Rosier Budget Comes to the Aid of Social Programs

With its financial health improving, Orange County is beginning to focus more attention--as well as resources--on social, health care and crime-prevention programs that were neglected during county government’s three-year struggle out of bankruptcy.

Officials are looking with particular interest at a host of early intervention programs designed to prevent more serious social ills. These efforts range from prenatal care for pregnant women living in poverty to aggressive monitoring and counseling for juveniles who commit their first crimes.

“The idea is to break the cycle that tends to lead to expensive social problems that the county will have to deal with” in the future, said outgoing Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner. “We are looking for programs that have a strong return on the investment--that save us the costs of dealing with the problems later.”

When Steiner became chairman a year ago, he called on county department managers to study the preventive programs they oversee and determine whether some could be expanded or new ones created.

Based on these reviews, the Board of Supervisors increased funding for preventive programs by $40 million last year.

While the sum is a tiny fraction of the county’s $3.6-billion budget--and advocates for the poor say it barely begins to address the gaps in services for the needy--Steiner and others see it as an important first step toward expanding programs with proven track records.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the push was the Probation Department, which received an extra $6 million last year to expand programs for juveniles at risk of becoming hardened adult criminals.

One, known as the “8% early intervention” program, will provide intensive monitoring and support for 75 to 100 juveniles who show the potential to become repeat offenders.

The effort is part of a nationally recognized study by county Chief Probation Officer Michael Schumacher, who concluded that a disproportionate percentage of juvenile crime is committed by about 8% of all teenage offenders.

The Probation Department also is using some of the $6 million to expand the number of Youth and Family Resource Centers, which provide at-risk juveniles with vocational training, schooling, health care and counseling at one location.

Other efforts that received additional funding include:

* Protective services aimed at preventing the neglect and abuse of adults who cannot care for themselves. The money will help investigate reports of such cases, which are on the rise.

* Programs aimed at reducing cases of sexually transmitted and other communicable diseases through education and health care services.

* Public presentations by the district attorney’s office on ways to prevent family violence.

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While county supervisors are all generally supportive of such preventive programs, board members sometimes disagree about specifics.

Steiner and Supervisor Jim Silva, for example, have clashed over whether the county should provide prenatal care for illegal immigrants. Silva strongly opposed the idea, saying it sends the wrong message to provide undocumented workers with public services.

But Steiner and others argued that the county would save money in the long run by making sure that babies are born healthy, requiring less medical attention in the future.

Supervisor Charles V. Smith said the idea of spending a little more now to save a lot later is a “good philosophy,” but the county needs to find ways of measuring the effectiveness of individual programs.

“It can be difficult to track because how do you prove that you prevented something from happening? I think we should be trying different programs but be ready to drop them if it appears they are not working out,” Smith said.

Steiner agreed that programs need to be measured for effectiveness and expressed hope that future boards will expand those that work and retool or kill those that do not.

The county was able to fund last year’s expansion because of higher tax revenue, cost-cutting and other factors that resulted in the rosiest budget picture since the 1994 bankruptcy.

Officials warn that future allocations for preventive programs will depend largely on whether the county’s financial picture continues to improve. Steiner, however, said some departments are able to fund programs with state and federal grants.

“This call for action should not fade from memory,” the supervisor said. “I hope the county continues this commitment.”

Advocates for the poor support the effort but said it represents only a tiny step in addressing the needs of Orange County’s disadvantaged.

Jean Forbath, founder of the Share Our Selves food bank in Costa Mesa, said nonprofit organizations with preventive programs could also benefit from additional funding. She said people in need of residential drug treatment programs, for example, face long waiting lists.

“It seems like we take two steps forward and three steps back,” she said. “We are a little more generous to the needy, then we cut back. Then we realize we cut back too much, so we give a little more. . . . It’s a cycle.”

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More Money

Here are some preventive programs for which the Board of Supervisors increased funding this year:

* 8% Early Intervention: Between 75 and 100 juvenile offenders and their parents will take part in a program designed to prevent youths from falling into a pattern of repeat criminality.

* Tobacco Use Prevention: Education programs in conjunction with schools and community groups designed to inform youths about the dangers of smoking, and to direct into programs smokers who want to quit.

* Youth & Family Resource Centers: “One-stop” locations where some at-risk juveniles and their families receive schooling, health care, social services and vocational training.

* Family Violence Presentations: Funding allows officials from the district attorney’s office to make presentations on how to deal with domestic violence.

Source: Orange County “Preventive Agenda”; Researched by SHELBY GRAD / Los Angeles Times