County Budget Ready for Review

The county on Wednesday released a final 1997-98 budget that gives a modest boost to social services, health care and juvenile justice programs that were hit hard during Orange County’s 1994 bankruptcy.

The public will have a chance to comment on the $3.69-billion spending plan during three days of hearings beginning Monday. The Board of Supervisors is set to vote on the plan in September.

The final budget is little changed from the preliminary draft that supervisors approved in June. But it does add nearly 400 new positions and provides an extra $39 million to a variety of programs.

The Health Care Agency, for example, would receive an extra $14 million, some of which would go to beef up mental health services for children at regional clinics. The agency also would hire more workers to deal with emotionally disturbed youths at Orangewood Children’s Home and speed up mental health assessments for special-education students.

Some special-education teachers have complained that the county does not perform the mental health assessments in the time prescribed by state law.

The final budget provides the Social Services Agency with additional resources to expand the Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) job-training program and hire 41 more workers to deal with increases in child welfare caseloads.

Gary Burton, the county’s chief financial officer, stressed that almost all of the $39 million in budget augmentations are being funded with state or federal money and are not a drain on the county’s resources.

The Probation Department successfully lobbied for $13.9 million in state funds that would be used in part to staff a new 60-bed wing at Juvenile Hall and expand programs that provide alternatives to incarceration of youthful offenders.

Some of the additional funds would be dedicated to increased monitoring of adult and juvenile criminals who are on probation. During the bankruptcy, the department was forced to reduce monitoring of some criminals.

“It’s nice . . . to be on the receiving end of state and federal revenues,” Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner said. “This allows us to restore some important programs that were cut during the bankruptcy as well as fund some new programs that are preventive in nature and save the county money.”

The $3.69-billion budget is slightly smaller that last year’s and maintains most county services at their present levels. The proposal would set aside an additional $24 million for early repayment of bankruptcy debt and increase the county’s contingency reserve from $3 million to $15 million.

Burton said the contingency increase is important to effectively deal with possible emergencies such as the heavy rains and surf that are expected this winter. “We want to make sure we are prepared if there are difficult times,” he said.

Most of last year’s $3-million contingency fund was spent to boost the court’s budget.

Here is the schedule of budget hearings at the Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana:

* Monday: 9:30 a.m. Health care, social services, community services.

* Tuesday: 9:30 a.m. Public protection, environmental resources, general government.

* Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. Capital projects, debt service, insurance, reserves.