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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 10241989 - 2.5 a . s ' BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator nWra October 19, 1989 C DATE . r01 SUBJECT: Standards for Administration of the General Assistance P1�1 / Program; 1l� Proposed Termination of the Emergency Assistance Program and Certain Special Needs Grants SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Accept, and adopt as further findings in support of its September 12, 1989 Orders and Resolutions terminating the Emergency Assistance Program and certain Special Needs Grants, the attached Supplemental Report of the Social Service Director on Termination of the Emergency Assistance Program and Certain Special Need Allowances. AWW:tb T-1 a:\aww\order\standard.f CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YESS"IG'NA.TU'RE�.' � 01�'r RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMiINIiSTRA.TOR RECOMMENDATION, OF BOARD' COMM!I!TT.EE: X APPROVE OTHER SIGNATUREES►: ACTION OF BOARD ON October 24. 1989 _ APP'ROVED' AS; RECOMMENDED, X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS F HEREBY CERT'IiFY TRAM' TKIIS IIS; Al TRUE: X UNANIMOUS (,ABSENT }' AND, CORRECT' COPY OF' ANI AC.T'IIONI TAINT AYES: NOES:, AND' ENTERED, Off THE: MINUTES; OF' THE: BOARD) ABSENT: ABSTAM*.' OF' SUPERV 11SORS ON1 THE: DATE: SHOWNI.. cc: County. Administrator ATTESTED) v?y�/q 89 County Counsel PHIiL. BATCHELOR,, CLERFC OF THE: 80'A�RD) OF Social Services Department SUPERVISORS AND)COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR; BY, s�LG—,a�G� „DEPVT1Y M1382/7-83 SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT` CONTRA COSTA COUNTY DATE: October 19, 1989 MEMO TO: Board of Supervisors FROM: James A. Rydingsword, Director SUBJECT: Supplemental Report on Termination of the Emergency Assistance Program and Certain Special Need Allowances ----------------------------------------------------------------- This responds to the Board's October 10, 1989, order referring correspondence dated September 28, 1989, from the Contra Costa Legal Services Foundation, to the Social Service Director and County Counsel for report. A) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE: The Emergency Assistance program is, and always has been, a discretionary program, and not a General Assistance entitle- ment (see Board of Supervisors' Resolution No. 88/576 VII.b. ) . The program was created to furnish the Social Service Department with a means by which to deal with certain emergency circumstances. County-funded Emergency Assistance has been used in a discretionary way to meet increasing and changing situations for the General Assistance eligible population of the County and non-eligible persons as well. However, the adoption of the Immediate Need and Shelter Benefit programs will render the discretionary Emergency Assistance program unnecessary for General Assistance eligible persons, since the Immediate Need and Shelter Benefit programs will provide eligibles with prompt equivalent assistance in obtaining food, shelter, trans- portation, personal needs, and social services. Upon the determination of a person's qualification for Immediate Need (upon the day of application, where possible) , the person will immediately be entitled to a pro-rated General Assistance allowance. What follows is a discussion of the ways in which Emergency Assistance is currently used, and how the situations ' Gen 9c (New 3/86) MEMO TO: Board of Supervisors October 19, 1989 SUBJECT: Supplemental Report. . . Page 2 addressed by the current uses of Emergency Assistance will be addressed under the Immediate Need and Shelter Benefit programs, as well as the overall General Assistance program, to be implemented on November 1, 1989. 1) Temporary Housing: Emergency Assistance is currently used for General Assistance eligibles and ineligibles to pay for motel housing"ireferrals to the County-sponsored shelter in West County (the Volunteers of America, Inc. , trailers) . Under the Immediate Need and Shelter Benefit programs, persons with Immediate Need or General Assistance eligibility will be immediately entitled to temporary housing in a County-sponsored or privately-operated shelter, or to a voucher for housing if a shelter is unavailable. Attached is a copy of the Social Service Department's current list of West County Housing Resources for Singles, updated to October 16, 1989, which shows that there are housing resources available within the housing parameters of the County's General Assistance program. Eligibility for Immediate Need will be determined on the same day as the application, where possible, there will be no delay in providing such housing assistance. As for persons ineligible for Immediate Need and General Assistance, information and referral services will be provided to assist such persons in obtaining temporary housing. 2) Permanent Housing: Emergency Assistance is currently used for General Assistance eligibles and ineligibles to make payments to prevent eviction, and to make payments for rent, security deposits, and moving expenses for newly obtained housing. Under the Special Need for Housing Assistance element of the General Assistance program, which will be implemented when the Emergency Assistance Program is terminated, persons with General Assistance eligibility, who qualify for special need payments as to housing, may obtain payments for first and last months' rents and required deposits for housing, subject to maximums determined by the Social Service Department. As to persons not determined to be eligible for General Assistance, information and referral services will be provided to assist such persons in obtaining permanent housing. MEMO TO: Board of Supervisors October 19, 1989 . SUBJECT: Supplemental Report. . . Page 3 3) Utilities• Emergency Assistance is currently used for General Assistance. eligibles and ineligibles to make payments to prevent utility shut-offs and for utility deposits. Under the Special Needs component of the General Assistance program, persons with General Assistance eligibility will be entitled to payments for utility deposits and to prevent utility shutoffs. As for persons ineligible for General Assistance, the Department will assist such persons with identifying and using other resources to make such payments. 4) Food• Emergency Assistance is currently used for General Assistance eligibles and ineligibles for food when the issuance of Food Stamps is delayed or a person has depleted her/his Food Stamps for the month. Under the Immediate Need program, persons with Immediate. Need eligibility will be immediately entitled to a pro-rated General Assistance allowance which includes the food allowance components. As for persons ineligible for Immediate Need, the Department will assist such persons with referrals to private resources, such as food pantries. 5) Clothing• Emergency Assistance is currently used for General Assistance eligibles and ineligibles for special clothing needed for employment. Under the Special Needs component of the General Assistance program, persons with General Assistance eligibility, and a demonstrated special need as to clothing, may be entitled to payments for special clothing necessary to obtain employment. As for persons ineligible for General Assistance, the Department will assist such persons with referrals to other resources. 6) Transportation: Emergency Assistance is currently used for transportation to and from medical and other appointments. Under the Immediate Need program, persons with Immediate Need eligibility will be immediately entitled MEMO TO: Board of Supervisors October . 19, 1989 SUBJECT: Supplemental Report. . . Page 4 to a pro-rated General Assistance allowance which includes the transportation allowance component. As for persons ineligible for Immediate Need or General Assistance, the Department will assist such persons with referrals to other resources. B) RESTAURANT MEALS: As discussed in our August 31, 1989, report, the Restaurant Meal Special Need Allowance was established to aid certain General Assistance eligibles who were ineligible for food stamps. Food stamp regulation changes have eliminated the food stamp disqualification of the General Assistance eligibles in question and the restaurant meal special need is no longer necessary. C) EXCESS HOUSING COST: This allowance was used in the past to bring the General Assistance housing allowance for budget units of three or more up to the housing allowance for budget units of three or more up to the housing allowance for three or more exceeds the AFDC allowance, rendering this special need unnecessary. There are currently fewer than five cases county-wide who receive this allowance. D) LINEN: No other county in California is known to this Department to grant a General Assistance allowance for household linen. Insofar as the General Assistance program is a temporary program, designed to tide people over pending their rehabilitation or qualification for other assistance, a household linen allowance is inconsistent with the purposes of the program. E) TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCE: The $15. 00 special need transportation allowance is provided to permit eligibles to comply with mandatory job search requirements. The job search activities are no longer mandatory and the accompanying transportation allowance is no longer needed to support compliance with the program. JAR:sjb HOUSING RESOURCES FOR SINGLES RICHMOND: BOND HOTEL 60 ROOMS $195 small room. + $5.KEY DEP. 334 2nd Street men/women $240 large room Richmond shared baths, kitchens BELLVIEW HOTEL 45 ROOMS $200/MO 331 MacDonald Ave men/women Richmond shared baths, kitchens SIMS ROOMING HOUSE 6 ROOMS $195. small room 100 Ohio Street older men $205. large room Richmond shared baths, kitchen BUTLER ROOMING HOUSE 65 ROOMS $200. single 52 Gertrude singles $220. double No. Richmond shared bath & kitchems NEW TODD HOTEL 20 ROOMS $175.+ $10 KEY DEP #3 W. Richmond older men + 6% tax Pt. Richmond shared bath, no kitchen IVY INN 16 ROOMS $150/MO 19 Cottage Ave employed men or or $45/wk Pt. Richmond GA money mgmt shared bath & kitchen THE SPOT employed men only $125./wk #11 Washington Ave Pt Richmond FREE SHELTERS: RICHMOND RESCUE MISSION 78 beds for men 200 MacDonald Avenue 18 beds for women Richmond 99 beds for fami 1 i-es + (30 mats available for single men) FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER (VOA) 12 beds for women 173 - 22ND Street Must have referral from Richmond Social Service - screening at 165 - 22nd Street LIFELINE SHELTER PROGRAM (VOA) 31 beds for men 847 Brookside Drive Must have referral from No. Richmond Social Service - screening at 165 - 22nd Street Jerry Feagley 24 hr tape # 236-2276 Private landlord. Has 14 - 1 bedroom units at 319 & 327 First Street Richmond. Currently 10 vacancies. Will rent units to 2 singles @ $200/mo apiece. Will install plywood partitions in bedrooms to accommodate roommates. First month's rent prorated from date of move-in. $200 deposit. Rent includes garbage service. Coin laundry on premises. Prefers successful graduates of shelter programs. Rental agreement specifies immediate eviction for drug use.