Proposed State Budget Trigger Cuts to IHSS
Submitted by Frances Gracechild, Chair, Advisory
Committee, based on excerpts from the California
Disability Community Action Network Report,
Nov 1,2001
Dear Yolo County Supervisors and all Yolo County IHSS stakeholders:
As the current Chair of the Yolo County IHSS Advisory Committee I am pleased to report the following committee activities during the last year.
Monthly Advisory Committee (AC) meetings were held on topics of urgent concern for the continuance of a quality IHSS program in California and Yolo County: Those topics included the State Budget deficit crisis, reductions in funding to the IHSS program, new requirements for mandated provider enrollment and DOJ checks, information regarding lists of “Tier I and Tier II” crimes, proposed and final changes to IHSS and elimination of Adult Day Health Care as a Medicaid benefit. Committee members spent several sessions working on how to run a meaningful Advisory Committee without the customary AC budget of $50,000. We found ways to continue our work with an estimated budget of $4,500. Our biggest regret during those committee negotiations was the inability to continue to pay a portion (%) of the salary of the PA Director. We had taken great pride in previous budget years in donating to preserve full time status of our Public Authority Director. We are blessed that Supervisor Provenza provided the necessary leadership in finding and obtaining board approval for contingency funding for 2011-2012. Without the full time status of our devoted PA Director we would have been unable to conduct the following activities:
ADVOCACY:
• Four AC members traveled to San Jose to a statewide conference designed to empower California Advisory Committee members through communication and education;
• Three members traveled to Sacramento in January on the day of the Governor Brown’s press conference and all were interviewed by media – the governor shook hands with one of our members;
• One member had an editorial published in the Woodland Daily Democrat about protecting In-Home Supportive Services from further budget reductions;
• Three members participated in the Capitol Action Day Rally to protest budget cuts to IHSS and Adult Day Health Care centers; and
• One member gave personal testimony to the Assembly Aging and Long Term Care Committee.
Back in June, 2010, as the California Legislature struggled to balance the state budget, rather than forcing additional massive spending cuts, they estimated that the economy would improve and state revenues would increase. They added two “triggers” that would impose automatic spending cuts if the amount if state revenues of $85.5 billion dollars were not reached by December 15th.
According to figures from the State Controller, the state economy is showing improvement, but it is not bringing in revenues as hoped for. Some in the State Capitol believe if the trend continues one or both of the “trigger cuts” will likely be pulled.
If State revenues are forecast in December 2011 to be lower by $1 billion to $2 billion, the first State budget “trigger” will be pulled, causing $600 million in automatic spending cuts for specific programs effective sometime after January 1, 2012.
If State revenue numbers in December 2011 are forecast to be lower by more than $2 billion, then the second State budget “trigger” would be pulled, causing spending cuts of up to $1.9 billion.
Though, as of this writing, no decisions on the State Budget “trigger cuts” have yet been made – and will not be made until December- the State Department of Social Services is preparing notices and documents just in case they are needed.
Cuts to IHSS would be a 20% across the board cut estimated to save the state $100 million in the remaining 6 months of the 2011-2012 budget year.
If this “trigger cut” is pulled it would be in addition to the 3.6% cut that took effect in February of this year.
If this “trigger cut” goes into effect, it allows for exemptions for those who are at serious risk of out of home placement if they lost 20% of their service hours.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect recipients may choose how the total reduction in service hours is applied to their individual authorized services.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect it will not apply to individuals receiving IHSS who also receive services under one of the State Home and Community Based Services Waivers; i.e. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Waiver, Home and Community-Based Services Waiver for the Developmentally Disabled (HCBS-DD), In-Home Operations (IHO), Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), and Nursing Facility/ Acute Hospital (NF/AH).
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect the 20% reduction will first be applied to any documented unmet need, excluding protective supervision, before being applied to authorized hours.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect any IHSS recipient who receives notice of the reduction in authorized services who believes the reduction puts her/him at serious risk of placement in out-of-home care may submit an application for IHSS Supplemental Care to request full or partial restoration of her/his reduced hours.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect the California State Department will work with counties to develop a process to allow for counties to pre-approve IHSS Supplemental Care requests.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect in January, you will receive appropriate notice(s) and forms from your Yolo County Adult Service worker.
If the “trigger cut” goes into effect in January, you will need to remember to request “Aid Paid Pending” to maintain your current authorized hours while the appeal of the NOA is processed.
If the “trigger cut” go into effect in January we must stage a resistance on multiple fronts: Rallies, press conferences, visits to our representatives and, for the very bravest of justice warriors, join the non-violent protesters of Occupy Wall Street. Many years from now when our grandchildren ask us what we were doing in 2012 during a worldwide uprising for economic justice we want to say we stood up for In- Home Supportive Services so people with disabilities could live safely and with dignity in their homes and communities.
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kneel/jason- Statistics not made up, but lived firsthand (something you two can’t acepct, so you let con newspapers do your thinking for you). Jason, Hannan is not a member of the British Parliament, but Hannity knew that you gullible Fixed News viewers wouldn’t know the difference between an MP in the British Parliament, and an MEP representing a very wealthy district in London for the EU (the European Union has no say whatsover in the operation of the NHS). If Hannan was an MP, he could have been censured by either his own party, or Parliament itself, but he’s not, and the Brits are very angry with him about that. Time for you to get your facts straight, Jason.Here’s some more for you; in Hannan’s district of Kensington, which has some of the wealthiest British citizens, the NHS has reduced the cancer death rate by over 25%. Stroke survival is up by over 30%, and deaths from heart disease and diabetes down by around 20%. Average lifespan is 7 years longer where Hannan lives, and private health care providers had nothing to do with those numbers. Hannan also conveniently didn’t mention that he and his family have been frequent recipients of NHS care. He’s also a multi-millionaire who has private insurance, so why wouldn’t a guy like that hop on a plane and come over here to get care, Jason? Makes one ask how much Hannan was reimbursed for his trip to Hannity’s show.No MP has EVER suggested the NHS be replaced, because the people would never allow a for-profit system that rations care to make a ridiculous profit. No one Jason, and you might know that if you thought outside the Fox once in awhile. The shadow party leader presently is David Cameron, and is about as conservative as one gets in England. He’s got nothing but praise for the National Health Service, since his family has had their serious medical issues cared for there for some time. Gordon Brown, also supports the NHS, and has had personal experiences in the system, which you have not. Thatcher, who privatized everything she could get her hands on (water, gas, electricity, under the advice of Reagan), would never touch the NHS, because it would have ended her political career almost instantly, as one very conservative senior told me. Guess where Thatcher is currently, Jason.How much money does Murdoch’s News corp make from the healthcare lobby? And why are they still using Rick Scott as their expert on this topic, after he was forced to resign after bilking the Medicare program out of billions as a CEO in the industry? Not exactly a credible source, but Fox has some strange allies. Brits who know that we pay more than they do so a private company can make a profit from the citizens do not want to trade their system for ours, Jason. You will not find one person in any survey in the UK who thinks we have a better system. Further, they think it’s deplorable and very unethical that Fox News is allowed to lie about the quality and availability of care from the NHS, just to insure that the insurance companies can continue to make a profit from you. Hannity left the facts out to protect the insurance companies, and put up a person who doesn’t represent the British Parliament, and you bought it, just as we predicted you would when we watched it on the BBC.
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A good read on current trend of cutting funds for persons with disabilities found at http://www.autismseizureselfinjuriousbehavior.com/Prejudicial Attitudes Towards Autistics
It’s ironic how ppeloe who are perfectly willing to spend thousands of dollars to send their own children to private schools (or volunteer hundreds of hours at bake sales, car washes, etc.) are so quick to say that throwing money at the problem is not necessary to fix the problems in public schools. I agree that merely giving more money to schools is not an end but it’s certainly a necessary beginning. Spending that money wisely and well is of course the more important step, and it would be so easy to find a lot of schools or districts that had budget increases and squandered that money on ideas, programs, agencies, district-level offices or departments, or other items that proved ineffective in improving learning in their schools (notice I didn’t say improving test scores the two may occasionally coincide, but correlation does not necessarily equal causation.. or vice versa). I challenge anyone, however, to find examples of schools where budgets were CUT and they proceeded to show remarkable improvement (and changing the demographics of your student body to affect test scores doesn’t count!). Money is not a solution, but it is an necessary component to any important changes.
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California penal code 368: Any person (ANY, including a government official responsible for pushing IHSS cuts to the most severe who need it) who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death (which can easily be proven in the most severe cases getting IHSS), willfully causes (by supporting cuts) or permits any elder or dependent adult, with knowledge that he or she is an elder or a dependent adult (yep, they know who gets IHSS and who the most severe cases are) to suffer….or willfully causes or permits the elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation (ecomonic hardship or jeapordizing home care which puts them at risk for institutionalization) in which his or her person or health is endangered, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison for two, three, or four years…I say sue them civilly too. Get their names. Everyone of the individuals responsible for targeting and attacking IHSS recipients who are in the greatest need. Sue them. Arrest those who are violating penal code 368 by pushing for IHSS cuts to those who will be most harmed by them. Yes, some IHSS recipients aren’t that severe, so that’s not the issue with those cases, but there are extremely serious cases that can’t have ONE penny taken or the health and safety of the individual is compromised. Those involved with cutting IHSS from these delicate individuals better be ready for fight. And get ready for handcuffs if the cuts are a direct result of the death or harm to any of the severely disabled who rely on IHSS to live.
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Guess what:There’s just NO silver niinlg in all such things as these sterotypes a lot of people breed on these for purposes of racial discrimination, crab mentality, frame-ups, racial profiling/ripping-offs, etc. you name it to the point of no return (could you imagine getting to that point?)In some countries (the United States as a major example) there is this called hate crimes criminalities (whatever it is murder, assault, foul play, etc.) founded on bias/hatred bullshit due to stereotypes or whatnot. Because they hate a particular group such people perpetrate crimes that sends a powerful message (smacked to your face if you belong to that group in which the victim belongs) from that alone the victim getting a taste of his own medicine from the hands of the ruffians. It’s a very deep message that has a very drastic (to the point that is unimaginable) effects. Why? to find out (the Psychological Effects section is the important part)Frankly the Americans (possibly to include Canadians) are big-time racists.About the #8 in the list I could have wished that something else must be done there (too bad that the original has been deleted but that what you have and the original URL where it originally was) can serve to be a good evidence (this usually require investigative autopsy to track down the culprit and be able to report it to the right authorities). Why? As a Filipino myself I think we cannot stand being compromised (to the point of no return a few miles we just might get there) in case you didn’t know, the world would be a better place without Filipinos. Sorry but I did not say this I am speaking from a racist’s perspective (especially not less than 20% of the world population in my guess).The thing is I cannot stand these racists anymore because public apologies don’t even do the trick such people need to go to jail and die there! Even if they apologize, the whole world had themselves influenced by the racially discriminatory remark and might pay no atttention to the apology (if they ever apologize, that is). That’s where we get these sterotypes. If you want click my name and message me we’ll make an online petition to defend our country real thing!
I agree with all of your suggestions. I poenrsally do not require health insurance coverage from SEIU-UHW or IHSS, but I’m sure many fellow workers do.I would add that I’ve been paid through IHSS for over two years, yet when one of my clients passed away at age 102, IHSS was of absolutely no help during the six months I was without work. Despite being registered with them and having done the fingerprinting, background check, etc., when I went to their office, they had me fill out an extensive and repetitive set application package. When I finished filling it out and gave it to the person at the front desk, he emphasized that they would call me with any job opportunities and I should not call them. They even gave me a blue printed card reiterating that I should not call them under any circumstances. Six months later I found another client on my own; I never heard a word from IHSS. I feel they are not doing their part to support workers. My credentials are excellent as are my references, so I feel trying to find a client through IHSS is a complete waste of time, something I find very disappointing and frustrating and should be changed.Thank you.Stanley C. Sargent
Home care caregivers dsevere higher wages, They need to be paid for all hours worked. Healthcare, sick leave, vancation and dental care should be mandatory for all home care workers. If home care workers are well their clients get better care. We need to take care of the home care workers. They also should be provided with respite care at least once a week. I have been doing home health for over six years for undesirable wages, no health care, one small raise, no health care sick leave or respite. The health care worker is over worked under paid and under appreciated and gets paid one third of what it the State would have to pay in order to place their clients. They get robbed in their wages. They are without respite or health coverage. There is no paid sick leave or paid vacation and no retirment. This is ridiculous and inhumane.