Claims Overwhelming Welfare Workers : Economy: Caseworkers and those seeking aid are frustrated by the county’s inability to add enough staff to keep up with the rising tide of applications.

Ventura County has been so swamped with welfare applications in the last two months that overloaded caseworkers cannot process the paperwork and get payments out within the required 45 days.

The county-run welfare office in Oxnard, the largest in the county, has a backlog of 240 applications for welfare that have exceeded the 45-day limit, officials say.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on doing it in two weeks or less,” said James Isom, director of the Ventura County Public Social Services Agency. “There are so many new cases now that our staff can’t keep up with them.”

Isom appealed to the County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for more workers to help process the increasing applications for welfare benefits, known officially as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or AFDC. He was authorized to hire six new staff members, less than a third of his original request for 19 workers.

Although the supervisors said they recognize the tremendous shortage of caseworkers, they said county budget restraints prevent them from hiring more workers at this time. The agency has a total of 243 caseworkers who deal with applicants’ eligibility for aid.

If the social services agency repeatedly fails to deliver benefits within 45 days, the state could withhold necessary state money to operate the agency. But that isn’t probable at this point, said Barbara Fitzgerald, the agency’s chief deputy director.

“The state recognizes that all counties are experiencing tremendous caseload growth,” she said. “No penalties or sanctions have been imposed yet, but that is not to say they won’t be in the future.”

If caseworkers are frustrated by their growing workload, welfare applicants are even more exasperated by the long wait and lengthy application forms.

At the Oxnard district office Wednesday, an Oxnard grandmother grew frustrated in her efforts to speed along her daughter’s application for long-awaited welfare assistance. The benefits will be overdue on Friday.

“She hasn’t heard from anyone yet,” the grandmother said of her daughter. “She keeps calling and calling, and she’s told there are people ahead of her.” The daughter and her 22-month-old baby live with the woman.

“It’s hard on all of us,” said the grandmother who asked not to be identified. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Like other counties, Ventura County’s welfare rolls have increased dramatically as the economy has soured. During the past year the county’s caseload for Medi-Cal benefits, the medical insurance for the poor that is also administered by the welfare agency, grew by 47% to 11,141 cases. The food stamp program grew 16%, bringing the total cases to 8,438, and the welfare caseload increased by 9% to 6,718 cases.

To cover the increased caseload, the Board of Supervisors authorized Isom last summer to add 10 staff members. But the number of applicants continued to increase sharply through the fall.

Part of the growth is due to population increases in the county, as well as regulation changes that allow more people to qualify for Medi-Cal benefits, Isom said. Also, more aliens qualify for benefits because of the federal government’s amnesty program for illegal immigrants.

The downturn in the economy the last six months has been a big factor, said Helen Reburn, deputy director of income maintenance for the agency.

“We think there is a recession,” she said. “We expect the problem to get worse.” Caseworkers say more applicants are seeking benefits because layoffs have increased and jobs are scarce.

More people without food or shelter are applying for emergency assistance, Reburn said, and those requests must be processed before less urgent ones, further backing up the system.

“On a normal day you see them lined up out the door,” said Sylvia Gonzalez, a caseworker who works with Hispanic applicants. “We feel for people, we want to help them, but there is no time to do it.”

Expanding caseloads are pressing workers to the limit. She said that processing 40 new cases a month is considered the norm, but in one instance a worker finished a normal month’s work in 10 days.

“We aren’t getting the staff we need, but the clients’ needs can’t wait,” Gonzalez said. Clients are desperate. They get angry and frustrated, she said. “They break down and cry.”

Carmen Ramirez, executive director of Channel Counties Legal Services Assn., said her office is just starting to get complaints about the excessive wait for benefits.

Ramirez said one of the applicants called her to see how long it would take to get her welfare benefits reinstated. When Ramirez called the caseworker, the woman just laughed at the idea that the case could be processed immediately. She explained it would be a long time because workers are overwhelmed with requests.

“This is a client without food, a client in danger of losing her house,” Ramirez said. “Forty-five days is a long time to wait. It can be very desperate for people.”

Richard Wittenberg, chief administrative officer for the county, said he and the supervisors are well aware of the tremendous strain on the social services agency. But because of the county’s financial condition, Wittenberg persuaded Isom to reduce his most recent request from 19 extra caseworkers to six.

“We’re going to watch it for the next couple of months,” Wittenberg said. If the need is still urgent then, the supervisors may authorize Isom to hire more people, he said.