Bay Area county officials are already feeling the impact of the federal welfare reform law on their communities. For instance, California is home to about 40 percent of the nation's legal immigrant population, many of whom reside in the Bay Area. A coalition of nine Bay Area counties is seeking a multi-million dollar grant to help thousands of elderly and disabled immigrants become citizens so they can keep their benefits.

Counties are worried that as welfare recipients lose their federal benefits under the new law, general assistance rolls will swell and possible lead them to bankruptcy. Thus, Bay Area counties are now working to identify issues and challenges as well as develop their own respective county plans to improve the provision of services. Below are some examples of plans and actions taken:

San Mateo’s "Shared Undertaking to Change the Community to Enable Self-Sufficiency" (SUCCESS) project identified major principles to guide framework development; created advisory, planning, and coordinating committees to plan for implementation; and developed a process plan and timeline for implementation.

Napa County received a federal grant last year for their "Options to Work" program to identify culture changes that will be needed as a result of welfare reform. Currently, they are working on the development of a pilot unit that would include a multi-service case manager. They are also convening 15 community groups for welfare planning, which include a Citizenship Task Force, Coalition of Napa Valley Private Non-profit Agencies, and Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Welfare Reform.

Santa Clara County began a community-based planning process to re-design its welfare system back in April 1996. As a result, the "Employment Support Initiative" was developed to lay the groundwork for helping clients become self-sufficient by providing support services such as training, child care, transportation and health services.

A public-private coalition of Bay Area governments, businesses, community, philanthropic and service leaders, called the Bay Area Partnership for Building Healthy and Self-Sufficient Communities for Economic Prosperity, has provided a forum for discussing important issues at the local level. They meet regularly to address and prioritize issues for the Bay Area as a region and examine the opportunities for Bay Area groups to work together.

To address the need to exchange information regarding the impact of welfare reform in the Bay Area, ABAG staff is working to provide pertinent information to its members at the Executive Board, Legislative & Governmental Organization and Regional Planning Committee meetings. At this point ABAG's goals are to create an electronic clearinghouse through its abagOnline website; provide a mechanism for Bay Area counties to publish their plans, resolutions, and updates regarding welfare reform; and participate in regional meetings on welfare reform issues.

Through the Welfare Reform Network website, ABAG is working to provide easier access to crucial welfare reform information at one location. Links to the statewide proposals for welfare reform, county updates, as well as links to other related websites, can be found. Key word search capabilities allow interested individuals to search using words like TANF, food stamps, etc. For more info, check out ABAG’s Welfare Reform Network site at http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/wreform/ or contact ABAG at 510/464-7922.

In April, the Legislation & Governmental Organization Committee voted to support the following proposed legislation addressing welfare eligibility and benefit changes, particularly those affecting legal immigrants and children:

ASSEMBLY BILLS:  

AB 67 (Escutia) - In-Home Support Services:

This measure would authorize the continuation of in-home support services (IHSS) to individuals who currently receive those services but will lose them due to changes in their SSI/SSP eligibility caused by enactment of the federal welfare reform law.

SENATE BILLS:

At the 19th Annual Board Meeting of the ABAG Shared Risk Pool (SHARP) held in March, it was announced that an equity distribution of nearly $400,000 will be made to the Pool’s members on July 1, 1997.

ABAG’s workers’ compensation department has two administrative programs; individual self-insured third party administration and the pooled risk administration, also for self-insured public entities. Pooled risk sharing is targeted for small entities that want to enjoy the claims control of self-insurance, with pooled risk sharing.

SHARP has six members: Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, ABAG, Mendocino County Transit, El Dorado County Transit, the City of Los Altos Hills and the City of Saratoga. The pool collects a deposit premium which covers claims costs, administration, excess insurance, actuarial and audit services.

Since 1989, the SHARP members endeavored to keep losses to a minimum. The claims staff has worked aggressively to deny inappropriate claims and keep costs down on accepted losses. Additionally, the financial services staffs’ aggressive investment and financial monitoring policies have increased the value of the deposit premiums collected. These factors have resulted in the excess equity. The Pool has a targeted funding level of a 95% confidence level on an undiscounted basis. One third of the equity in excess of the target funding level will be distributed to the members.

California’s workplace ergonomic regulations, which were to have taken effect on January 1, 1997, will not be enforced until they have been rewritten. The regulations were criticized by organizations representing both workers and businesses as being vague and not based on scientifically proven research.

The regulations are being clarified by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and are likely to be completed by this summer. The regulations will apply to all employers with 10 or more employees, and it is anticipated that they will require employers to make ergonomic changes to work stations if more than one employee suffers a repetitive type injury.