As County Grows, So Do Its Problems : * Head-in-Sand Attitudes No Help to Poor, Elderly

Orange County’s image as a quiet, well-to-do suburb of Los Angeles has long since given way to a more urbanized picture, with all the attendant pluses and minuses. On the plus side of the area’s remarkable growth is the plethora of homes that provide quality housing for families. There is also an evolving art, entertainment, shopping and restaurant scene.

But urbanization also has many down sides. Some are obvious, such as traffic, smog and crime, with the worst conditions settling on the county’s central and northern cities. Other problems aren’t so apparent. There is, for example, a rapidly growing countywide population of elderly poor. And there is a burgeoning immigrant and low-income population in areas once thought reserved only for the wealthy, such as South County. These less fortunate segments of the county’s population deserve greater attention than they are getting.

Unfortunately, as Times articles recently outlined, there’s been an out-of-sight, out-of-mind quality to the way their problems have been approached. It’s almost as if there is a belief that denying problems will make them go away. One South County city official said outright that he didn’t want more social service programs in his city because it would be bad for his city’s “image.”

That’s a head-in-the-sand mentality that must change if the county is to meet its new social needs and obligations.

Consider the elderly: According to the 1990 census, the county’s senior population tripled over 10 years. Some are living in tony enclaves for retirees, but thousands more are not as fortunate. They exist on small incomes and suffer from infirmities that limit their ability to take care of themselves.

While the need for elderly services has burgeoned, however, programs for seniors have not. For example, last year the county’s $800,000 budget for nutritional programs for the elderly was cut by $64,000. Nonprofit agencies have also been forced to cut back. All told, officials say, only about 2,500 seniors a day receive meals; 30,000 are needed. There is obviously a crying need to boost assistance.

More attention is also needed to address the problems of low-income residents of south Orange County. Once home exclusively to the back-yard barbecue crowd, South County’s multicultural population now includes immigrants and low-paid service workers, many of whom clean houses or work as nannies or gardeners for wealthier families. This has increased the need for local social services programs.

While getting off to a slow beginning, south Orange County recently has made some strides, helped by civic leaders who cared enough to make waves. For example, when a two-person welfare office was in danger of being shut down several years ago, San Juan Capistrano took quick action. The City Council gave the county office space rent free and local volunteers collected statistics to show the need for a separate welfare office in the area. Their efforts paid off. Now there are 46 welfare workers in a newly opened facility in Laguna Hills. But even that can barely meet the needs.

In addition, there now are South County branches of United Way, the state Employment Development, Department, child abuse treatment, public health and children’s mental health. That’s a good beginning.

As these efforts show, dealing with the elderly and low-income poor, especially in recessionary times, takes creativity, heart and energy. But first of all, it takes a willingness to see that there are problems that must be addressed.