Funds may be used to aid welfare clients

Scrambling to cope with a surge in welfare applications, Los Angeles County officials are considering a budget maneuver that would prop up some key support services by tapping a pot of money meant to fight child abuse and neglect.

Officials think they can still reduce the recession’s effect on the incidence of child abuse if they direct the $6 million toward welfare clients with programs such as mental health counseling and job training assistance.

“This downturn is more severe than any other in recent years, and family and community stressors have increased with potential repercussions difficult to predict,” Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn wrote in her proposal to the Board of Supervisors. They are expected to consider the matter next month.

The number of people applying for welfare has surged dramatically since the beginning of the recession, with applications for welfare benefits and food stamps running at a rate of 15,000 and 45,000 per month respectively.

The $6 million will come from a $17-million fund that will be given to the county by state and federal officials as an incentive to reduce the number of children in foster care. That number has been shrinking, from about 52,000 in 1997 to 16,500 today.

As a result, Children and Family Services will still have $11 million to spend on child abuse programs next fiscal year.

Some child welfare workers still don’t like the idea of shifting the money to services for families who may not be at risk of child abuse or neglect.

“This money needs to be used for families in greater peril because we will not otherwise have the services to help them keep or reunify with their kids,” said Tony Bravo, a child social worker who is on the executive board of the Service Employees International Union Local 721.

He said when less money is available to help officials sort out suspected child abuse cases it means that “more kids will be detained” in protective custody.

Bravo said the money should also be dedicated to hiring more social workers.

Indeed, Children and Family Services is perennially strapped for funds, and many social workers have caseloads of more than 30 children.

In an interview, Ploehn said “there are many more priorities than our resources can provide, but we need to think about how to solve problems collectively as an entire county rather than what we can do as a department alone.”

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garrett.therolf@latimes.com