County Gives Relief Recipients More Money to Pay for Housing
The county Board of Supervisors on Thursday increased the maximum monthly payment to individuals from the general relief welfare program from $240 to $289 to cover the high costs of housing.
The board also approved a shift in administration of the fund by the county Social Services Agency to let recipients split the payments for food, shelter or other necessities as they wish.
The increase was approved on the second day of hearings on the county’s proposed $1.3-billion budget for the 1985-86 fiscal year, a session marked by pleas from numerous nonprofit agencies for more money to help the homeless.
Comes from County
The $3-million program in general relief comes entirely from the county, without federal or state help, and goes to people not entitled to other forms of welfare. Officials said the number of recipients of the fund generally is around 1,200.
A single recipient now receives a maximum of $161 to spend on housing and a maximum of $79 per month for food and other items.
Larry Leaman, director of the Social Services Agency, said a preliminary study by his agency of rooms advertised for rent in newspaper listings indicated that there were few available for $161 or less per month, even when shared by two or more people. The study said raising the level to $210 monthly would balance the demand for rentals with rooms available.
However, Leaman said, a sampling of general relief recipients showed that only 2.6% of the recipients told surveyors that they went without shelter for as much as one night during the time they were on welfare.
“The good news is that the SSA study revealed that 97.4% of all (general relief) recipients are housed, even with the liberal definition of homelessness that was used,” Supervisor Roger Stanton said.
Word of Mouth
Stanton and other county officials said that many welfare recipients obtained rooms not from newspaper ads but from word-of-mouth referrals from others.
The statistic on homeless recipients of general relief was challenged as being too low by Jean Forbath, director of Share Our Selves, a volunteer agency that works with the poor. Forbath also called for increased payments to recipients in the primary welfare program, Aid to Families With Dependent Children.
Supervisors, in pointing out that the AFDC program is funded by the federal and state governments, although it is administered by the county, said they could not adjust its payments. Leaman said about 54,000 people in the county are currently receiving AFDC payments, which are expected to total $130 million in the coming year.
The county also provides money to groups running shelters for homeless people, but representatives of at least nine agencies providing shelter said their funds were stretched to the limit and they were unable to help everyone requesting assistance.
Yearns for Magic Solution
“We wish we could wave a wand and relieve all the concerns” of those requesting more money, said Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.
The supervisors also approved a budget of nearly $60 million for the Social Services Agency and $81.5 million for the Health Care Agency Thursday before recessing the hearings until Tuesday. All approvals are preliminary, with the final amounts coming at the end of the hearings next week.
