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Deputy Director – Aging, Disability and Older Adult Services

COUNTY WELFARE DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA (CWDA)

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) is recruiting for a Deputy Director – Aging, Disability and Older Adult Services. The Deputy Director will be responsible for policy analysis, program implementation, and federal and state advocacy activities in support of the In-Home Supportive Services Program, Adult Protective Services Program, and related programs administered by county human services agencies.

Please click on the link below to see the full job description and how to apply. 

Budget Priority

Increase CalWORKs Applicant Earned Income Disregard
Despite Inflation, Minimum Wages Increases, Inadequate $90 Disregard Has Not Been Updated Since 1998

As the Governor and Legislature continue to grapple with the state’s homelessness and housing issues, many policies have been implemented in order to encourage employment and give our poorest families a better opportunity to create self-sufficiency. Many working poor families already live on the cusp of needing social services and safety net resources.

Budget Priority

County Administration Cost Adjustment Budget Memo

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) respectfully requests your support for updating the funding levels for county administration of human services programs to reflect the appropriate state share of actual costs. Counties administer these programs on behalf of the state. Yet the proposed budget does not provide funding to cover the actual costs of counties for performing those duties in several key areas.

CWDA Cost Adjustment Memo to Assembly Budget Sub 1

CWDA Cost Adjustment Memo to Senate Budget Sub 3

Budget Priority

Expanded Subsidized Employment Budget Memo

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) opposes the proposal in the Governor’s Budget to shift funding from the CalWORKs Single Allocation to the Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) Program. Under the Administration’s proposal, $19.8 million associated with the base funding requirement (BFR) for ESE will be removed from the Single Allocation and provided as part of the ESE Program allocation.  This funding shift is effectively a cut to the Employment Services component of the Single Allocation.

Budget Priority

CWDA-SEIU Budget Memo re CalHEERS and Medi-Cal Eligibility
Joint memo calls for greater legislative oversight

It is critical for the Legislature to understand the shortcomings of CalHEERS and inordinate delays in developing functionalities that are considered to be a baseline for most eligibility systems.

Budget Priority

More CalFresh, Less Hunger Budget Request Materials
Policy, Practice Enhancements Will Increase Uptake and Reduce Churn

CWDA is sponsoring the More CalFresh, Less Hunger Act (AB 2413, Ting/Wiener), which will  help battle food insecurity across California. The significant policy and practice changes promoted by the Act will increase the food and economic security of an estimated 200,000 additional CalFresh households in California when fully realized, while helping the 2.17 million households already receiving benefits stay on the program instead of dropping off for purely administrative and paperwork-related reasons as happens too often today.

CWDA CalFresh Memo to Assembly Budget Sub 1

CWDA CalFresh Memo to Senate Budget Sub 3

Budget Priority

Adult Protective Services Budget Request Materials
Coalition Seeks $100m to Help Elders, Dependent Adults Facing Homelessness

The APS Program has a long and successful history of working with California’s most vulnerable older and dependent adults. APS workers understand their needs and the program is connected to other systems and partners familiar with serving this unique population. With the requested resources and strategies outlined in this proposal, the APS Program will be able to expand to meet the needs of the growing aging population, and to enhance case management to address the growth of both senior homelessness and those with cognitive impairments.

Press release

CWDA Statement on Governor’s State of the State Address
Counties share Governor Newsom's focus on urgent solutions to housing and homelessness crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 19, 2020

Contact: Mike Roth, 916-444-7170

COUNTY WELFARE DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR NEWSOM’S STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS 

Sacramento, CA – The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) released the following statement today from Executive Director Frank Mecca on Governor Newsom’s 2020 State of the State address:

Press release

CWDA Condemns Supreme Court Ruling on Public Charge
SCOTUS Allows Implementation Despite Active Lawsuits

For Immediate Release
January 27, 2020

Contact: Maya Polon, 818.288.6231

 

CWDA Statement on Supreme Court Public Charge Ruling

Sacramento, CA – The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) released the following statement from Cathy Senderling-McDonald, Deputy Executive Director, condemning the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lifts a nationwide injunction preventing the Trump Administration from implementing changes to the Public Charge rules:

Budget Priority

2020-21 State Budget Updates
Updates Issued In January 2020

State Budget Update #2 – January 14, 2020

CWDA Budget Update #2

 

State Budget Update #1 - January 10, 2020.

CWDA Budget Update #1

 

Press release

CWDA Commends Regional Homelessness Council Recommendations
Executive Director Frank Mecca Sits on Expert Panel that Released Recommendations on January 13, 2020

For Immediate Release
January 13, 2020

Contact: Maya Polon, 916.444.7614

 

CWDA Joins Governor Newsom’s Council in Call for

Urgency, Prevention on Homelessness Emergency

 

Press release

CWDA Statement on Governor Newsom’s 2020-21 Budget Proposal
Homelessness Investments Recognize Urgency of Need Statewide

For Immediate Release
January 10, 2019

Contact: Maya Polon, 916.444.7614

 

CWDA Statement on Governor Newsom’s 2020-21 Budget Proposal

Sacramento, CA – The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) released the following statement from Frank Mecca, Executive Director, upon the release of Governor Newsom’s budget proposal today:

Press release

CWDA Statement on ABAWD SNAP Rule
Trump Administration’s SNAP rule change for “able-bodied adults without dependents” will push those on the verge of losing housing into homelessness and will hurt local economies

Today, the Trump Administration dealt another blow to Americans struggling in poverty by publishing a rule to take away Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance, known as CalFresh in California, from those they consider “able-bodied adults without dependents” that are either unemployed or underemployed. CWDA strongly opposes this cruel and counterproductive rule, which won’t accomplish what it allegedly seeks, which is to motivate people to be gainfully employed.

Press release Amanda Kirchner

CWDA Statement on National Stay of “Public Charge” Rule

“After standing with Governor Newsom and California Attorney General Becerra against the “public charge” rule and in support of their lawsuit against it, CWDA is pleased that multiple courts have ordered a stay of the rule. CWDA is relieved that the entire rule will not go into effect until the process plays out in our courts and will not be going into effect anywhere next week. The “public charge” rule change would only have harmed immigrant families nationwide should it have gone into effect next week as was planned.

Blog post

No Easy Answers: Views From the Border

Three weeks ago, I was in El Paso, Texas, riding in a Border Patrol bus along the Rio Grande river. The river ran through a concrete gorge, Mexican national guard troops standing every few hundred feet on the other side. Just past a tall section of border wall, several Border Patrol SUVs converged on a young woman holding a baby in her arms, a toddler clutching her jeans and a young man standing next to her. Another woman, also with a baby and toddler, sat nearby.

Article California HealthlineAna B. Ibarra

How And When Immigrants’ Use Of Government Benefits Might Affect Their Legal Status

A new rule to restrict legal immigration, published by the Trump administration this month, is sowing confusion and anxiety even among immigrants not directly affected by it, as fear spreads faster than facts, immigration and health policy experts say.

Video Amanda Kirchner
CWDA Stands with Governor Newsom and Attorney General Becerra Against Public Charge Rule Change

CWDA Stands with Governor Newsom and Attorney General Becerra Against Public Charge Rule Change
Deputy Director Cathy Senderling-McDonald represented CWDA during a press conference announcing California's lawsuit against the Trump Administration's changes to "Public Charge".

August 16, 2019

This change to long-standing immigration law will hurt California’s  immigrant population, especially those trying to make ends meet, by instilling a real fear of using public assistance programs that they are eligible for and need. CWDA stands opposed to this rule change and is engaging with our state and advocacy partners in their efforts to stop this policy from going forward. 

Press release Amanda Kirchner

CWDA Condemns “Public Charge” Rule Change Announced by the Trump Administration

The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) condemned the Trump Administration’s final rule announced today that will change long-standing rules about legal immigrants’ use of public benefit programs. These “public charge” rules, which were released earlier in the year in draft form and drew more than 210,000 sets of comments from organizations and individuals across the country, including CWDA, will be published Wednesday in final form in the Federal Register.

Press release

CWDA Opposes Trump Administration’s Proposed Rule Change for SNAP Food Benefit Recipients
The proposal seeks to force thousands of California’s most vulnerable off the CalFresh program and will increase bureaucracy

SACRAMENTO –The proposal put forth today by the Trump Administration would end the streamlined process that California and dozens of other states have opted into, which allows us to deem low-income families that meet certain qualifications, such as CalWORKs participation, automatically eligible for CalFresh food assistance, also known as SNAP federally.

Coalition Work

CWDA joins Western Center on Law & Poverty, CA Association of Food Banks, and other food advocates in opposition to Trump Administration’s proposed changes to SNAP rules

The rule targets low-income families by seeking to end a long-standing and widely adopted rule that eases the application & retention burden for families that qualify for other federal benefits, like CalWORKs in California, for SNAP benefits – reducing hunger for millions of Americans.

Download the joint statement

Press release

CWDA Executive Director Frank Mecca Appointed to Governor’s Homelessness Advisory Body

SACRAMENTO – The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) is proud to announce that Governor Newsom has appointed CWDA executive director, Frank Mecca along with other statewide experts and local leaders to advise him on confronting the homelessness crisis in California.