Court Hearing On IHSS 20% Cut Set for January 19th

California Budget Crisis:

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT HEARING ON IHSS 20% CUT SET FOR JANUARY 19TH - TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER BLOCKING THAT CUT WILL REMAIN IN FORCE UNTIL THAT HEARING DATE 

20% IHSS Reduction Part of the $1 Billion in State Budget "Trigger Cuts" Authorized Today By Governor Brown - January 19th Hearing Also Will Consider "Class Certification" of Lawsuit

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 12/13/2011 07:41 PM] -  The original December 15th federal district court hearing on the lawsuit (David Oster, et al v. Will Lightbourne and Toby Douglas) that - at least temporarily - has stopped implementation of a 20% across-the-board reduction in service hours for possibly hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, mental health needs and seniors in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program has been rescheduled for January 19th (Thursday). That hearing date is subject to change (as is any court hearing date).

The temporary restraining order (TRO) that was issued December 1st by US District Court Judge Claudia Wilken that required the Brown Administration to halt all actions to implement the 20% across-the-board cut will remain in force until that new January 19th when the federal district court will consider whether or not to issue a more permanent court order that would block implementation of the 20% IHSS service hours cut - called a preliminary injunction. 

That reduction became real with the announcement today by Governor Brown that the state budget "trigger cuts" will be pulled, implementing effective January 1, 2012 (or later depending on the specific cuts in other programs and budget areas) $1 billion in automatic mid-year spending reductions - including the $100 million reduction to IHSS (currently blocked by court order) and $100 million reduction to developmental services - though that reduction to developmental services will be achieved not by additional cuts to programs or providers, but through savings achieved lower than expected spending in the current budget year.  .  . 

The January 5th court hearing to determine class certification has also been changed, with that issue scheduled to be heard also on January 19th. "Class certification" is an issue where the court considers a request by those filing the lawsuit to apply the case to a group or class of people - in this specific instance, all the recipients of IHSS who would be impacted by the 20% reduction.       

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of IHSS recipients by Disability Rights California (DRC), Disability Rights Legal Center, National Senior Citizens Law Center, the National Health Law Program and San Diego attorney Charles Wolfinger. The law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP is also counsel in the lawsuit, representing unions including five SEIU locals and United Domestic Workers-AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), whose members are IHSS caregivers and attendants.

The case number is: CV 09-04668 CW (David Oster, et al v. Will Lightbourne and Toby Douglas.)

Department of Social services Issues Last Week New All County Letter On IHSS Cut

*  As previously reported,  the Department of Social Services, the state agency that oversees statewide the IHSS program, issued last week on December 7th, new instructions to the counties rescinding an earlier document that outlined implementation steps for a 20% across-the-board IHSS cut - and attached a copy of the judge's court order. 

*  See below for complete text of that document - called an "All County Letter" .

What the Judge's December 1st Order Means
*  As previously reported last week on December 1st by CDCAN, the court order issued today means that - at least until December 15th - the Brown Administration cannot proceed further on the 20% reduction in service hours to those persons receiving IHSS and not eligible for an exemption from that cut.
* The Brown Administration is required by the temporary restraining order to rescind any and all notices to the counties and recipients regarding implementation of the 20% reduction and inform all counties that the recent 'All County Letter" is rescinded (which it did by issuing on December 7th the new All County Letter).  .
* Over 370,000 people with disabilities - including children and seniors and those with mental health needs - are impacted by the planned 20% reduction and the restraining order stopping it today. Hundreds of thousands of IHSS workers are also impacted, who faced significant loss of hours and in some cases, possible loss of health benefits if the reduction is implemented.
* The judge's order does not impact directly (though could influence) new reductions to IHSS and other health and human service programs that the Governor could include in his 2012-2013 State budget on January 10, 2012. The Governor is expected to propose significant major new reductions in order to close the projected $13 billion on-going budget shortfall.
*  The judge's order does not impact the existing 3.6% reduction in IHSS service hours, which  is currently set to continue until June 30, 2012. If the State budget "trigger cut" is pulled and the 20% is allowed to proceed, a person with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind or seniors in the IHSS program could face a total reduction in service hours of 23.6%., unless they were exempted from the reduction. 



CIL Hosts Small Business Administration Center to help victims of Telegraph Ave Fire

CIL donating office space to help victims of November's Telegraph Ave Fire

SBA Offers Disaster Assistance to California Residents and Businesses Affected by the Sequoia Apartment Complex Fire Sacramento, CA – Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to California residents and business owners affected by the Sequoia Apartment Complex Fire that occurred on November 18, announced U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen G. Mills. SBA acted under its own authority to declare a disaster following a request received December 12 from Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr.’s designated representative, Mike Dayton, Acting Secretary of California Emergency Management Agency.

The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in Alameda County and the neighboring counties of Contra Costa, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Stanislaus.

“The U. S. Small Business Administration is strongly committed to providing Californians with the most effective and customer-focused response possible, and we will be there to provide access to federal disaster loans to help finance recovery for residents and businesses affected by the disaster,” said Mills. “Getting our businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”

“Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, nonprofit organizations whose property was damaged or destroyed by the disaster,” said SBA’s San Francisco District Director Mark Quinn. “

Beginning Thursday, December 15 at 9 am, SBA customer service representatives will be on hand at the following Disaster Loan Outreach Center to issue loan applications, answer questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process, and help each individual complete their application,” Quinn continued.

The center will be open on the days and times indicated. No appointment is necessary.

Alameda County
Disaster Loan Outreach Center
Center of Independent Living
2539 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

Opens Thursday, December 15 at 9 am

Open Thursday, December 15 through Friday, December 23
9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday

Re-opens Monday, January 9, 2012 at 9 am
Open Monday, January 9 through Friday, January 13
9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday

Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Businesses of any size and private, nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to homeowners and businesses to help with the cost of making improvements that protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.

For small businesses and most private, nonprofit organizations of any size and aquaculture businesses, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage.

Interest rates can be as low as 2.063 percent for homeowners and renters, 3 percent for private, nonprofit organizations and 4 percent for businesses, with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based upon each applicant’s financial condition.

Applicants may apply online via SBA’s secure Web site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
Disaster loan information and application forms are also available from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling SBA at (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800) 877-8339.

The filing deadline to return applications for property damage is February 13, 2012.

The deadline to return economic injury applications is September 14, 2012.

For more information, visit SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov. SBA Field Operations Center -West, P.O. Box 419004, Sacramento, CA 95841

Gov. Brown Announces Trigger Cuts

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sacramento --

State spending on higher education, K-12 education, social services, public safety and other programs will be cut by about $1 billion next month because tax revenues coming into California's treasury this year will not meet expectations, Gov. Jerry Brown announced today.

But public schools can breathe a partial sigh of relief: The governor's office said K-12 education will face a $327 million cut from their budgets midyear, instead of the more than $1 billion reduction that would have occurred if revenues had been even worse. That reduction in spending will begin Feb. 1; the other cuts will take effect Jan. 1.

The automatic midyear cuts were included as part of the budget agreement in June to show Wall Street that the state was serious about balancing its budget. In the final days of budget deliberations, state leaders added an additional $4 billion in anticipated revenue assumptions; the trigger cuts were included in the event that $4 billion did not materialize.

It did not: Brown said Tuesday that California will collect about $1.8 billion instead of the $4 billion, forcing state leaders to cut planned spending for the fiscal year that will end June 30. And he warned that more spending reductions are likely to be announced next month, when he introduces a budget proposal for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

"The good news is economy of California is recovering ... but (it's) still not enough to close the deficit built up for years," Brown said. "These cuts to universities, In Home Supportive Services, schools, prosecutions - are not good, they are not the way we would like to run California, but we have to live within our means."

The revenue projection the governor is relying on is higher than what the Legislative Analyst's Office had predicted last month. The analyst's projection would have meant even deeper cuts.

Still, the University of California and California State University systems each will take a $100 million cut, community college spending will take a $102million hit, services for the developmentally disabled will be reduced by $100 million, state grants to local libraries of nearly $16 million will be wiped out and counties will face higher costs to send juvenile offenders to state custody.

And public schools will see per pupil spending slashed by $79 million instead of more than $1 billion - an amount equal to about half a day of school instead of a full week, according to Director of Finance Ana Matosantos. The state will also reduce its spending on transportation for public school kids by another $248 million.

How to make those reductions will be up to individual schools - some could choose to keep transportation funding and cut other programs.

The In-Home Supportive Services program, which provides basic services to 372,000 disabled and elderly adults in order to prevent them from being placed in nursing homes, also is targeted with a $100 million cut. That would be in the form of a 20 percent reduction in hours that recipients would receive care.

However, advocates for the program sought and won a temporary restraining order against the state to prevent the reduction.

A federal judge in Oakland found the reduction would place IHSS recipients "at imminent and serious risk of harm to their health and safety, as well as unnecessary and unwanted out-of-home placement including institutionalization."

The next hearing on the matter is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.

Even before the governor announced the size of the trigger cuts, his critics were using them to attack his leadership.

"Any cuts to education now are only because the Governor is using the cuts for political reasons and represents a total failure of Brown to reform government at any level," said Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the California Republican Party.

These spending reductions will not be the end of the ongoing reductions in the state's budget. The legislative analyst has projected that California will face another $13 billion deficit next year and Brown himself has warned Tuesday that significant additional cuts will be necessary.

He repeated Tuesday that if voters do not approve a package of temporary tax increases he plans to put on next November's ballot, deeper cuts will take place.

"We either cut or tax, there is no third way, no alternative," he said. "And as governor of California, I am sensitive to what these cutbacks do to real people, but I am also aware over time that California has to balance its budget, that we have to exercise fiscal discipline."

Here's the list of trigger cuts agreed to by lawmakers in the governor as part of this year's budget agreement:

-- University of California: $100 million

-- California State University: $100 million

-- State grants for local libraries: $15.9 million

-- Department of Developmental Services: $100 million

-- In-Home Supportive Services: $100 million

-- Eliminate funding for local antifraud efforts in IHSS: $10 million

-- Additional Medi-Cal provider cuts and co-payments: $15 million

-- Unallocated cut to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: $20 million

-- Increase county charges for sending juvenile offenders to state custody: $72.1 million

-- Eliminate some prosecution grants: $15 million

-- Increase per-unit fees $10 for community colleges: $30 million

-- Four percent reduction in child care support: $23 million

-- Public school reduction: $79.6 million

-- Community college spending: $72 million

-- School transportation: $248 million

Chronicle staff writer Marisa Lagos contributed to this report.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/13/BAI81MBUEJ.DTL#ixzz1gSs3DFjU



Leadership Opportunity for Youth With Disabilities!!

California Youth Leadership ForumFor Students with Disabilities

July 23-27, 2012

Sacramento, CA

California State University, Sacramento (CSUS)

(Dates subject to change.)

Develop Leadership Skills, and learn how to reach your academic, career, and independence goals.

Talk with policy makers and educate them on ways they can improve the lives of young people with disabilities.

Live on the CSUS campus during the week at no cost to you!

Make new friends for life!

Application Information:

www.dor.ca.gov/YLF

For more information and how to complete an application, please go to the website.

Contact us at (916) 558-5407 (voice) - (916) 558-5403 (TTY).

Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!



California Disability Community Action Network Report 12/12

#200-2011 - DECEMBER 12, 2011 – MONDAY

From the California Disability Community Action Network:

California Budget Crisis:

DECEMBER 15TH FEDERAL COURT HEARING DATE ON IHSS 20% REDUCTION POSTPONED - TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER BLOCKING CUT FROM IMPLEMENTATION REMAINS IN FORCE UNTIL NEW HEARING DATE

Federal District Court Judge Expected To Announce New Hearing By Wednesday  - Department of Social Services Issues  December 7th Instructions to Counties to Comply With Court Order Stopping the Cut 

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 12/12/2011 02:00 PM] -  The December 15th federal district court hearing on the lawsuit (David Oster, et al v. Will Lightbourne and Toby Douglas) that - at least temporarily - has stopped implementation of a 20% across-the-board reduction in service hours for possibly hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, mental health needs and seniors in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, has been postponed.  The temporary restraining order (TRO) that was issued December 1st by US District Court Judge Claudia Wilken that required the Brown Administration to halt all actions to implement the 20% across-the-board cut will remain in force until the new court hearing date. 

A new hearing date will be scheduled when the State files its legal documents in opposition to a more permanent court order that would block implementation of the 20% IHSS service hours cut - called a preliminary injunction.   Judge Wilken is expected to set a new hearing date and announce it possibly by Wednesday this week. 

A court hearing for January 5th by the court to determine class certification could also be changed. "Class certification" is an issue where the court considers a request by those filing the lawsuit to apply the case to a group or class of people - in this specific instance, all the recipients of IHSS who would be impacted by the 20% reduction.      

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of IHSS recipients by Disability Rights California (DRC), Disability Rights Legal Center, National Senior Citizens Law Center, the National Health Law Program and San Diego attorney Charles Wolfinger. The law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP is also counsel in the lawsuit, representing unions including five SEIU locals and United Domestic Workers-AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), whose members are IHSS caregivers and attendants.

The case number is: CV 09-04668 CW (David Oster, et al v. Will Lightbourne and Toby Douglas.)

Department of Social services Issues Last Week New All County Letter On IHSS Cut

*  Meanwhile, the Department of Social Services, the state agency that oversees statewide the IHSS program, issued last week on December 7th, new instructions to the counties rescinding an earlier document that outlined implementation steps for a 20% across-the-board IHSS cut - and attached a copy of the judge's court order.

*  See below for complete text of that document - called an "All County Letter"  which is also attached to this CDCAN Report titled "20111207 - All County Letter - IHSS 20 Percent Reduction 11-84.pdf"  The three page "All County Letter' was saved by the department as a pdf document, which means that persons who are blind or sight impaired should be able to view it using a screen reading device. However also attached to that document is a 5 page copy of the federal district judge's Temporary Restraining Order issued December 1st that was saved as a pdf image - similar to a picture - rather than a document, which screen reading devices cannot read. ]

IHSS Case Impacts Larger State Budget Crisis

*  The December 1st court order came two weeks after the Legislative Analyst Office - the non-partisan office that reviews budget issues for the Legislature - projected that the State will face a still massive $13 billion budget deficit by June 30, 2012 unless action is taken by the Governor and Legislature to address it and just 14 days before the Governor's Department of Finance will issue its own forecast of revenues and spending in the remaining 6 months of the 2011-2012 State Budget year.

*  Most budget observers believe that the forecast issued this week by the Department of Finance will show that revenues will not meet the targeted goal - and will result in one or both of the State Budget "trigger cuts"  that will be pulled implementing up to $2.5 billion in additional new cuts in State general fund spending - including the cut to IHSS now temporarily blocked), developmental services, higher education and K-12 education.  .

What the Judge's December 1st Order Means

*  As previously reported last week on December 1st by CDCAN, the court order issued today means that - at least until December 15th - the Brown Administration cannot proceed further on the 20% reduction in service hours to those persons receiving IHSS and not eligible for an exemption from that cut.

* The Brown Administration is required by the temporary restraining order to rescind any and all notices to the counties and recipients regarding implementation of the 20% reduction and inform all counties that the recent 'All County Letter" is rescinded (which it did by issuing on December 7th the new All County Letter).  .

* Over 370,000 people with disabilities - including children and seniors and those with mental health needs - are impacted by the planned 20% reduction and the restraining order stopping it today. Hundreds of thousands of IHSS workers are also impacted, who faced significant loss of hours and in some cases, possible loss of health benefits if the reduction is implemented.

* The judge's order does not impact directly (though could influence) new reductions to IHSS and other health and human service programs that the Governor could include in his 2012-2013 State budget on January 10, 2012. The Governor is expected to propose significant major new reductions in order to close the projected $13 billion on-going budget shortfall.

*  The judge's order does not impact the existing 3.6% reduction in IHSS service hours, which  is currently set to continue until June 30, 2012. If the State budget "trigger cut" is pulled and the 20% is allowed to proceed, a person with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind or seniors in the IHSS program could face a total reduction in service hours of 23.6%., unless they were exempted from the reduction...more

Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!