This article originally appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Budget issues: Social services

By Leslie Albrecht

CalWORKs

The governor's proposal

• Cut CalWORKS monthly grants to families by 6.2 percent and eliminate a cost-of-living increase.
  
  
• Shift half the cost of CalWORKs administration and employment services to counties ("realignment," Davis budget strategy: "realignment").

Effect on families: "In Los Angeles the CalWORKS grant is $679 per month for a mom and two kids. They would lose $41, which doesn't sound like a lot. But for one family I work with, their rent is $580 and their utilities are $60. If you reduce her monthly grant, she'll be several dollars short. This is a family already living on the edge who would face losing their home," says Nancy Berlin, Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homeless-ness.

Advocates' responses: "We're really puzzled by the cut because it doesn't actually save the state very much money, but it penalizes the lowest income families in California," Berlin comments. She adds, "Every time [realignment] happens, we lose. The projections aren't accurate, and there's not enough revenue. [And] you lose state protections-counties get to write their own rules, and that leaves families vulnerable."

"How can the state shrug its shoulders and let slide a burden when the state can't bear the burden itself?" asks Joni Halpern, director of Supportive Parents Information Network (SPIN) in San Diego.

"Everybody should remember that their voice counts. Everyone should vote, especially low-income people, because the budget is being balanced on the backs of the poor," says Cathy LeBlanc, a family advocate for the Yuba Community Collaborative for Healthy Children.

To get more information or get involved, contact:

• Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, 213-746-6511, www.lacehh.org
• California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative, 916-448-6762, www.nilc.org/ciwc
• Western Center on Law and Poverty, Lupe Diaz, 916-442-0753, www.wclp.org

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Child Welfare

The governor's proposal

Shift to the counties the nonfederal share of the costs of child welfare services, foster care, and adoption assistance (realignment, see Davis budget strategy: "realignment").

Eliminate annual inspection of foster homes and other residential facilities.

Effects on children: "Any time the state doesn't monitor programs, the quality goes precipitously down," says Carole Shauffer, Youth Law Center executive director. "An unannounced visit every ten years isn't a big enough deterrent. Kids will be injured or killed because of this."

"The children who we don't care for now are much more likely to end up homeless, mentally ill, or criminal offenders," says Miriam Krinsky, Children's Law Center executive director. "It takes not only a human toll, but a financial toll."

Advocates' responses: "If re-alignment happens, will the revenue streams be sufficient? Will the money be reserved for the programs it's intended for?" Krinsky asks. "If it works out, there could be advantages, because it could give counties the flexibility to divert revenue streams to the areas where they are most needed."

But Shauffer warns, "There's nothing that means that money couldn't be invaded by special-interest groups. Kids risk losing a lot of protections."

"It's all too easy to make cuts in areas like child welfare where there isn't a vocal and powerful constituency kicking and screaming," Krinsky comments.

"The state has a responsibility to help these kids, and instead they are passing them off onto the next guy," says Joni Pictl of the California Children's Lobby. "Parents who treated their kids the way the state is treating its children would be locked up."

To get more information or get involved, contact:

• California Children's Lobby, 916-443-1149
• Youth Law Center, 415-543-3379, www.youthlaw.org

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