Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Adopted Budget - County of Sonoma

HUMAN SERVICES
Jo Weber, Director
department will explore opportunities to increase efficiencies such as web-based reporting for mandated reporters. The department has
added a searchable and easily updated web-based format for the Senior Resource Guide.
• The Economic Assistance Division continues to determine eligibility for CalFresh, Medi-Cal, County Medical Services Program
(CMSP), and General Assistance. Innovations to streamline processes and improve results include an online application process for
CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and CalWORKs, use of Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) which provides case information after hours, and an
enhancement to the digital document storage program that automatically assigns work-tasks to Eligibility Workers and reduces paper
processing.
• The Employment and Training Division continues CalWORKs, Job Link, and the Workforce Investment Board. The department is
developing and testing new methods of supporting CalWORKs families to improve child well-being and family self sufficiency. The
relocation of Employment and Training Division employees into one building consolidates CalWORKs and Job Link offices and will
increase program efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve accessibility for clients.
• Family, Youth and Children’s Services Division maintains Child Protective Services hotline and investigations, court-ordered
family maintenance, family reunification for children in out-of-home placement who will be able to return home, permanency
planning for children in out-of-home placement whose parents have lost parental rights, adoptions, transitional services for youth
leaving the foster care system, and Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. Innovations to improve outcomes include continued
expansion of evidence-based services through outcomes-based contracts with service providers, implementation of AB12 which
extends foster care services for youth through age 21, implementation of Structured Decision Making (a series of five risk assessments
used throughout the child welfare process to standardize the development of case plans), and testing a program called Icebreakers to
improve the relationship between biological and foster parents.
Services Eliminated or Reduced
• Adult and Aging Division will reduce the Veteran Services Office by one Veteran Claims Worker resulting in approximately 84
fewer interviews each month and resulting in about $2.5 million less each year in benefits for local veterans.
• Economic Assistance Division will reduce the General Assistance (GA) monthly payment from $270 to $257, the lowest level
allowed by the Welfare and Institutions Code, consistent with many counties throughout California. This reduces the average monthly
grant by 5%, impacting 650 community residents each month. This reduction is somewhat offset by an increase to CalFresh, which the
majority of GA recipients also receive. The department will also eliminate the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program
(FSET) which provides employment and training services specifically for about 100 GA and Non-Assistance CalFresh recipients each
month who often have long-standing barriers to employment. Instead, these individuals will receive a referral to Job Link.
• Employment and Training Division will reduce the monthly CalWORKs grant by 8% from $516 to $475 in accordance with State
budget actions. Almost 9,000 community members receive CalWORKs each month, 75% of whom are children. This reduction will
be somewhat offset by an increase in the CalFresh grant due to the family’s reduced income. The State budget also eliminates
enhanced Cal-Learn case management services which provide specialized case management services for teen parents. The 70 local
youth who receive this intensive service each month will now be served by CalWORKs Employment and Training Counselors who
average 200 clients per worker. Finally, the State is significantly changing the CalWORKs eligibility regulations by decreasing the
life-time limit for adults from 60 to 48 months. These regulation changes will impact 600 local families.
• Family, Youth and Children’s Services Division will transition the Redwood Children’s Center services to the Family Justice
Center. The goal is to continue serving these vulnerable children, however the available department staff time and staff expertise will
be reduced. In addition, this includes a transfer of funding support for medical examinations from this department to the Department
of Health Services within existing Health Services resources.
Additionally, the department will eliminate the Human Services Commission which in FY 10-11 provided $588,137 in grants to
community based organizations to support programs related to homelessness, hunger, domestic violence, legal services, and short-term
counseling and that served over 11,000 community residents. The department is actively seeking alternatives to continue to support some
level of these non-mandated but important services.
With this budget, the department prioritized positions that provide direct services. Overall, 10% of the department’s positions are
management. Thirty-three percent of the positions eliminated with this budget are management positions. The Administration Division
will be eliminated and the units reallocated to the Assistant Director, the Fiscal Officer, and the Planning, Research and Evaluation
Division Director.
Strategic Plan Focus
• Safe, Healthy and Caring Communities: This budget prioritizes protection and safety for vulnerable children and adults by
minimizing the impact of budget reductions on child welfare and adult protective services. For instance, although Voluntary Family
Maintenance services are not mandated or funded by State or Federal sources, the department prioritizes this important child abuse
County of Sonoma
FY 2011-2012 Adopted Budget
122
Health & Human Services