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Meeting Information



2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 

San Francisco Human Services Agency

2007 Legislative Priorities

 

 

The mission of the Human Services Agency (SF-HSA) is to assist San Franciscans who are disadvantaged, in crisis, or unable to participate fully in the social and economic life of the community. We promote the health and well-being of San Franciscans and assist individuals and families with income assistance, direct benefits, and other supportive services; with employment preparation and placement services to facilitate economic self-sufficiency; with protective services to shield against abuse and neglect; and with family and community building services to help individuals and families reach their fullest potential within the context of family, community and society.

 

In accordance with the mission and goals of the SF-HSA, this document serves as a framework for guiding the Agency’s advocacy on legislative, regulatory and budget issues.  The SF-HSA Legislative Program helps shape public policy at the state and federal level through the development of an annual plan that identifies legislative priorities; through proactive collaboration with the Mayor’s Office, other City departments, the City’s lobbyists, community partners, and state, regional and other affinity groups; and through communication and outreach to elected officials and other decision makers. 

 

Calendar year 2007 marks the first year of the State Legislature’s two-year session. During the first half of this year, the state and federal governments will also develop their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2007-08), which begins on July 1st and October 1st, respectively.

 

 

AGING & ADULT SERVICES

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support increased funding for the Adult Protective Services Program.
  2. Support increased funding for Public Guardians in order to help meet new deadlines and levels of service mandated by the Omnibus Conservator Bill (which will result in larger court appointed caseloads and double the reporting requirements), and to avoid Superior Court-imposed penalties if the bill’s requirements are not met.
  3. Support funding for IHSS staff activities including training programs for providers and implementation of procedures to comply with the Conlon II decision, which requires timely reimbursement to eligible MediCal beneficiaries of covered services received while status is pending.
  4. Support funding for the entire spectrum of community-based long term care including initiatives for healthy aging through access to resources, goods, services, transportation, care-giving, fall prevention, home modifications, and Multi Purpose Senior Centers, among other programs.
  5. Oppose the Governor’s proposed freeze in state participation in IHSS workers’ wages and benefits, and oppose suspension of the trigger mechanism that increases state participation when discretionary revenues surpass 5 percent.
  6. Oppose any reductions in funding for senior and disabled adult services.

 

State Legislative 

 

  1. Support legislation to make probate court investigators mandated reporters, require court investigators to cross-report encountered incidents of abuse or neglect to the local APS agency, and require APS to cross-report to the court investigators when it is discovered that an APS referral from a third-party involves a person under conservatorship.

2.      Support legislative proposals to expand access to services that enable individuals to receive appropriate levels of care and support in the community as an alternative to institutionalization.

3.      Support tax credits or deductions for senior home modifications, health insurance and family caregivers as well as flexible terms to Family Leave Act to enable care for chronic as well as episodic illness.

4.      Support fraud abatement programs such as statewide professional certification for brokers and marketers of annuities, reverse mortgages and other financial products to seniors.

 

 

 

CALWORKS

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support an adequate budget for the CalWORKs program that is based on actual costs, caseload projections and spending abilities across counties.
  2. Oppose the Governor’s budget proposal to eliminate CalWORKs safety net and child-only grants and to implement full family sanctions after 90 days of non-compliance.
  3. Oppose the Governor’s budget proposal to suspend the 4.21 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment for CalWORKs recipients.

 

State Legislative 

 

  1. Co-sponsor legislation withLos Angeles County to create a Work Support Pilot for CalWORKs Families at Risk of Becoming Homeless.
  2. Support legislation that promotes the ability of low-income families to increase their income, build and maintain assets, and attain self-sufficiency.

 

 

 

CHILDCARE

 

State Budget    

  1. Support adequate funding for childcare subsidies, provider reimbursement rates, childcare facilities, and quality improvement activities.
  2. Support increased funding for Community Care Licensing to improve frequency of site visits for monitoring compliance.  California is last in the nation with inspections currently conducted once every five years.

 

State Legislative

  1. Support expansion of childcare subsidies. 
  2. Support implementation of a quality system with San Francisco as one of 3-5 pilot counties.  Include a tiered rate structure for childcare providers to incent high-quality programs, remedy inequities in the current reimbursement system for licensed and license-exempt family child care homes, and reward higher quality Title 5 centers that are currently subject to suppressed Standard Reimbursement Rates (SRR).
  3. Support priority for enrollment from local subsidies (i.e., foster care) to meet state goals of continuity of services and care. 
  4. Support homelessness to be included as a priority for enrollment without having to designate the child as "at risk".

 

 

 

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support adequate funding for child welfare services and an appropriation methodology that is consistent with the recommendations of the Child Welfare Services Stakeholders Group.
  2. Support efforts to hold counties harmless from the requirement to reimburse the federal government for overpayment of federal foster care placements in instances where the overpayments are statutorily un-collectible.
  3. Support increased funding for the Transitional Housing Placement Program and the Transitional Housing Placement Program Plus for foster youth.

 

 

State Legislative

 

  1. Support legislation that promotes child safety, reduces the number of children in long-term foster care, promotes adult connections and permanency, and helps foster children to sustain family ties.
  2. Support legislation and/or regulatory changes that establish a single payment rate for “dual agency” children and clarifies policies related to payment and provision of their care. “Dual agency” children are in foster care and have been diagnosed with a developmental disability by a regional center.
  3. Support legislation that creates a unified assessment, licensing and approval process for all resource families, whether they are relative caregivers, NREFMs, foster family homes, or adoptive families.
  4. Support legislation to increase foster and adoptive parent recruitment, retention and training.
  5. Support legislation that requires the state to budget child welfare services in accordance with specified optimal caseload standards recommended by the Child Welfare Services Stakeholders Group.
  6. Support expansion of services for emancipated foster youth, including those placed with non-related legal guardians.
  7. Support legislation to provide Medi-Cal coverage to foster youth who emancipated from a Kin-GAP/Kin-GAP Plus related guardianship, were legally emancipated prior to age 18, were reunified with parents after being in foster care after age 16, and who receive AFDC-FC benefits while placed with Probate Court ordered non-related legal guardians.
  8. Support legislation requiring counties to screen all foster youth for SSI eligibility and to allow eligible youth to accumulate SSI benefit savings up to the federal resource limit prior to emancipation.
  9. Support legislation allowing inter-county transfers of criminal record histories when caregivers move.

 

 

FOOD STAMPS

 

State Legislative

 

  1. Support repeal of requirement that Food Stamps clients be fingerimaged as a condition of receiving benefits.

 

 

HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support increased funding for the Transitional Housing Placement Program and the Transitional Housing Placement Program Plus for foster youth.
  2. Oppose Governor’s proposal to eliminate funding for the Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness Program.

 

State Legislative

 

  1. Support legislation to create a state-only Medi-Cal program for chronically homeless individuals potentially eligible for SSI.
  2. Monitor legislation and administrative rules and adopt positions as appropriate to ensure that implementation of Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), is consistent with the intent of the Act and that allocation methodologies do not disadvantage San Francisco.
  3. Monitor legislation and administrative rules and adopt positions as appropriate to ensure that implementation of Proposition 1C, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act, is consistent with the intent of the Act and that allocation methodologies do not disadvantage San Francisco.
  4. Support legislation that would enhance HSA’s ability to provide coordinated and integrated services to provide appropriate and quality care for the homeless population.

 

 

 

MEDI-CAL

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support increased funding for county workload increases due to implementation of the new federal citizenship requirements; and support state funding to assist low-income Medi-Cal applicants in obtaining required documentation.

 

State Legislative

 

  1. Support efforts to change the citizenship documentation regulations in such a way as to reduce the administrative burden of compliance on counties and Medi-Cal applicants.
  2. Support legislation to increase the Medi-Cal Maintenance Need Level (MNL), which is used to determine the required share of cost for Medi-Cal and the amount of income a beneficiary may keep to cover living expenses.  The current MNL has not been increased since 1989, does not take into account inflation in the cost of living and is too low. This results a high share of cost for beneficiaries who do not qualify under a specialty program and creates a particular hardship for elderly and disabled recipients.
  3. Support legislation to eliminate the state requirement that Medi-Cal beneficiaries submit a signed annual redetermination form, and permit counties to complete redeterminations by telephone, using either a live worker or automated system. 
  4. Support SF-DPH legislative priorities as related to Medi-Cal and other healthcare programs.

 

 

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support enhanced funding for workforce development activities, particularly those targeting welfare to work clients.
  2. Support funding to create career preparation activities, including expansion of career technical education courses, career exploration opportunities in middle schools, career-themed high schools, and career academies for young adults and high school dropouts.

 

State Legislative 

 

  1. Support legislation requiring that a portion of the cost of CalWORKs subsidized employment programs be funded by the state through CalWORKs Assistance. Under current State law, counties must bear the entirety of this cost through their Single Allocation, while the State realizes all resulting savings in the form of reduced grant costs.

 

 

OTHER NON-PROGRAM SPECIFIC PRIORITIES

 

State Budget

 

  1. Support cost-of-doing-business increases for all human service programs.
  2. Support augmentation of state funding to implement the CalWIN system.
  3. Oppose any legislation that would reduce Realignment funding for San Francisco.