Federal Judge Puts Temporary Stop to 20% IHSS Cuts

FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION THAT CONTINUES STOPPING STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS FROM IMPLEMENTING 20% IHSS ACROSS THE BOARD REDUCTION

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 01/19/2012 03:32 PM] -  A federal district court judge in Oakland, as expected, issued a court order that will continue blocking the Brown Administration and the federal government from taking any steps to implement the 20% across-the-board reduction in service hours for hundreds of thousands of children and adults with disabilities - including people with developmental disabilities - and seniors who receive In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).  The reduction would have also impact hundreds of thousands of IHSS workers.   US District Court Judge Claudia Wilken issued the court order - called a "preliminary injunction"  during the hearing held today in her court room in Oakland.   The State will likely appeal the court order.    The order issued today by Judge Wilken remains in effect unless a higher federal court - in this case the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court decides to reverse it or if Judge Wilken decides at a later date to modify (change) it in some way. 

Judge Wilken issued on December 1st a temporary restraining order that blocked the reduction from taking place until a she decideD whether or not to grant a more permanent order to stop the cuts from being implemented.  The preliminary injunction granted by Judge Wilken - requested by those filing the lawsuit (IHSS recipients) - means that the State federal governments would still be blocked from implementing the IHSS 20% cuts.   In issuing the temporary restraining order in December, Judge Wilken had found that the reductions violated federal law and likely would, if implemented, cause immediate significant harm to people with disabilities and seniors in the IHSS program who would be impacted by the cut in service hours.  

Judge Wilken heard today from attorneys  representing IHSS recipients and the Brown Administration in the lawsuit "David Oster, et al v. Lightbourne", ("Oster" is an IHSS recipient and "Lightbourne" is Will Lightbourne, the director of the California Department of Social Services, the state agency that oversees statewide the IHSS program).  The case was previously titled  "V.L. v.Wagner" ("V.L." was the initials of an IHSS recipient and "Wagner" is the name of the previous director of the Department of Social Services). 

The lawsuit was filed 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 on behalf of the IHSS recipients. The union plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which include five SEIU locals and United Domestic Workers-AFSCME, represented by law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP.

20% Cut Part of the 2011-2012 State Budget "Trigger Cuts"

*  The 20% across-the-board cut in IHSS hours amounting to a reduction of over $100 million in State general fund spending in the remaining months of the 2011-2012 State Budget year (and continue into the following budget year) was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2012 but never was implemented due to the temporary restraining order that was issued in December.  The 20% reduction did include several exemptions to the cut for certain eligible persons in the IHSS program.  With the court order issued today - the State and federal governments are still blocked from taking any steps to implement the cut for now. 

*  The reduction was part of the $1 billion in "trigger cuts" that were part of the 2011-2012 State Budget that was pulled because the State's revenues fell significantly below what was budgeted last June. 

*  Among the other state budget "trigger cuts" included $100 million reduction in state general fund spending to the developmental services budget for the 2011-2012 State budget year that ends June 30, 2012 - with another $100 million covering the 2012-2013 State Budget year.       

*  The 20% across-the-board reduction is in addition to other cuts and major changes to the IHSS program Governor Brown proposed as part of his 2012-2013 State Budget.

 

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

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