COUNTYWIDE : Caseworker Layoffs to Affect Disabled

Layoffs at a private agency that helps the disabled will result in longer waits for hundreds of handicapped people in Ventura County who need services, officials said.

The operating budget for Tri-Counties Regional Center has been pared by 22% during the past two years, forcing layoffs of 37 caseworkers and clerical workers, said Executive Director Jim Shorter.

That translates into higher caseloads for the remaining counselors and less contact with people who need assistance, said Fred Odom, acting chief counselor for the center.

“We may have to ask families to call in when there is a problem, rather than (having staff members visit) clients at home or in care facilities,” he said.

The nonprofit agency is one of 21 centers statewide that assess the needs of people with mental and physical handicaps and then find care and living arrangements for them.

Tri-Counties Regional Center assists 5,000 developmentally disabled people in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The agency has offices in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks.

Odom said workers who now are responsible for 75 clients will see their caseloads climb to 110 or higher.

That may mean counselors will have less time to help clients straighten out lesser problems, such as delays in Social Security checks, said Jim White, who operates the Training for Independent Living complex in Ventura.

“Things like that can be difficult for someone who is disabled,” White said. “And Social Security is their lifeblood.”

Tri-Counties Regional Center gets all of its funding from the state, said Chief Administrator Barry Kaufman.

A $1.1-million reduction in state aid this year required the agency to find ways to balance the budget, he said.