Catholic Charities Creatively Continues its Mission in Era of Steep Budget Cuts
Serious times call for serious measures and, in the case of this year’s steep budget cuts to California state health and social service programs such as CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and SSI, officials at Catholic Charities are taking proactive and innovative steps in meeting clients’ needs in a down economy.“In all my years of working with Catholic Charities in nearly three decades, I have never seen a situation where the economy was this bad for this long and government spending is as deficit as it is all across the board: federal, state and county,” said Msgr. Gregory Cox, executive director of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.
“Our board of trustees made a strategic decision three years ago that we were going to maintain as best we could Catholic Charities’ level of service,” said Msgr. Cox. “The trustees decided to allocate all bequests received during the fiscal year to our poverty program instead of our reserve account.”
By initiating innovative funding policies and making appropriate program cuts where they needed to be made in the early stages, L.A.’s Catholic Charities was able to meet the surge in demand for its services providing emergency food and shelter, job-training, and programs benefitting low-income families, seniors and refugees.
During the 2008-09 fiscal year, Catholic Charities served 267,950 clients representing a 21 percent increase from the previous year. In 2009-10, a total of 305,590 clients received services, amounting to a 13 percent jump.
There may not be an increase in the amount of people served during the 2010-11 fiscal year --- funding shortfalls forced the closure of St. Peter Claver Center in Los Angeles, a shelter in Lancaster and a mental health program serving low income clients in Pomona --- but, says Msgr. Cox, there won’t be a major decrease due to proactive policies implemented by the trustees working with senior management.
“This year, we’ve had a slight decrease in government funding but an increase in foundation grants, private donations and fundraising activities,” said Msgr. Cox. “We’ve been able to keep our budget at the $30 million level. We haven’t been able to increase it by a great degree, but with the way the economy has been, I look at it as a major accomplishment of the board of Catholic Charities and its programs to maintain its level of income.”
He notes that many social service agencies have already had to close their doors due to reduced donations stemming from economic woes that include an ongoing housing foreclosure crisis and a record 12 percent unemployment in L.A. County.
“When the CalWORKs welfare-to-work program was set up, it was assumed that people could find work,” said Msgr. Cox. CalWORKs, which replaced AFDC in 1998, provides cash aid to qualified low-income families participating in welfare-to-work activities.
The latest budget cuts have reduced CalWORKs cash assistance by 8 percent --- decreasing the maximum monthly grant for a family of three in high-cost counties from $694 to $638 --- affecting 590,000 low-income families living in high-cost regions who will have a harder time paying for housing and other essentials, according to a recent report issued by the nonpartisan California Budget Project.
In addition, California legislators also reduced the lifetime limit on CalWORKs cash assistance for adults from five years to four years as of Aug. 1. The Department of Social Services estimates that 22,500 will hit the new 48-month time limit in 2011-12.
“It’s going to be more difficult because employment isn’t there and the services aren’t there like mental health counseling that, typically, CalWORKs has been good to provide,” said Msgr. Cox. “When you cut programs for the poor at a time like this, it’s like pulling a carpet out from underneath people.”
“We’ve been sliding downhill for a lot of years for services for underserved people” in society,” said Sister RayMonda DuVall, CHS, executive director of Catholic Charities of San Diego.
While the nonprofit agency has not had to close any centers due to lack of funds, it wrestles with reductions in government funding that have cut back some of their programs, like refugee resettlement. Meanwhile, demand for services has increased between 5-15 percent depending on the program and staff works hard at fundraising to shore up underfunded projects.
“Private funding is pretty flat. We haven’t seen a huge dip, but not an increase to match demand for services,” added Sister DuVall, who has headed the nonprofit for 25 years.
She notes that these days at Catholic Charities, emergency food bags are not as abundant as before, homeless shelters are packed and a seniors’ small loan program for basic needs like rent and utilities is inundated.
“The need is greater than the availability of what we have --- like only three days of food instead of five --- so, to counter that, we work hard to sign people up for the state’s CalFresh Program (formerly known as Food Stamps),” said Sister DuVall, noting that San Diego is one of the worst regions in the state for identifying those people who qualify for CalFresh.
“It’s a continual challenge trying to keep all the balls in the air. Always, programs serving the poorest of the poor have the most diverse portfolios” with a mixture of government and private funding, explained Sister DuVall.
She warns that the state’s recent budget cuts will severely impact seniors, children in low income families and those on SSI. Seeming to concur with her sentiments, a CBP analysis of cuts to the state’s two health coverage programs --- a 10 percent reduction in Medi-Cal and a nearly 25 percent reduction in Healthy Families --- suggests that 8.3 million Californians who rely on this coverage will be profoundly affected.
“Our Gospel mandate is to provide service to people – our call is Matthew 25,” reflected Sister DuVall. “We’re going to have to get more innovative.”
One of the ways Catholic Charities in the Santa Clara area is handling government funding cuts is increasing the use of volunteers at downsized program sites.
“Our senior and youth service programs have been hit very heavily by city and county funding,” said Gregory Kepferle, CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County. “Our staff is very creative to make sure clients get services.”
In spite of the challenges in a down economy, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County has been able to expand programs and services, increasing clientele served from 37,000 to 39,000 and experiencing its best May appeal ever.
“The way we can meet demand is by being creative and reinventing ourselves,” said Kepferle, who has led the local Catholic Charities for six years.
Last October, the agency started an in-home care program for seniors currently staffed by 19 former clients who are now employees and who have collectively earned over $100,000. “Social enterprise is the cutting edge of nonprofits,” said Kepferle.
“My hope is that, as the economy has hurt not just the ‘least of these’ but the middle class and the wealthy [who have lost money on investments], it will result in greater empathy that we’re all in this together and people will recognize that we need one another,” said Kepferle.
For more information on the mission, services and needs of Catholic Charities in your diocese visit their website.