BOARD OF SUPERVISORS KEITH CARSON Supervisor, Fifth District The Federal Government s Office of Management and Budget, recently announced that the United States deficit is quickly approaching one half trillion dollars. I organized a meeting this past June in Oakland where Steve Peace, Budget Director for the State of California, announced that with a $38 billion dollar deficit, the State of California is officially broke. Although California passed a spending plan for fiscal year 2003-2004, the legislature is rolling over an $8.9 billion dollar deficit that will have to be addressed next year. California receives 30% of its operating revenues from the Federal government. Alameda County receives 50% of our operating revenues from the Federal and State government. Historically, when the Federal government has a deficit, they take monies from local government to help fill the deficit hole. However, State and Federal laws require that Alameda County spend 80% of its dollars on State and Federally mandated programs. To explain it another way, the Federal and State government will reimburse your County government for services that by legislation they dictate we must provide. Federal and FALL 2003 State government also legislate that we provide unfunded mandated services. The challenge today with County and local government is how do we provide mandated and unfunded mandated services, when the State and Federal government continue to take more of our operating dollars and delay (sometimes) up to 18 months the payment of reimbursements for services performed? Yet they continue to insist that we meet the increased demand for those mandated and in some cases, unfunded mandated services. The articles in this newsletter are designed to give readers a better understanding of how Alameda County with multiple obstacles, continues to meet the needs of our constituents. I understand the frustration of residents when they read about hospital closings, the lack of affordable childcare or the lack of money for in home supportive services for seniors. I think it is important for people in our community to understand what they are not getting and why they are not getting it. I encourage you to read the newsletter and contact my office to tell me which services are essential to you. Alameda County Youth Leadership Academy The County of Alameda invites high school juniors and seniors to apply to the Youth Leadership Academy, a five session interactive course on leadership and local government. It is an excellent opportunity to meet local officials and tour different county facilities. Questions or information call (510) 272-6984. Albany Do you enjoy poetry? If so, the Albany Public Library is the place to be! The first Thursday of the month from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm, there is a featured poet present to share extraordinary words of poetry followed by an open mic. Also every second Wednesday of the month the Library holds a drop in workshop, from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm, where you can read your poetry to open and eager ears! For more information, please call (510) 526-3720. Berkeley Attention all teens between the ages of 14 through 18, the Teen Play readers at the Berkeley Public Library wants you! Teen Play Readers is a program that teaches youth the craft of how to read plays. The types of plays vary from classics to drama, and comedy. They meet at the North Branch Library every Wednesday from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. No try outs, no need to enroll! Just come play along when you can! For more information call (510) 981-6250. Emeryville Stop by the Bay Street Farmers Market to find the freshest ingredients or learn some new culinary tips through cooking demonstrations by street chefs. Mark your calendars and visit the Bay Street Farmers Market every Friday from 11:00 am to 1221 Oak Street Suite 536 Oakland, California 94612-510-272-6695 Fax 510 271-5151 3:00 pm. Continued on Page 2
Health Care Mandates: Doing More with Less The Mission of the County Health Care Services Agency is To provide fully integrated health care services through a comprehensive network of public and private partnerships that ensures optimal health and well-being for all residents while respecting their diversity. Our mission is met in a number of different ways every day in Alameda County, due in large part to the collaborations we have with the different partners that make up our health care system. The mission statement doesn t express the difference between what we are required to do/provide on any given day versus what we do above and beyond our mandate. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors utilizes the few discretionary dollars we have to weave additional fabric to support the safety net. For example, we co-sponsor health fairs, fund school based health centers, and provide additional mental health services to our indigent population. The Welfare and Institutions Code Section 17000 mandates that Counties serve all patients, regardless of insurance status or financial ability to pay. In order to meet this mandate, we have created a public hospital system called the Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC), which includes Highland, Fairmont and John George Hospitals. ACMC is the anchor of our safety net provider network, and their work helps us to meet our mission and mandate. Many public hospitals and health systems are known as opendoor providers because their purpose is to serve everyone. Since we serve a patient population that is primarily low income and publicly insured, or uninsured, running our public hospital is not a moneymaking endeavor. However, members of the Board of Supervisors and I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, so we continue to do our part to fund the safety net; we continue to do so with dwindling resources. The County is forced to divert dollars to fund new unfunded mandates from the State, taking dollars and away from the above and beyond services we offer. We are now expected to make even harder decisions: which health care services do we continue to fund, and which teen clinic or mental health clinic must close? These are only a few of the challenges that Alameda County is attempting to address. When times are tough, as they are today, one strategy that cash-strapped States employ is to shift dollars. The shift means the State has fewer dollars to pass along to counties, and thus we have less revenue to provide services for community residents. This trickle down (or lack thereof) is especially detrimental in the health care arena because the State not only shares less money with counties, but they add to our burden by passing down new and voluminous health care mandates with absolutely no revenue or reimbursement funds to follow. While more health care services are a wonderful benefit to any community, when you cannot charge the recipient for an additional service, someone must provide the revenue to underwrite the cost of the service. Our County has done so, but cannot continue to serve new clients without some form of reimbursement. When the State or Congress adds a health care benefit but does not allocate money to finance that benefit, local government is being asked to do more with less in a public health system already pushed to the limit. We must then use the little bit of discretionary dollars we have to fund the additional cost of the new mandates forcing us to cut the services we used to purchase above and beyond our mandate. The way we meet our mandates for health care is by partnering with our community-based organizations and clinics. What best characterizes the successful partnerships among communities, health departments, public hospitals and health systems is the recognition, by all sides, of the complimentary missions and purposes they share and the acceptance of each other as equals, with each partner bringing something to the table. When we are forced to pull a thread from our safety net, the remaining providers band together to fill the gap. The ability to continue to provide health care services is due in large part to the leadership of the County. Our Board was the first in the State of California to allocate all of the dollars we received as a part of the settlement in our class action lawsuit against the tobacco companies to health care services. I personally made sure that those dollars were used to reinforce the safety net. Together we will continue to meet our mission and our mandate-even if that means doing more with less. Continued from page 1 Oakland Would you like to improve your computer skills or do you just have some free time on your hands? A one-on-one computer teacher can get you started or improve your skills in e-mail messaging, surfing the Internet, and using MS Word! FREE sessions are held at the Oakland Public Library, Wednesday evenings and Sunday Afternoons. Reserve a time slot by calling (510) 238-3176 or at the Magazine & Newspaper Department on the Main Library s second floor.
Social Services: Meeting the needs of the community The mission statement of the Alameda County Social Service Agency (SSA) is To promote the well being of individuals and families in Alameda County through a responsive, accessible, and flexible service delivery system that recognizes the importance of family, cultural and ethnic diversity. In addition to the mission, the Agency is mandated to follow specific State and Federal legislation. The California State Legislature created the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), which replaced the former welfare system (AFDC). CalWORKs is one of the largest mandated programs administered by the Social Service Agency that is required by State and Federal regulations to provide employment and social services to individuals and families. The Agency also determines a client s eligibility for MediCal (a health care coverage program for low-income individuals), and/or the food stamp program. All of these programs support the Agency in meeting the charge of assisting families to become selfsufficient. The Social Services Agency has one of the largest budgets within the County: $571,827,896 million for fiscal year 2003-04, despite a reduction of $27.4 million from last year. An unfortunate example of these reductions is the State cutting the allocation to counties for Calworks employment programs (a mandated program) by millions of dollars thus forcing our County to cut all community-based contracts that assist families in becoming self-sufficient by 26%. Given the current state of the economy in California, our workload as a County seems to grow even larger as the necessary resources seem to vanish or be diverted. SSA has been proactively looking at ways to ensure that services remain intact. It is essential that we as a County are innovative in our approaches in maintaining our funding levels. For example, over the last year the Agency has developed a policy department in order to address the challenges of fulfilling mandates. During the State budget process last year, the State reduced our allocation by ten million dollars due to inaccurate data analysis. Our policy office was able to review the State data, uncover the problem and recapture $8.3 million dollars. This effort helped sustain childcare subsidies for over 1,800 low-income working families and over 3,100 children. Although we are working with insufficient resources, we still must maintain the same level of services for over 16,000 families receiving CalWORKs assistance, 64,000 residents receiving Medi-Cal and 43,474 people receiving food stamps in addition to serving over 5,000 children in the foster care system. My colleagues and I on the Board of Supervisors work everyday to address the issue of supporting services with dwindling resources. While representing one of the most diverse districts in Alameda County, I am specifically charged with ensuring that the constituents of District 5 continue to receive the level of service that they are entitled. We must continue to provide the services, which will help families become self-sufficient and a bigger part of the vibrant Bay Area community. Capacity Building Workshops for Non- Profit Organizations Community-Based Organizations play a critical role in helping to build and maintain healthy neighborhoods. The proposed cuts to Alameda County s budget means local government and service providers have to be more innovative in the way we serve County residents. Supervisor Carson is sponsoring a series of capacity building workshops that support and enhance the great work non-profits are doing to help build healthy organizations and stronger communities. The remainder of the workshops for this year are: September 25 th Program Planning and Evaluation (9:30 am to 12:30 pm) The basics of program planning and evaluation, discussion of outcomes and impacts, research/survey methods, and analysis of programs will be covered in this workshop. October 30 th Personnel Issues & Development (9:30 am to 12:30 pm) Join our consulting team as we discuss how to keep your staff engaged while achieving more with less. This workshop will provide an overview of successful project management techniques and reveal tools you can use to plan, organize, and execute your projects. For more information please contact Felicia Moore-Jordan at (510) 268-5376. The workshops are free, but space is limited. 3
Publicly Protected The State of California is legally required to reimburse the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the Probation Department and the Public Defender for numerous programs and services for Alameda County residents. It is common for the State to avert their responsibilities and provide insufficient funding for these mandated services. In difficult budgetary times like these, the State often refuses to provide any funding for some of the mandated services. In most cases, failure by the State to fund a program puts the County in an awkward position. Does the County continue to fund the service and pay for it with County money, or does the County stop providing the service? This is the dilemma faced by the Board of Supervisors every year. The Alameda County District Attorney is mandated to run six programs where the State is legally required to reimburse the County. The programs range in scope from deciding whether to continue to detain those who are sexual predators that have completed their sentence yet still pose a threat to communities; to locating abducted children and prosecuting those involved. In most cases, the County continues to underwrite the program or service, forcing us to make reductions in other areas. The politics of withholding funds for public safety programs potentially jeopardizes the safety of county residents. The County Board of Supervisors refuses to take that risk and therefore is forced to run the program with County, not State, funds. For example, if the County determines that a sexual predator is not ready for release, they are detained and the State is responsible for the cost. However, due to insufficient State reimbursements, the County is loosing money by continuing to house these predators. The Board of Supervisors recognizes the need for the program and continues to pay for it. The State has indicated they will not reimburse us for the child abduction and recovery programs service this year. However, because the service is essential Alameda County continues to administer the program at our cost. Did you know... Alameda County was incorporated in 1853 and celebrated its 150 th Anniversary on March 25 th 2003. The name Alameda is derived from a Spanish term for poplar. The term poplar describes trees found in North America that have soft, light wood and heart shaped leaves. These trees symbolize life and vitality. Before I was elected to serve on the Board of Supervisors, I worked for Congressman Ronald V. Dellums who always told us to follow the dollar. Local government is often caught in the middle constituents know us as the service provider, however it is often the State and/or Federal government that is not providing the adequate funding to support the essential programs and services. The question residents need to ask themselves is why? Are recent fee and tax cuts preventing the state from collecting enough revenue to deliver their constitutionally mandated services? Are the State and Federal government spending money earmarked for local government on non-mandated services? Is the State and Federal government not funding essential programs because they don t feel constituents will challenge their decisions? As the sluggish economy continues to be the source of devastating government cuts, an informed and involved constituency has an important role to play. Legislators on all levels need to know that residents know what services they need, residents know who is responsible for delivering the services and who is responsible for funding them. Youth Bus Pass Update In my last newsletter, I announced an innovative partnership between my office and AC Transit, one of the largest transportation providers in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the free AC Transit Bus Pass program for students who qualified for a free or reduced cost school lunch was only a one-year pilot and has ended. AC Transit was unable to continue the free pass program as a result of the their budget crisis. However, the current cost for the Student Bus Pass for all youth in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties is $15 a month. This is a significant reduction from the $27 monthly pass our students and their families were paying before this pilot program went into place. For more information call AC Transit at (510) 817-1717 (+1111) or my Deputy Chief of Staff, Lara Bice at (510) 272-6685. 4
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors Opposes Proposition 54 On October 7 th, besides voting on whether or not to recall the Governor, Californians will have the chance to vote on a controversial bill. Proposition 54, titled the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color or National Origin Initiative, would bar state and local government in California from collecting or using information about race or ethnicity; the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to oppose this initiative. Proposition 54 s sponsor, Ward Connerly, says this is the first step in making our society more color-blind. While this is a worthy goal, a closer look shows that the banning of this information will harm Alameda County residents, especially residents in communities of color. The County frequently uses race and ethnicity data to target our resources to meet the greatest needs. For instance, the Public Health Department creates health messages and strategies that target racial and ethnic groups that disproportionately suffer from certain diseases examples include asthma, diabetes, and HIV. Using County resources in this manner is a more effective way of providing services and will be prohibited with the passage of Proposition 54. Proposition 54 would hurt the County s ability to effectively and appropriately serve its residents by stopping the County from collecting the very information that highlights gaps in care and treatment. We need this data to make sure that we have the right type of services for our diverse community. Supervisor Keith Carson Alameda County 1221 Oak Street, Suite 536 Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 272-6695 Postage 5
Who s in our Office: Staff Rodney Brooks, Chief of Staff (510) 272-6618 Responsibilities: Public Protection, Youth Issues, EDAB (Economic Development Alliance for Business), overall supervision of staff, special projects for Supervisor Carson. Lara Bice, Deputy Chief of Staff (510) 272-6685 Responsibilities: Health Care, Legislative analysis (State and Federal), Transportation, Environmental Issues including Waste Management and Recycling. Mina Sanchez, Office Manager (510) 272-6687 Responsibilities: Supervisor Carson s Calendar, Resolutions/Commendations, Maintenance of Office Budget, Asian Community Liaison/Outreach. Aisha Brown, Supervisor s Assistant (510) 272-6686 Responsibilities: Social Services, Senior Issues, Children/Family, Employment Services, Economic Assistance programs, Housing, Property Tax and Assessment, Para-Transit. Tahera Kapasi, Intern (510) 208-9599 Responsibilities: In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Senior Issues. Felicia Moore-Jordan, Intern/ Community Organizer (510) 268-5376 Responsibilities: Planning, Land Use, Community Outreach. Our contact information: 1221 Oak St., Suite 536 Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 272-6695 Office (510) 271-5151 Fax Email: dist5@acgov.org District 5 announces vacancies on County Boards and Commissions and Internship Opportunities Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson is currently accepting applications from residents in the 5 th Supervisorial District who are interested in serving on a countywide Board or Commission. The Fifth District encompasses North and West Oakland, Montclair, Rockridge, Trestle Glen, portions of the Fruitvale and San Antonio districts and the cities of Piedmont, Berkeley, Emeryville and Albany. The following is a list of boards and commissions and their vacancies: Art Commission/ 2 Vacancies The Art Commission supports our thriving environment for the arts and cultural activities, promotes economic stability for Alameda County's artists, art organizations, and enhances employment situations for Alameda County artists. Meeting Time: 4:00 p.m., 2 nd Wednesday of the month, locations rotate around the County. Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) / 1 vacancy BPAC advises ACTIA, the countywide transportation board, on the development and implementation of bicycle and pedestrian programs including a grant program. The Committee meets quarterly on the 2nd Thursday of the month, exact time TBD. Some subcommittee participation is also encouraged. Internships Internship opportunities are available in our office for high school and college students throughout the year. Contact our office for more information. If you are interested in serving on any Board or Commission, please send your resume and cover letter to: Mina Sanchez 1221 Oak Street, Ste. 536 Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 272-6695 Fax: (510) 271-5151 Email: dist5@acgov.org 6