Just as Los Angeles County government enters a season of belt tightening, more people each month are asking for its help.
A newly passed state budget will send at least $128 million less to the county than officials expected -- money that would have gone to pay for such things as child protective services, health programs for the poor and disabled and the processing of rising applications for food stamps and Medi-Cal.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, October 10, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 100 words Type of Material: Correction
L.A. County aid: An article in Wednesday's California section about Los Angeles County's struggle to provide services as revenue dwindles said county Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka and other officials plan to travel to Washington in January to negotiate a new Medicaid waiver. Fujioka and other officials plan to begin negotiations on a new waiver with state and federal officials in January but not by traveling to Washington. Also, the story said about 20% of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's existing debt is set at a fixed rate. About 20% is set at a variable rate.
"That's the paradox of county government," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. "Unlike other levels of government, demand for services increases exponentially as revenues decrease. We have an increased number of people on public relief, more people losing their homes and more people with children needing services."
The need for help has spread beyond poor communities.
"Poverty is up in a serious way," Yaroslavsky said. "I was at a food pantry in Tarzana, and folks there . . . told me that from August of 2007 to August 2008, the number of families partaking of free food is up 20 to 21%. This is in a relatively affluent community."
Over the last year, the number of people receiving general relief checks -- $221 available monthly to those struggling to make ends meet -- has increased by more than 8,500, up to 70,260 from 61,715. That figure is the highest it has been since 1998, when the county sharply tightened qualifications for public assistance.
The number of county residents on Medi-Cal has grown by 100,000, up to 1.6 million from 1.5 million a year ago. Over those same months, the number of people receiving food stamps increased by 26,000 to 296,000.
Some of the shortfall in state funds might be replaced with county money, but officials note that the cuts come at a time when they were already planning to shorten county hospital stays for some patients and reduce the number of welfare-to-work participants sent to community colleges. In another cost-saving move, county officials say they will not fill many vacant positions.
But county officials caution that the full effect of the current economic downturn is yet to come.
County Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka -- who said Tuesday that he is concerned about steep losses in the county's pension fund as well as diminishing Medicare reimbursements from Washington -- has asked county department heads to prioritize their programs in preparation for further cuts. He said many proposed projects are being placed on hold.
