Board Acts Callously in Closing Welfare Office

There is a perception in the community that anyone living anywhere in the South County area is financially well off, lives in an expensive home and drives a luxury car. It is, of course, a myth.

But the county supervisors, who can reasonably be expected to know better, sometimes act as if they actually believe that there are no poor people living in the rapidly growing southern area. Maybe it’s that they just don’t care.

If they do care, why would they take such a callous approach to the plight of the poor as to close the only county welfare office in South County? The office serves hundreds of poor people each month. And the closure comes at a time when the county has been generally moving in the other direction to provide police, fire and other decentralized services to residents far away from the county seat in Santa Ana.

With the office closed, single mothers and senior citizens, residents who need the nearby service the most, will be the ones hardest hit. Many of them have no autos. To get the service that was available close to them until Friday, they now must ride the bus to Costa Mesa, a journey that requires three transfers and takes about five hours for a round trip. That is a tiring journey for anyone. For a single mother with four children in tow, or a senior citizen in poor health, it is a major undertaking that a more sensitive and caring county board would not subject them to.

The supervisors say they want to save money, supposedly only for a few months while a full-service welfare office in Laguna Hills is being planned. But for now, there is not even a guarantee that the services being discontinued in South County will be available at the new office. No money has been allocated for the staff needed. A $178,000 budget request for the new office was rejected by the supervisors in August. And there is no assurance that the money will be provided in January when the supervisors are scheduled to review supplemental budget requests.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who represents the area and has been a supporter of the social services provided, has vowed to lobby for money to open the new Laguna Hills branch office. The other supervisors should provide the funds needed.

It made no sense to close the office that has been operating in San Juan Capistrano for the past five years if the county is serious about reopening it in a few months. Board policy has been not to act on supplemental budgets until the mid-year review. But policy is just something the board puts down on paper. It can, and should, change it when common sense and need dictate.

Some local officials, social workers and administrators of several agencies serving the poor were understandably upset by the county decision closing the branch office. To them, it was an indication that the county did not recognize the need for the office, or the extent of the problems facing poor people in South County.

About 300 South County residents used the South County welfare service each month. The need is there. The South County office should be too.