WELFARE WATCH : A Little Gets Tinier

A general relief check--$302 a month--stands between many very poor single adults and homelessness. Because these men and women are childless or not living with their children, they do not qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the traditional and somewhat more livable welfare benefit. They must pay rent and take care of other needs with a very small monthly check that just got even smaller.

Relief checks shrank this month from $341 because of a shameful vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The board cut the benefit, at the recommendation of the county’s chief administrative officer, Richard B. Dixon, to help balance the budget--and in contradiction to the settlement of a legal battle waged by homeless advocates against the county.

While poor people struggle with less, county managers including Dixon can look forward to fatter pensions because of another shameful vote by the supervisors: The board has allowed the bosses to get pension credit for perks. That costly pension spiking is expected to inflate Dixon’s yearly pension by more than $27,000. Dixon’s boost alone is more than enough to make up the difference in 600 general relief checks.

The county, by mandate, is the provider of last resort. Nearly 1 million poor men and women depend on general relief. Their numbers are growing because of the recession and high unemployment. Their checks are shrinking, while the retirement checks swell for the county’s highest-paid bureaucrats. Now it’s up to the courts to restore a modicum of fairness.