San Diego County Board of Supervisors Accused of Neglecting Social Services

About 40 people attended the June 7 San Diego County Board of Supervisors' public hearing on the 2011-2012 budget.

Four women at the 2 p.m. session urged supervisors to fund social services, salaries, and staffing.

Connie Soucy of Access to Independence spoke about a 78-year-old woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The county denied in-home supportive services because the woman didn’t have MediCal. Although she met the income requirement, her MediCal application had been denied, according to Soucy.

She then cited a report stating the county enrolls less than 50 percent of people eligible for MediCal. She said the county’s failure to enroll food-stamp applicants resulted in $106 million in unclaimed state and federal funds in 2008.

“If you were parents and were denying children food and health care, you would be accused of neglect,” Soucy said.

Rabbi Laurie Coskey of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice discussed a detention-facility food-service employee who is among the workers currently in negotiations. He has worked for the county since 1995, earns $29,596, and receives additional pay for being bilingual. Loss of that pay and a 7 percent decrease in retirement funding reduces his salary to $25,000, according to Coskey.

Laurie Macrae of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said the state was shifting responsibility for providing mental-health services to counties. Discussing that responsibility “should be part of the budget process,” said Macrae, adding, “I am the mother of a man with a mental illness.”

Patricia Gonzales of the Lemon Grove Family Resource Center said staffing falls short of increased applications for public assistance. The board will accept written comment on the budget until June 15.

Pictured: Rabbi Laurie Coskey (left), Laurie Macrae (standing), and Connie Soucy