On Wednesday August 11th, State Legislators & other politicians in Sacramento met with everyday people to discuss alternative ways to balance the CA budget with out cutting money from vital social programs. Residents at Father Alfred Center, St. Anthony’s inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, residents went there with the Jusice Education, Volunteer and Advocacy program and The Health and Human Services Network to show the face of those in treatment.

HHS Came to the talks with three stated goals.
• “To Invest in and protect the health and human services vital to California’s economy and families.”
• “To champion alternatives to dismantling our health care and human services including targeted state revenues and federal recovery funds.”
• And finally, “To reform and re-invent the states broken budget process.”

Father Alfred Center Residents who attended spoke on a number of issues related to these goals.

For example, California currently imposes a lifetime ban on food stamps for individuals who are convicted of drug related felonies (even those in recovery). One resident who spoke at the event told me, “Food Stamps help Stimulate the economy among other things. By keeping them from those seeking treatment, the economy is denied that stimulation effect.”

Other ideas proposed were a nickel tax on all alcoholic beverages sold in CA, and a tax on imported oil.

When I asked her to comment Colleen Rivecca of St. Anthony Foundation’s Jusice Education, Volunteer and Advocacy program told me:

“One of the budget balancing strategies in the Governor’s Budget Proposal is to cut the benefit levels for people receiving SSI/SSP grants. SSI/SSP recipients are low-income blind, elderly and disabled people, and they are ineligible for Food Stamps. People receiving SSI/SSP have already received 3 grant level reductions within the past year. The guys talked about the growing numbers of seniors and people with disabilities that they see every day while working in at St. Anthony Dining Room – they said that these people are already struggling to make ends meet, and a further reduction in their benefits would make it even more difficult for them to survive.”

A lot of good ideas were exchanged at the meeting, and as always Father Alfred Center Residents and St Anthony Foundation was there to do their part.

“Making budget priorities is essential in tough economic times. But we need to remember that although closing a park may be inconvenient, closing down programs like CalWORKS hurts children and destroys families.” This quote from an editorial piece in Monday’s San Francisco Chronicle written by George Niederauer, archbishop of the San Francisco Catholic diocese.

These sentiments are echoed by many low-income and struggling Californians and those who advocate for them.  A $19 billion deficit is in no way going to be balanced strictly by cutting services to public parks, nor is it possible to raise taxes to cover that large of a gap.  There must be a compromise, there must be deliberate and well-thought out decisions made.   They must be made not from a brash crisis mindset but from one of responsibility and solidarity with those most vulnerable, that we as Californians can stand behind, accountable and with clear conscious.

“Now is the time for our legislators and the governor, many of whom are not facing re-election, to show real courage and imagination. Families are suffering because of a devastating – but curable – budget crisis. Lawmakers and the governor have the tools and the ability to solve these problems, but it requires leadership. They need to stop giving in to special interests and start looking after the future of California. They need to stop the partisanship and the bickering.”

None of St. Anthony Foundation’s health and social service programs are funded through government sources, yet we at St. Anthony’s are involved in budget advocacy. We work to protect the safety net because we know that we can not be as effective in helping our guests transition to stable lives without public-sector investment in health and social services that help support the low-income, the homeless, the sick, the elderly, and the disabled.

Health and Human Services Network of California is a coalition of advocates, health and social service providers, low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities, and people who believe in a California that cares for all of its residents have joined together in a Summer of Action for a fair California budget. Anyone can be a part of the budget justice movement by making a simple phone call to their legislators and telling them to support a Family Recovery Budget for California that:

1) Creates and maintains jobs,

2) Protects our state’s vital health and human services, and

3) Includes targeted revenue solutions at the State and Federal levels, to get our economy, our State, and all families back on track.

Not sure who your legislators are? Enter your zip code at the Official California Legislative Information site to find out.

After months of debate, Congress still has not been able to pass a bill (H.R. 4213, The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010) that would extend Unemployment Insurance and would help support Medicaid and affordable housing programs.

The California Employment Development Department reports that as of June 22, 2010, there are 205,000 Californians who are in danger of running out of Unemployment Insurance benefits or who have already received their last check.

Not only do we need to advocate for the extension of Unemployment Insurance, medical care, and affordable housing funding, we have to tell Congress not to pay for these programs by cutting other vital services, like anti-hunger programs!  (One of the ideas floating through the Senate last week was to pay for the Unemployment Insurance extension by cutting $9.5 billion from the Food Stamp program!)  It’s unbelievable to me that the Senate would consider making this type of “Sophie’s Choice”, but I guess I feel that way because I work here at St. Anthony’s, where we take a holistic approach to helping people through rough times by offering free meals, employment assistance, medical care, free clothing, and more.

The Senate is expected to take up H.R. 4213 again after the Fourth of July recess.  Once again, we have the opportunity to tell our Senators that we need to take action to promote the common good and help our struggling friends, neighbors, and community members.

Our friends at NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby have an email form here that makes it easy to contact your Senators and ask them to support H.R. 4213.

A little over a year ago, I wrote a blog post on San Francisco’s budget cuts creating make shift drop-in centers for the homeless. General Hospital’s waiting room becomes a warm and dry place to be with a television to watch, the 24 hour Safway at Church and Marked provides a bathroom and a place to be, and the San Francisco Main Library subsititues for a quiet place to nap for those unable to obtain a shelter bed the night before.

Over the past year San Francisco’s main library branch, located at Civic Center Plaza, has employed a social worker to talk directly to patrons in order to link them with social services.

“What we found out is that a lot of the homeless people who come here, they come to get away from being homeless and we found that a lot of folks we spoke with didn’t really want to engage with an outreach worker at that point,” Dr. Raj Parekh, a psychiatrist without the city’s health department, told KTVU2 News yesterday.

The need for such services is not just limited to San Francisco. Libraries in major cities across the country have called San Francisco in hopes creating their own similar programs.

This is the day I’ve been dreading since January: the day that Governor Schwarzenegger releases his revised budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

The “May Revise”, as it’s called, just went live about an hour ago.  With only an hour of analysis under my belt so far, I can simply tell you this: it’s bad!

The Governor proposes the following:

When I read through this list of cuts, I don’t just think about dollars and programs, I think about the people who will be affected.  When I think about the people who will be hurt, I think about St. Anthony Dining Room.  Who are the people we provide free nutritious meals to on a daily basis?  They are the same people who are represented in the cuts list above: the elderly, the disabled, low-wage workers, immigrants, people with mental illness, and struggling families.

All of us, rich and poor, housed and homeless, old and young, suffer when the most vulnerable people in our community suffer.  We at St. Anthony’s will continue to analyze the May Revise and will continue to advocate for fair budgets!  Watch this space for further updates.

Ed Note: This week’s entry was written by Katie, St. Anthony’s intern from Dartmouth College. Next week marks her final days in San Francisco. We wish Katie well and thank her for spending her winter with us!

As my two months at St. Anthonys come to a close I find myself doing a lot of reflecting. There are many things I’m going to miss: my morning chats with Indian Joe, serving trays, handing out milk, and even folding countless tiny plastic bags at the ToGo station in the dining room. However, I’ve also been contemplating some of the important things I’ve learned.

One of the primary realizations that has dawned upon me is that none of us, including myself, is that far from being in a position to need a meal in the Dining Room. By putting together statistics I’ve learned in the grantwriting department, trips to Sacramento with Colleen (the amazing advocacy coordinator) to sit in on Senate hearings, and my experiences in the dining room I’ve come to a holistic understanding of just how easy it is to have the rug pulled out from under you, so to speak. Between the economic recession, budget cuts at the city and state level that target homeless and underprivileged populations, and insufficient healthcare, many people in San Francisco (and the country) are just one cavity, one fender bender, or one unplanned pregnancy away from homelessness.

Before I came to St. Anthonys I always had a vague assumption that I would never be in such a position, that people who worked hard would be able to stay solvent. However, I’ve come to see just how much (like rent, transportation, medical care, the ability to hold a job) can be out of our of personal control. This realization has allowed me to see that the guests at St. Anthonys are not necessarily unlike myself, and has brought me renewed appreciation for their cheerfulness and kindness throughout the past two months. Although I hope one day San Francisco will no longer need St. Anthonys, for now I am thankful for the wonderful work the foundation does and for the opportunity is has given me to learn.

Some days are harder than others.

For some reason when the rain returns after a glimpse of sunlight it seems a little darker than if we just had a few rainy ones in a row.  You need that morning coffee to kick in a little harder those days.

Reading the headlines of the paper there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of uplifting news.  Budget cuts, another round of teacher pink slips, and an unrelenting concern for profit juxtaposed with a disappointing negligence toward our country’s everyday people.

As one can imagine, working in the fundraising department of a non-profit during these times is an emotional and logistical challenge.  It is my job, however, to keep faith.  And  I must say, I am in a pretty good place for that.  At St. Anthony’s I am surrounded by people keeping faith and having hope that it may be dark today, but there will be light.  Our staff, guests, supporters and neighborhood friends are all amazing reminders, and believers.

As so many know and have been touched by the gratitude expressed by our guests, I too am thankful that there is a mission and movement that I can be a part of to keep faith and remember the sunnier days ahead.

It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but work and desire are invincible.    –Thomas Robert Gaines

Attending a St. Anthony’s advocacy meeting for the first means being bombarded by acronyms: SSI, IHSS, Calworks. It means facing some disheartening news: increased muni prices for seniors and the disabled, increased co-pays for medi-cal, and grant reductions proposed in the Senate budget hearing. The list could go on.

But an advocacy meeting also means taking all the bad news while still seeing the good news. Here’s some good news: all the letters and emails opposing the IHSS (in-home senior service) cuts were presented in the Senate budget hearing. Here’s some more: St. Anthony guests are signing a petition opposing the increased muni fares and other guests may potentially find part-time work as 2010 census employees. Good news does not reduce bad news, but understanding that it’s not all bad news can help from becoming completely overwhelmed at all the work ahead. But good news does not mean relaxing, it means plowing ahead so that there’s more good news.

Following is a brief summary of the Governor’s proposed budget and its potential impact on health and social services.

The governor is proposing drastic cuts to the programs that our clients and guests depend on for their very survival. Programs affected include CalWORKs, In Home Support Services, SSI/SSP, CAPI (SSI program for immigrants), California Food Assistance Program, Healthy Families, Prop 63-funded mental health services, and Medi-Cal.

Two Types of Cuts
The Governor has proposed significant cuts affecting health and human services programs. Many of these cuts have been proposed to begin in March 2010. The Governor has also asked the legislature to approve “triggering” additional program cuts and revenue increases if the federal government gives California less than $7 billion in relief.

Overview of the spending reductions:
• Medi-Cal:
o Unspecified limits on services and increased cost sharing with benefit recipients (co-payments/premiums).
o Elimination of Medi-Cal services for certain immigrants (e.g. those living in the U.S. less than five years).
o Eliminating Adult Day Health benefits.
• Healthy Families:
o Limit eligibility to families with incomes less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. (Current threshold = 250% of poverty level. This change would leave 240,000 children without coverage.)
o Eliminate vision benefits for all Healthy Families participants
o Increase premiums and co-pays for the second year in a row.
• CalWORKs:
o Reduce grant level by 15.7%. This cut would reduce the maximum monthly grant for a family of three in high-cost counties from $694 to $585.
o Eliminate CalWORKs benefits for legal immigrants who have been in the US for less than five years.
• In Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
o Limit IHSS services to individuals with “functional index” scores of 4.0 and higher. This change would eliminate services for 87% of the IHSS caseload, reducing the number of recipients from 485,000 to 63,000.
o Cap the maximum amount up to which the state will share in the cost of wages and benefits for IHSS workers at the state’s minimum wage, currently $8.00 per hour . Currently, the state shares in combined wage and benefit payments of up to $12.10 per hour for IHSS workers.
• Reducing SSI/SSP grants for single individuals to the minimum level allowed by federal law. This would amount to a $15 per month reduction effective June 1, 2010, the fourth grant reduction for SSI/SSP in the past 12 months.
• Elimination of state-funded programs specifically for (legal) immigrants, including CAPI (SSI-like program for people ineligible for SSI due to immigrant status) and California Food Assistance Program (Food Stamp-like program for people ineligible for Food Stamps due to immigration status).
• Ballot proposals: transferring money for Prop 10 (First 5 program funding for young children) and Prop 63 (mental health funding) to the General Fund.

Triggered Expenditure Reductions, Revenue Options, Spending Shifts:
• Permanent elimination of CalWORKs, IHSS, and Healthy Families programs.
• Reduce Medi-Cal eligibility to the minimum allowed under current federal law and eliminate most remaining optional benefits.
• Eliminate funding for the Transitional Housing Placement for Foster Youth-Plus Program ($36 million).
• Delay last year’s corporate tax changes for 1 year.
• General Fund savings from an additional $873 million transfer from Prop 63 to General Fund.

Tax credits/Job Creation spending initiatives:
• Homebuyer tax credits of up to $10,000.
• Exemption from sales tax for “green-tech” manufacturing equipment.
• Borrow from Disability Insurance Fund to support training grants to employers and a $3,000 per job tax credit to employers for new employees retained for at least nine months.

Budget Reform Proposals for ballot:
• Majority vote budget.
• 2/3 vote for fee increases in certain circumstances.
• Granting Governor midyear expenditure reduction authority.
• Limiting use of one time funds for one time expenditures.
• Requiring Legislature to review performance of programs every 10 years.
• Give legislature extra 10 days to pass budget and prohibiting legislature from being paid for days during late-budget impasse.

Where does this information come from?

California Budget Project, “Governor’s Proposed Budget Includes Deep Cuts, Assumes More Federal Funds”. Available at: www.cbp.org/pdfs/2010/100108_Gov_Budget.pdf

California Legislative Analyst’s Office: “The 2010 Budget: Overview of The Governor’s Budget”. Available at http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2160

Information compiled by Colleen Rivecca, Advocacy Coordinator, St. Anthony Foundation.