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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. 

Press release

CWDA Statement on the California 2018-19 Budget Agreement

“CWDA is pleased with the overall 2018-19 budget picture, particularly the anti-poverty programs and measures that represent who we are as a state. This year’s budget tackles homelessness and begins to address the growing population of families experiencing the trauma of deep poverty – a phenomenon that is, quite simply, a stain on California’s reputation as the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Announcement

EBT System Will Be Down June 23 and June 24. Please Plan Ahead!

Please be aware that you WILL NOT be able to use your EBT card from 11:00 p.m. Saturday, June 23, 2018, until 11:00 p.m. Sunday, June 24, 2018. During this period, you will not be able to use any EBT benefits (food or cash).  Plan ahead for your shopping needs and for getting cash. Unfortunately, the EBT Customer Services telephone number won’t be available from 11:00 p.m. Saturday June 23, 2018 until 11:00 p.m.

Article Chronicle of Social Change

California Considers a “Bat-Signal” for Foster Youth in Distress

By Susan Abram

The woman used a thick extension cord on her foster children.

Welts rose. Bruises formed. Fear became the norm inside the Watts neighborhood home in Los Angeles where LaToya Cooper and six other children were sent to live.

But no one believed the then-fifth grader. Not Cooper’s teachers. Not the police.

Article San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: Why state should fully fund housing program for victims of elder abuse
The Home Safe program would help abuse and neglect victims maintain a stable living environment

By ROBERT MENICOCCI

The California Legislature will decide the fate of the Home Safe program that could provide desperately needed housing for adults and seniors with disabilities.

Press release

San Diego, Fresno, Sonoma and Yuba Counties Win California Foster Youth FAFSA Challenge, First Statewide Effort Focused on Helping Foster Youth Apply for College Financial Aid
Winners announced at the April 10 Foster Youth Education Summit

John Burton Advocates for Youth

SAN FRANCISCO, April 10 — More California foster youth who are seniors in high school are headed to college, thanks to the first coordinated statewide effort to help them submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receive financial aid for college.  As part of the inaugural California Foster Youth FAFSA Challenge, led by John Burton Advocates for Youth, four county offices of education were named winners for their efforts and received checks at the Foster Youth Education Summit in Pomona on Tuesday, April 10.

Article Sacramento Bee

A good investment to keep California’s seniors from becoming homeless

By Frank Mecca

We are witnessing an awful reality that as California’s senior population booms, so does the number of elderly and disabled adults who are abused, neglected or exploited.

They often are forced into potentially life-threatening homelessness even after Adult Protective Services is alerted. Unfortunately, when APS was created two decades ago, it wasn’t designed, nor was it ever funded, to deal with complicated housing issues.

Article The Chronicle of Social Change

Three Strategies That Helped San Francisco Increase Foster Home Applications by 300 Percent

January 26, 2018

By Felicia Curcuru

Efforts like Continuum of Care Reform in California are part of the statewide goal to place more foster youth in family settings. However, many county child welfare agencies are struggling to meet these goals due to a shortage of available resource families, a group that includes both foster parents and kinship caregivers.

Post

Contribute to County Employees Affected by the Wildfires
Many county human services agency employees lost homes as they served their neighbors

CWDA has created a YouCaring fundraising site to collect donations to assist county human services department employees who lost their homes in the recent wildfires.

At this time we know of employees in Napa and Sonoma Counties who lost their homes. We will add additional counties as we become aware of employees affected in other areas.

Please consider donating. All donations will be divided evenly among those we know of who lost their homes in the fire.

Budget Priority

CalWORKs Single Allocation Cut:
A Direct Hit to Clients

The proposed $248 million cut to the CalWORKs Single Allocation comes on the heels of a current-year, $160 million cut. If adopted, this would mean a reduction of more than 20 percent over two years. Counties cannot sustain their programs at this level of funding. A new fact sheet from CWDA provides additional detail and examples from counties regarding the effects of staffing and services cuts on the families we serve.

CalWORKs Cut Impact Fact Sheet

Budget Priority

CWDA, SEIU California Urge CalWORKs Budget Restoration

CWDA and SEIU State Council have issued memos to the chairs and members of Assembly Budget Subcommittee 1 and Senate Budget Subcommittee 3, urging their restoration of a proposed $248 million cut from the CalWORKs Single Allocation, which funds eligibility activities, employment and supportive services, and child care to CalWORKs recipients. The cut proposed in the May Revision is $50 million higher than that included in the January budget and represents a 13.3 percent cut to the current year funding level.

Blog post

House GOP Plan would Dismantle the Medicaid Program
Leaves Taxpayers on Financial Hook & Abandons Federal Government's Responsibility to Provide Basic Level of Health Care

“Keeping America Healthy” – that’s the motto of the Medicaid program, established more than 50 years ago to provide health coverage to low-income people. The program – one of the largest insurers in the nation – has seen dramatic improvements in eligibility processes, health care delivery and access in the seven years since the Affordable Care Act was signed. Medicaid – known as Medi-Cal in California – today covers 1 in 3 Californians, counting 14 million children, adults and seniors on its rolls.

Featured Content

California Youth Connection Releases CCR Tool Kit

California Youth Connection’s Policy Team is excited to announce the release of their CCR Tool Kit that they are sharing with partners!

Featured Content

Step Up Coaliton Resource Family Approval Toolkit

The Alliance for Children’s Rights, the Step Up Coalition, and a wide range of state and local partners has released a Resource Family Approval Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help walk caregivers through the newly implemented Resource Family Approval process.

Post

2017-18 Budget Updates

CWDA issues Budget Updates that include information about the Governor’s proposals, budget subcommittee actions, Budget Conference Committee actions, leadership negotiations, and Governor’s vetoes. 

Presentation

1991 Realignment Presentation

This presentation on 1991 Realignment was given to the CWDA Board on February 10, 2017 as primer for understanding the impacts of the proposed IHSS MOE Elimination in the 2017-18 budget. 

Blog post

Ripple Effect of ACA Repeal Goes Well Beyond Health Care
Share Your Medi-Cal #ProtectOurCare & #Fight4OurHealth Stories

By now, the numbers are well known and appear daily in news reports and commentaries: About 3.7 million Californians would lose their Medi-Cal health care coverage if Congress moves forward with the promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Another 1.2 million would lose the federal subsidies that have made coverage affordable to them via the California health benefit exchange.

Article

CWDA Executive Director to Serve as Vice Chair of Budget Center Board

CWDA Executive Director Frank Mecca will serve as vice chair of the California Budget & Policy Center in 2017. Frank has served on the Budget Center’s Board since 2013. The Budget Center Board elected its new leadership at its December meeting.

Press release

Governor Makes it Clear: Child Sex Trafficking Victims are Not Criminals
Senate Bill 1322 is Critical Step in Children’s Recovery and Healing

SACRAMENTO – Child welfare agencies, children’s attorneys and community providers are praising Governor Jerry Brown today for signing Senate Bill 1322, which sends a strong message to children who are victims of sex trafficking: You are not a criminal.

Featured Content

Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Awareness Campaign Toolkit Launched

The California Association of Area Agencies on Aging (C4A) is raising awareness about elder and dependent adult abuse by launching a month-long education and resource campaign this June. The purpose of the campaign is to educate Californians about the different types of abuse, how to recognize them, and how to report abuse to the appropriate local Adult Protective Services agency.