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March 2003 - Vol. 2, No 2
Advocates Express Concern Over Proposed Cuts to Child
Care
Governor Davis has proposed substantial cuts to California’s
Child Care Programs in order to rectify the current budget deficit
(see the January 2003 California Briefing from CFFPP for a more
complete examination of social service programs potentially affected
by this proposal). Cuts include elimination of Stage 3 child care,
which is non-time-limited assistance available to parents exiting
CalWORKS until they reach 75% of the state’s median income.
Without this program, parents are guaranteed eligibility for child
care assistance for only two years after leaving the rolls. The
elimination of Stage 3 child care would automatically disqualify
approximately 55,000 eligible families and result in savings to
the state of $108.8 million. In addition, the governor has proposed
switching the assignment of child care program management and eligibility
determination from the state to counties, raising concerns over
guarantee of quality services, susceptibility to county budget deficits,
and differences in consistency and equity of care between counties.
Advocates protest Governor Davis’ proposals based upon concerns
over loss of needed work enabling supports for women post-welfare
(particularly at a time when women are forced off the rolls through
life-time limits on welfare receipt), and the need for developmentally
appropriate quality preschool programs for low-income children.
On the contrary, the state has shown a need for increased funding
and support for child care programs, as 280,000 eligible families
were denied services and placed on waiting lists in fiscal year
2000-2001 (please see the MDRC report in this issue which includes
data on unmet need for child care services among welfare leavers
in Los Angeles). For details, please see the March 2003 brief, How
Will the Governor’s 2003-04 Proposed Budget Affect California’s
Child Care and Development System?, at www.cbp.org,
updated information from legal advocates at the Child Care Law Center
at www.childcarelaw.org,
and the 2/18/03 article in the Mercury News at www.bayarea.com.
For more information on child care issues (including quarterly
legislative updates, updated policy analyses, and informational
handbooks) in California, please visit the Child Care Law Center
website at www.childcarelaw.org.
Finally, please see the recently released data from the Child Development
Division Subsidized Child Care Data 2000 California Department of
Education at www.cde.ca.gov/cyfsbranch/ms/msreports.htm
for data on client demographics, enrollment by program, and income
distribution of child care assistance users.
Research Available on Los Angeles Welfare Leavers
Particularly relevant in a year when California’s first families
have hit their lifetime limits for CalWORKS, new research is available
from the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) on the
status of welfare recipients who left the rolls in 1996 and 1998
(both pre- and post-welfare reform). Hired by the federal government
to assess the effects of welfare reform in select cities around
the U.S., MDRC surveyed 27,000 families in Los Angeles to assess
employment, earnings, and material wellbeing without the assistance
of cash aid.
Almost half (48% in 1996 and 41% in 1998) did not work at all in
the year after they left welfare. Only a third of the post-welfare
reform group worked the entire year after leaving the rolls. Those
working were earning an average hourly wage of $8.40 and on average
not increasing their earnings over the year, with one-fifth earning
below minimum wage. Though child care was cited as a barrier to
work, less than one-fifth of women reported receiving assistance
with child care. The majority of families (54%) lived in households
below the poverty threshold. Families reported material hardship
in the forms of food insecurity (45%), high housing expenses with
many paying rent costs over 50% of income, and difficulty for one-third
of respondents accessing needed medical or dental care. Though substantially
more families were enrolled in Medi-Cal in the post-welfare reform
group, only about a third were receiving the $260 monthly food stamp
benefits for which they were eligible. It is important to note that
those families surveyed left the rolls for reasons of higher earnings,
sanctions, or decision to leave the rolls, and so may be different
from those families who involuntarily reach their time limits this
year. Please see the full report at
www.mdrc.org/Reports2002/tanf_core/post_tanf_core.pdf.
New Resources Available to Assist Clients with Child
Support Complaints, Welfare Time Limits
- The National Center for Youth Law in Oakland recently published
guides for both noncustodial and custodial parents on how to make
complaints on mismanagement of their cases by local child support
offices. The guides explain state guarantees of rights in the
processing of child support cases on issues such as calculation
of arrears, crediting of payments, reviewing of cases for downward
modifications, and reviewing of complaints within specified time
(for noncustodial parents), and improper closings of cases, failing
to credit payments to parent, and investigating complaints within
specified periods of time (for custodial parents). The information
sheets are available at www.youthlaw.org.
- Both the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness
and the Western Center on Poverty Law have produced guidebooks
for clients and advocates to assist families in the transition
from welfare for those adults reaching their life-time limits
on adult receipt of cash aid this year (please see the January
2003 California Briefing from CFFPP for coverage of time limits).
The guides present information on how much families can expect
to lose, eligibility and the process to pursue exemptions that
the state has been found not to automatically apply, client eligibility
for exceptions to time limits, and support services for which
recipients are eligible. In addition, one-page flyers summarizing
the above information are available to post around communities,
and language-specific work sheets to determine eligibility for
exemptions can be used by clients to present to caseworkers to
review their cases. The People’s Guide to The CalWORKS 60-Month
Limit and 5-Year Time Limit on CalWORKS are available at www.lacehh.org
and www.wclp.org.
Two New Reports Available Documenting Significant
Barriers to Work Among the CalWORKS Population
The California Institute for Mental Health, in collaboration with
Children and Family Futures, and the Family Violence Prevention
Fund, has released two new reports analyzing the extent of alcohol
and drug addictions, mental health issues, and domestic violence
among those receiving CalWORKS, and the effects of these issues
on compliance with CalWORKS work requirements.
Based on survey data of participants in Kern and Stanislaus Counties:
- The authors estimate a prevalence of one-third for needed or
obtained mental health services (with depression as the most common
disorder) and nearly half suffering from resulting inhibition
of daily activities; 29% prevalence of alcohol or drug abuse;
and occurrence of domestic violence within the past year among
35% of women (with 18% experiencing “serious abuse”
including physical injury, stalking, threats to life, and/or deliberate
interference by abuser in work activities).
- Mothers experiencing the above hardships are less likely to
receive cash aid and less likely to be working than other CalWORKS
recipients.
A separate survey on the prevalence of domestic violence among
women who receive CalWORKS found that:
- Approximately 80% of recipients had experienced abuse at some
point in their lives; over half had a need for domestic violence
services at some point in the previous three years; and only half
of women experiencing serious abuse sought help from law enforcement,
courts, a service agency, or health provider.
- Need for domestic violence services was found to result in substantially
lower wages, a higher incidence of job loss, and fewer weeks of
work during the previous year.
- Many abused women were also in need of mental health and/or
substance abuse services.
- Only three of the six hundred thirty-two women surveyed had
received the Family Violence Option waiver, exempting them from
CalWORKS work requirements, in the last thee years.
The reports TANF Families in Which There Are Alcohol or Other
Drug, Mental Health, or Domestic Violence Issues: Child Wellbeing
After One Year of Welfare Reform and Working Paper: Domestic
Violence Prevalence and Effects on Employment in Two California
TANF Populations can be downloaded at www.cimh.org.
UCLA Analyzes Census Data on State’s Latino
Population
The UCLA Chicano Research Center has recently released an issues
brief, California’s Growing Latino Population: Census 2000
Dismantles Stereotypes, which examines demographics of the state’s
eleven million Latinos. Key findings that may be of use to those
in state social services, policy, or research include the following:
- Fifty-seven percent of the state’s Latinos were born
in the U.S. Of those foreign-born, one-quarter are naturalized
citizens. Only seven percent of California’s Latinos arrived
in the last five years.
- Most Californian Latino adults (67%) are bilingual (speak English
“very well” or “well”). Monolingual English
speakers outnumber monolingual Spanish speakers. Latino youth
are especially English proficient, with only 2% of youth between
ages five and seventeen years speaking only Spanish.
- Los Angeles’ total population is now 45% Latino. This
population is geographically stable (91% had remained in the county
for the last five years).
- The report encourages promotion of adult education programs
since Latino high school and post-education graduation rates lag
greatly behind that of the rest of the state’s population.
Please find the full report at www.sscnet.ucla.edu/esp/csrc/policybrief/PB05.pdf.
Advocates Push to Expand Healthcare Access for Californian
Children
- The 100% Campaign (a coalition that promotes health coverage
for every child in the state) released a recent report investigating
the points in the state’s medical coverage system where
children eligible for Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program)
and Healthy Families (the state’s Children’s Health
Insurance Program, SCHIP, covering low-income families with incomes
slightly above the cutoff for Medi-Cal) are likely to lose coverage.
Based on their findings, the group recommends that the state better
coordinate Medi-Cal and Healthy Families for families working
with or between both programs, simplify the annual renewal process,
provide a variety of premium payment options, and offer consistent
and clear communication to families. In addition, the report highlighted
the important role of certified application assistants (CAA’s)
working through community groups to enroll families and assist
those renewing or accessing their benefits. Two-thirds of recent
enrollments were completed through CAA’s. The CAA program
faces extinction in Governor Davis’ proposed budget. To
oppose these cuts, or to access the report, Children Falling
Through the Health Insurance Cracks, please visit www.100percentcampaign.org.
- The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research issued two recent
reports on barriers to healthcare access for the state’s
Latino and immigrant children populations. Data from the California
Health Interview Study indicate that almost half of the state’s
children are immigrants or live in families with at least one
immigrant parent (who may be a naturalized citizen, legal permanent
resident, refugee, otherwise documented, or undocumented). Two-thirds
of uninsured citizen children of undocumented parents are eligible
for Medi-Cal and another quarter is eligible for Healthy Families.
Families may be unaware of their eligibility or fear applying
for services due to parents’ illegal status. The report
recommends improving outreach, expanding coverage to all low-income
children regardless of status, and preventing budget cuts to safety-net
providers who often provide urgent care to uninsured children.
The relevant January and March 2003 health policy fact sheets
can be accessed at www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu.
- Undocumented children and working families ineligible for Medi-Cal
or Healthy Families may be insured through growing county efforts
to insure all children below 300% of the federal poverty level
regardless of immigration status. Known as Healthy Kids, five
counties (Santa Clara, Alameda, San Francisco, Riverside, and
San Mateo) have used local funds to partner with nonprofit health
maintenance organizations (HMO’s) to provide comprehensive
health, vision, and dental care to families at very low cost.
Los Angeles and San Bernardino and four other counties have proposed
similar program plans. The county programs, unheard of in the
rest of the country, have garnered support from public health
officials in other states and university health policy analysts,
as a way to expand coverage to children with no other avenue for
healthcare. Please see the 3/09/03 article of the Oakland Tribune
at www.oaklandtribune.com.
- The California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative has developed
an outreach kit developed out of focus groups with immigrant parents
of uninsured children eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families.
Based upon the parents’ concerns about eligibility and preferred
methods of information receipt, materials were developed specific
to Latino, Korean, and Vietnamese communities (all materials are
also available in English). Advocates are encouraged to utilize
these materials within their own communities, available at www.nilc.org/ciwc.
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