County Board OKs $33-Million Increase in Welfare Payments

In a $33-million victory for welfare rights organizations, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved general relief payment increases for thousands of people, many of them homeless, who do not qualify for any other form of public aid.

Without discussion, the board unanimously approved the boost to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit charging that the payments, made to about 40,000 people per month in Los Angeles County, are inadequate to meet basic needs. County welfare director Eddy S. Tanaka estimated the settlement will cost taxpayers about $11 million the first year and $22 million the second.

Under terms of the settlement, the maximum monthly grant will rise from $247 to $280 beginning July 1. The following July 1, the grant will increase to $312.

“The amount is probably not sufficient for the people who need it, but it is certainly a step in the right direction,” said attorney Michael Bodaken of the Legal Aid Foundation, one of five welfare rights organizations that had joined in the suit against the county.

“It’s fair to say that without the case, the board wouldn’t have raised (the grant level) at all,” Bodaken said. A trial on the lawsuit had been scheduled to begin March 9.

Bodaken said that settlement affects payments made through June 30, 1989. If at that point, the plaintiffs learn that the grants should be raised, further legal action could be taken if the county fails to meet such a need, Bodaken added.

The approved increases come seven months after the supervisors raised the general relief grants from their six-year level of $228 a month to $247. In that same July, 1986, vote the board dropped most penalties that welfare rights groups said were discouraging general relief recipients from sharing housing and other costs.

At that time, several supervisors conceded that the lawsuit was a key factor in raising the grant levels.

Receiving the biggest increases are recipients who live alone, about 27,000 of the 40,000 who now qualify for monthly grants, said Carol Matsui of the Department of Public Social Services.