Title
Receive and accept the quarterly report of expenditures and caseload data for the Department of Social Services.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Budget Committee receive and accept the quarterly report of expenditures and caseload data for the Department of Social Services.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The attached report represents actual caseload and expenditure data through June 2015. The report compares data month-to-month and year-to-year for three years. In addition to administrative costs, the programs highlighted are:
• General Assistance CalWORKs
• Medi-Cal CalFresh (Food Stamps)
• In-Home Support Services (IHSS) Out-of-Home Care (Foster Care and Adoptions)
ü General Assistance (GA) caseload overall decline for the Fiscal Year was 5.45% and expenditure decline was 8%.
ü CalWORKs caseload declined 7.36% from the prior year however expenditures declined by 1.19% due to 5% COLAs that became effective in March 2014 and April 2015.
ü Medi-Cal caseload has doubled in the last two years with over 65,000 cases.
ü CalFresh caseload has increased by 8.5% due to diligent outreach efforts in the community. Ongoing activity to increase participation in CalFresh by low income households continues to an important area of focus. New efforts underway include participation in a pilot project with the California Department of Social Services to geocode maps that estimate areas in the county where under-access is greater and to reach out to school districts to encourage referral of school lunch recipients who are not enrolled in CalFresh.
ü IHSS paid hours increased 3.29% in the fiscal year and will increase this year due to the 7% restoration of hours provided for in the state budget. Expenditures will also increase due to the new provider wage increase approved by the Board of Supervisors. There will be a General Fund impact of approximately $380,506 for costs associated with changes to the wage and benefit structure that increase wages from $11.50/hour to $12.00/hour and decrease the cost of health benefits from 66¢/hour to 44¢/hour effective September 2015.
ü Out of Home Care includes cases in Foster Care, Probation and Adoption Assistance. The caseload is trending slightly higher with a 3.75% increase over prior year. Extension of foster care support to youth up to age 21 is a major factor in the increasing foster care caseload. In addition to the caseload growth, expenditures have increased due to the statutory COLAs provided to all care providers annually. A 2.28% COLA becomes effective on 7/1/ 2015.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Probation placement costs are included in Foster Care.
FINANCING:
The budget actuals for the year mirrored budget projections.
Approved by: Elliott Robinson, Director, x4434
Attachments:
2015_07 Caseload and Expenditure Report