County Grand Jury Report: Budget Cuts Threaten Frail Elderly, Disabled
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/031710_county_grand_jury_report_budget_cuts_threaten_elderly_disabled/
By Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
A state proposal would affect 1,200 Santa Barbara County recipients of IHSS program benefits
In-Home Supportive Services is a statewide program, funded by federal, state and county governments, designed to assist both low-income frail elderly and disabled people of all ages to continue living in their residences if possible. This provides a positive environment at significantly less expense than placing them in institutions.
Frequently, family members act as caregivers, receiving pay that augments much-needed income. The program benefits the recipients, the caregivers and the taxpayers. The Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury has learned that this program is in jeopardy.
To reduce the 2009-10 state budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature took steps to cut significantly the funding for the IHSS program, which is administered in Santa Barbara County by the Department of Social Services.
The governor has made a similar but even more severe proposal for 2010-11. Because it’s a jointly funded program among the federal, state and individual county governments, cuts in one source automatically reduce contributions from the others.
There are about 3,000 IHSS recipients in Santa Barbara County, 1,200 of whom would be affected by this budget cut. Of those, 640 would be substantially affected and 200 would lose all benefits. If the proposed budget for 2010-11 is implemented, these numbers would increase and even more recipients would lose benefits.
Although allegations of caregiver and recipient fraud in the statewide IHSS programs have surfaced and prompted some anti-fraud provisions in the budget legislation, the jury learned that fraud detected has been confined to major cities. DSS advised that there is no documentable or substantiated evidence of fraud in Santa Barbara County’s IHSS program.
Fortunately for IHSS recipients, preliminary injunctive relief ordered by a federal court in mid-October stayed the 2009-10 budget cuts, but it’s unknown how long this will remain in effect, as the state has appealed the injunction.
The governor has announced his intention to eliminate 87 percent of the funding for IHSS programs in order to mitigate the continuing deficit in the 2010-11 state budget. If this comes to pass, Santa Barbara County would need to bear the full brunt of the fiscal loss and implement a yet-to-be designed and funded program of its own.
If the state’s budget cuts are reinstated, it would test the principle that one of the measurements of the quality of a society is the way in which it takes care of those within it who are least able to take care of themselves through no fault of their own.
Click here to view the complete report.
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/031710_county_grand_jury_report_budget_cuts_threaten_elderly_disabled/