Countywide : County Cuts Welfare Aid to Single Adults

Without comment, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 Tuesday to cut welfare to single adults by 10.4%, which officials said was the single largest cut to public assistance that the county has seen in 10 years.

The move to reduce monthly welfare payments for 460 single adults from $341 to $306 would save the county $250,000 a year, said Helen Reburn, a deputy director of the county Public Social Services Agency.

The supervisors were required by the new state budget to reduce general relief payments for single adults so they match aid for poor families under the state Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. About 9,000 Ventura County families receive assistance under the program.

Other mid-size and large counties in California are approving cuts to general relief for single adults that are almost as deep as Ventura County’s 10.4% cut, or slightly deeper, she said.

Last year, the Legislature cut Aid to Families with Dependent Children by 4.4% and county aid to families by 1.5%. This year, the Legislature cut payments in the program by 4.5%, effective Oct. 1.