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While service providers don’y yet know whether they’ll receive IOUs — or what the amounts will be Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santaa Clara, is prepared for the worst. “Wee receive about $400,000 in state funding,” Harlanh said. “We’re already accustomed to gettinvg money from the statelate — last year, for it took until Decemberr before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the centerd has relied on a $150,000 line of credit throughb to cover the gap, along with $500,000 out of its reserv funds. The center’s operating budget is $10 milliob for fiscal 2009-10.
The money that may be on hold from thestated covers, in part, the center’s shelter and drop-in program, streetf outreach, and parenting classes. “The problem righr now is that we don’t know for certaih how much they’re going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for26 “But this is by far the worst I’vd ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’s budget 10 percent cuts have alreadyg been planned for foster-care payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids in foster care.
Foster care rates are the same acrossthe state, so familie s in high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amounty of compensation as people in more affordable “We’re fronting half a million dollars already,” she said. It’se a layered problem for the center, since in addition to statew money some comes from the federal Housinh and UrbanDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthzs for payments tobe received. “We’re hoping to get paid by she said. “Nonprofits are just getting slammed.
” Harlab said the Bill Wilson Center has close down two programs already and cut abouy 15 percent ofits staff, leavint about 110 employees. These are real she pointed out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do. “We had to give one stafcf person a layoff notice and a week laterf his wife was laid off fromanothert nonprofit,” she said. in Campbell gets about $500,00o a year from the state for its AIDS CFO Ira Holtzman said the agency is large enough and financiallt stable enough that he would just book an IOU as accountzs receivable and hope the money came through TheHealth Trust’s budger for fiscal year 2010 is more than $16 Holtzman said.
Pam Brandin, executive director of and Visuallyu Impaired, which has offices in Palo Alto andSantw Cruz, said that even though her agency provides the kind of servicea that are especially at risk in State Controllerr John Chiang’s plan, the Vista Centee is relatively safe. “Wee receive money through Title 7 Chapter2 services,” Brandinh explained. “Since much of our fundinf is federalmoney we’re hopingh that it has to be released and passede on; the state won’t be alloweed to hold on to The Vista Center also has school contractes through special education funding.
“Lasy year when the state had similar budger issueswe didn’t receive any IOUs,” she “but that situation was resolve sooner than this appears to be. The agenciese that receive IOUsprobably won’t even know they’rse coming until they submit their She’s also banking on Vista Center’es status as a preferred vendor with the “so we’ll be paid in advance of othe vendors — if in fact the state is even writin g checks.” Lisa Hendrickson, presidenrt & CEO of Avenidaa Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Center in Palo Alto, is also cautiouslyg optimistic.
“The only funds we receive from the stat e are MediCal payments for services provided at our aduldaycare center,” she said. “Our understanding is that thosew services are protected by the state constitutio n as well asfederal law. We do receivee funding indirectly through the butwe don’t expect that to be affected.” Tom Kinoshita, publi policy director of the , said people are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowingf what’s going to happen.
But even with the most optimisticoutcome it’s still going to be very He pointed out that the deficit last year for Santa Clara Countyh was more than $270 and many of the cuts were made in programsd around health, mental health, drugs and alcohol and social And there’s no relief on the horizon: For 2011 the countyu is looking at a deficit of about $250 million, he
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