. All seats in the auditorium were filled, and a second crowd filled additional seats that were set out in the lobby.
“While I am extremely appreciative of all the hard work that has gone into this -- to provide the reduced impact we’ve been able to come up with -- I am not here today to tell you we have fully addressed this reduction,” Wagstaff said.
The department continues to have a “very serious problem” that will lead to fewer services for homeless people, he said.
DHA’s general fund has been reduced about 38 percent over the last two years, Wagstaff said. Meanwhile, the department’s “case loads in every program are reaching unprecedented levels,” he said.
County officials are recommending that the board move $350,000 more to DHA’s budget. Wagstaff originally projected that the department would be forced to stop funding 328 shelter beds. DHA, with the help of other county departments and stakeholders, was able to restore 174 beds. But that still leaves 154 shelter beds in the county that will disappear, according to Wagstaff.
The department also plans to lay off 40 employees, according to its most recent count.
After Wagstaff’s presentation, Supervisor Susan Peters said that there were so many people who wanted to speak that testimony from the public could take more than three hours.
Valerie Feldman, acting managing attorney for Legal Services of Northern California, was one of many speakers who opposed cuts on county programs that help the homeless.
“At the time of the greatest need, this is not the time to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable,” Feldman said.
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Expect another tent city--or several. Expect to see more people sleeping on the street, and get used to it, because it isn't going away any time soon.
Remember, you have to be realistic in the amount of money available and how far projected service can be stretched.
The difference? I get to pick who I give my family funds to.
The whole situation is really unfortunate and it doesn't seem that anyone really has an answer.
Many people just want someone else to deal with the problem so they won't be bothered, but these days that is an unrealistic expectation. We can solve the problem, which will take work and probably sacrifice, or we can ignore it and deal with the repercussions of ignoring it, but it won't go away and there is nobody else to fix it for us.
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/02/19/Poor-Give-More-to-Charity
http://sacramentopress.com/headline/8681/
Why_shouldnt_Loaves_Fishes_pay_to_shelter_
homeless_rather_than_the_cashstrapped_county
By the way, on another front, I wouldn't worry about Winter Shelter not continuing. It's nearly summer now! Winter shelter is a seasonal shelter; it has always closed earlier in the year than this! Yes, there will be people in tents and in bags on the streets at night, but that isn't different than how it's always been. Hopefully, this year local government will have the wisdom to leave people alone.
The problem is upping the bed count when winter weather returns next November. God forbit the return of Winter shelter - it's been an extra-legal prison. Something else in the way of a shelter, and much cheaper, would be much better, both for the homeless and for anyone who thinks that we shouldn't be engaging in extra-legal means to corral people in the United States of America.