Countywide : County to Hire 62 for Welfare Caseload

For the third time in three years, the Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to add employees--62 this time--to handle a mushrooming welfare caseload.

The number of people in Ventura County receiving public assistance has reached 101,000, representing about one person in seven, said Helen Reburn, deputy director of income maintenance for the county’s Public Social Services Agency.

State and federal regulations require that the increased numbers of needy people be assisted. The 62 new positions represent the minimum needed to comply with regulations, Reburn said. Federal and state funds will pay for the new positions, which will cost $1.7 million annually.

Reburn said the county’s public assistance caseload grew by 20.6% from October, 1991, through October, 1992. As a result, a backlog of cases is beginning to develop, especially in the Oxnard office.

Long lines sometimes stretch out the door of the Oxnard office, she said. “They are swamped, and they’ve been swamped for three years.”

Last year the supervisors authorized 71 additional positions to accommodate backlogs caused by increased caseloads, and six posts were added the year before.

“Even with an anticipated slow improvement in the economy, we do not expect to see any significant caseload decrease for approximately two years,” Reburn said.