Minutes 03/23/1971 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 2S. 1971 service programs, plus an additional 17 peiple in the Food Stamp Program. Even with the re- duction ~n local share of administration to 20%,employment of the additional personnel as required by the State, would increase local costs for administration approximately $36,000 for 1971-72. During.the 1971-72 budget year, there will also be changes in local costs in four of the financial assistance programs. Effective January 1, 1972, there will be no local costs in the following programs: Aid to Dependent Children, Old Age Assistance, Aid to the 8lind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled. While this would appear to reduce the cost to localities in the welfare programs, the projected increases will absorb any savings to thel locality. The directive from the State Department of Welfare and Institutions for preparation of the 1971-72 budget stated that the localities should reflect~the continuation of present programs and current policies of the State Board of Welfare and Institutions with the assump- tion that the general upward trend of the cost of living will continue and therefore affect some grants. It should also be assumed that caseloads will continue to rise. Based on a statistical analysis of applications and caseload increases for the past 18 months, the fol- lowing projected caseload increases can be anticipated for f~scal 1971-72 (1) A 2S% increase per 6-months period in Aid to Dependent Children (2) An increase of 36 cases per 6-months period for Old Age Recipients needing services of intermediate care facilities. (3) An increase of 18% in Old Age Assistance. (4) An increase of 37% in Aid to th~ Permanontly and Totally Disabled. (5) An increase of 9% and 3.9% in Aid to the Blind money payment cases and in inter- mediate care facility cases, respectively. (6) An increase in general relief of 11.6% in money cases, 30% in burial cases, and 7.7% in medical cases. (7) An increase of,12 Aid to Dependent Children cases per month needing child care placement. (8) An increase of 35% WIN children needing family day care homes. (9) An increase of 6S WIN children needing placement in child care centers. During the fiscal year 1971-72, ~there will be approximately Y0,700z:totat applications processed for public assistance, Medicaid, and food stamps~ In addition to processing applications, there will be 11,200 on-going financial assistance, Medicaid, and food stamp cases. With regard to the service program, there wll be approximately 2,600 applications for social services. In addition to processing service applications, approximately 3,600 cases will receive service during the fiscal year. The following State Board reqiurements will increase the cost of welfare in the 1971-72 budget: (1) An increase of 10e per month recipient in the adult programs. (2) An increase from $150 a month maximum to S160 a month maximum for domiciliary home care. (3) An increase of approximately 13% of the current rates in ~mtermediate Care Facilities. (4) An extraordinary increase in the caseload of Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (1/3 increa~se) due to a change and interpretation of disability. (5) Increased Fayments due to Earned Income Exemptions for OAA, APTD, AB and ADC. (6) An increase in salary for each regular employee based on revised pay plan adopted by State. In addition to the added State requirements, other factors a~ffecting application case- load and increased welfare costs are: Economic, Social Factors Recent changes in the economy, particularly the inflationary spiral of costs coupled with increasing unemployment rates, have served to make more people in need of financial re- lief. The increasing complexity of jobs coupled with higher qualifications for the few jobs available have combined to make it more difficult for the under-educated and disadvantaged to find jobs which pay enough to make them entirely self-supporting. Minimum wage laws, whileuseful in concept, fut in allocating jobs to the unskilled, and has streamlining of work. have tended resulted in to make emplgyers more thought- increased mechanization and As people become more aware of their rights, more of them apply. In addition, changing standards have made it more socially acceptable to obtain financial assistance to ever- creasing groups of people.