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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Reagan, Ronald: Gubernatorial Papers,
1966-74: Press Unit
Folder Title: Issues - Welfare Reportition
(1 of 2)
Box: P32
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
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Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
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welpire
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
of
SUTTER COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT
April 1966
State of California
Department of Social Welfare
Administrative Review Bureau
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
of
SUTTER COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT
April 1966
State of California
Department of Social Welfare
Administrative Review Bureau
attachments filed administration - 4/4/67
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction
i
Summary of Major Conclusions
iii
Commendations
V
Recommendations
vi
Findings and Conclusions
Part I - Community Relations
1
Part 11 - Program Operations
3
A. Meeting Program Goals
3
B. Protective, Preventive, and Rehabilitative Services
3
1. Intake Services
3
2. Services to Families and Children
5
3. Services to Adults
7
4. Complementary and Other Services
8
C. Medical Services
9
1. General Provisions
9
2. Medi-Cal Program
10
3. Professional Consultants
11
D. Support and Maintenance
11
Page
Part III - Organization and Management
14
A. Organization
14
1. Structure
14
2. Delegation of Authority
14
3. Utilization of Professional Staff
15
4. Distribution of Workload
15
5. Communications
15
B. Personnel Management
16
1. Morale and Turnover
16
2. Recruitment and Salary
16
3. Performance Evaluations
17
4. Employee Benefits
17
C. Workload Management
18
1. Controls
18
2. Warrant Authorization and Payment
18
3. Forms, Records and Files
18
D. Facilities and Equipment
19
Appendix
20
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW - SUTTER COUNTY
INTRODUCTION
I. Purpose and Objectives
The review of the Sutter County Welfare Department assesses the extent to
which the local administration is accomplishing the aims of public welfare
and appraises the consistency of practice in light of these aims. Broadly
stated, these aims are that county welfare departments gear themselves to
mobilizing or developing resources in the agency and in the community that
will enable dependent people to achieve more independence.
The aims of public welfare in California, based on legislative mandate,
may be summarized as follows:
A. Protection and Prevention
To assure provision of protective and preventive services to individ-
uals who because of age, physical or mental condition, ethnic origin,
socioeconomic status are subject to exploitation, or whose health,
capacity for independence or normal development is in jeopardy.
B. Rehabilitation
To assure individual appraisal of needs, circumstances, and potentials
of clients and organized provision of services which assist them to
develop or utilize to the fullest their capacities to maintain or
achieve self-care or self-support and to function responsibly and
independently.
To assure continuous assessment of such organized service effort in
terms of progress toward the goals.
C. Support and Maintenance
To assure provision, within the limits of public resources, of support
and maintenance for needy and dependent families and individuals which
permit them to live at a level of health and decency.
To assure prompt consideration of requests or referrals and prompt
action, without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national
origin, or previous status.
To assure humane, courteous and equitable treatment.
To assure early detection and treatment of personal and/or social con-
ditions which place individuals in danger of becoming deprived and
dependent.
-i-
The specific objectives of an administrative review are:
(1) to give greater perspective to the county for administra-
tion for use in making decisions on the desirability of
various operating methods,
(2) to provide the State Department of Social Welfare a
basis for selecting its work emphasis and directions,
(3) to furnish the county and the State Department of Social
Welfare specific information on which to develop short-
and long-range plans to reach their mutual goals.
II. Methods
This review was primarily an inspection and evaluative activity. Before
visiting the county, the Review Team secured information from the State
Department of Social Welfare staff and files.
During the visit to the county, the team interviewed all levels of staff
in the welfare department; other county officials and departments such as
the District Attorney, County Auditor, Probation Department; staff of
public and private health and welfare agencies, including the county hos-
pital; schools; and other individuals as appropriate.
County manuals, directives or informational releases, records, and reports
were studied.
This report covers the team's findings and conclusions and the State
Department of Social Welfare's recommendations. The usual ongoing con-
sultation and technical services from the regular field staff of the area
office will be available to the county in acting upon the recommendations.
This report is organized around the aims as stated above: program opera-
tions (preventive, protective, rehabilitative services; support and
maintenance), organization and management, community relations.
111. Acknowledgements
The department appreciates the cooperation given by the Director and the
staff of the Sutter County Welfare Department. Their willingness to pro-
vide needed information greatly facilitated the work of the team members.
The department is grateful for the assistance given by members of the
board of supervisors, officials of the county government, and representa-
tives of other departments and private agencies in understanding Sutter
County and its welfare problems.
-ii-
SUMMARY OF MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
After years of inattention by the community, the Sutter County Welfare Department
drifted into an administrative morass. Suddenly last year, it found itself
called to account for out-of-date and ineffective practices. The administrative
difficulties of the agency were brought more sharply into focus because they
occurred at a time when the total direction of the public social services and
assistance programs was in the process of change. National and state legislation
placed a new emphasis on helping recipients, and others, trapped in the poverty
cycle, toward productive and independent living.
The steps so far taken by the board of supervisors to correct the situation are
not sufficient to meet the responsibilities of local government in conserving
and utilizing the human resources 50 necessary to our modern economic and social
system.
The basic mechanics of administrative management have been established, but the
understanding, sensitive leadership necessary to effective implementation have
been lacking so that neither management processes nor program directions have
been appreciably changed.
Public social services are defined as any planned activity directed toward
assisting families and children to improve their social, psychological, health,
and financial circumstances, with the objective of preventing further depend-
ency, strengthening family life, protecting children, and enabling families
and children to attain social and economic independence. In addition, they
consist of protective and supportive services directed toward eliminating con-
ditions which constitute a hazard to the life or health of an individual and
assisting him in performing many of the activities of daily living. Measured
against the above concept, effective social services in Sutter County are sorely
lacking; and in the light of the deadline of June 30, 1967, for all counties to
comply with the requirements of the law in this regard, the agency is faced
with a formidable job.
Neither the agency's thinking nor its operation is oriented toward the kind of
an approach to welfare problems which will work toward removing people from
their dependent status. Workers who should be devoting their time to construc-
tive activities in the direction of rehabilitation are loaded with clerical
duties and purely mechanical aspects of eligibility. They have not been given
orientation in the values and goals of social service, have had little training
in the process of helping people to gain independence, and are not aware of any
agency policy to proceed in this direction. Little effort is made to get absent
fathers to resume family responsibilities, with contacts devoted wholly to
collecting support payments. The often urgent, immediate needs of applicants
are met by a cumbersome credit letter procedure, rather than the cash payment
prescribed for categorical aid eligibles. The licensing program for boarding
care is hampered by high caseloads and a lack of clear understanding of objec-
tives and standards. Supportive services by a homemaker are provided in the
adult programs only. Timely and tangible help for special needs related to
employment, training, child care, etc., which could motivate recipients toward
independence, is not recognized as agency policy.
-iii-
Working relationships and coordination with other community agencies are weak.
Office space, equipment, and fringe benefits are adequate. Low salaries make
recruiting difficult, and turnover is high, adding up to a hidden administrative
cost.
Lack of a clear understanding of the technical procedures spelled out in law,
rules, and regulations, and confusion as to what is expected of them has hampered
the staff in the efficient and equitable handling of assistance payments to those
needing financial assistance. It is not surprising that the morale of the staff
is at such a low point and that confidence in the department by the community is
lacking. Much of this could be corrected by a clear directive from the board of
supervisors that they will hold the Director and the department responsible for
observing the letter and the spirit of the laws and regulations which govern the
local administration of the program. Adequate interpretation, with the help of
the advisory committee, of the policies involved and their relationship to local
problems and conditions, could then be made in a straight-forward way to the
board and the public, and the work of the department could be evaluated by them
in an objective and measurable setting.
-iv-
COMMENDATIONS
During the course of the review several items were noted for which the county
welfare department should be commended.
1. The department has provided homemaker services to its adult case-
load by having a full-time homemaker on its staff since 1958.
2. The new building provided the department by the board of supervisors
is both functional and attractive.
3. Arrangements for the prompt handling of applications for the
medically needy on a 24-hour basis have been established.
4. The agency policy on educational leave; attendance at workshops,
institutes and conferences; provision for staff members to take
college courses related to their work, and the effort to provide
an internal staff development program is noteworthy.
-v-
RECOMMENDATIONS
PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The board of supervisors needs to take a stronger leadership position in
carrying out their legal responsibilities as defined in Welfare and
Institutions Code 10800 - 10803 relating to the provision of public social
services and public assistance on the county level. Whatever confusion and
misconceptions about the welfare program and its administration that now
exist in the minds of the agency staff and the general public, could be
dispelled by making it known that the policy of the department will be to
carry out the laws and regulations pertaining to it equitably, accurately,
and efficiently, and that the board and the public shall be kept fully
informed on the problems, the costs, and the results accomplished. (p. 1)
2. The persistent problem of low morale in the agency needs to be dealt with
by finding the causes rather than treating the symptoms. Mutual under-
standing and respect between the administration and the staff coupled with
firmness and patience are essential ingredients for a working relationship
and will raise morale and bring job output and performance to an accept-
able or higher level. (p. 16 B)
3. A planned program of public information needs to be carried on regularly,
utilizing not only the news media but every public contact by board or
staff members. Special emphasis needs to be given to the preventive,
rehabilitative, and protective work to be done by the agency to maintain
and restore independence and self-sufficiency to the highest possible
potential in the people the agency serves. (pp. 1 and 2)
RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING TO PROGRAM
1. Enlarge the narrow concept of public social services in both the Adult and
Family programs and act to meet the statutory objectives of rehabilitation,
prevention, and protection to help applicants and recipients, on an individ-
ualized basis, achieve self-support and self-care. Fully utilize the sup-
port and assistance of the area office of the State Department of Social
Welfare in this redirected method of operation. (p. 3 A)
2. Set up a community-wide work and training advisory committee to participate
with the department in planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating
at the local level, vocational training and remedial education programs
for potentially employable recipients so that more of the unskilled, under-
employed, chronically dependent group can become productive. (p. 8)
3. Establish contact and develop organized working relationships with other
local and regional agencies having common concern with the elements of
social and family breakdown (unemployment, child neglect, illegitimacy,
delinquency and so forth) to bring about a concerted rather than a piece-
meal approach. (p. 9)
-vi-
4. Develop a child welfare service that will make federal funds available for
children in foster homes and provide counseling service to parents to pre-
vent the placement of children on a crisis basis. (pp. 5 and 6)
5. Strengthen the licensing program for boarding homes for both children and
adults by a careful evaluation of such significant factors as motivation,
attitude, family relationships, and the capacity to serve the special needs
of those needing placement, in addition to the housekeeping standards and
physical aspects of the home. Followup visits should be made more fre-
quently and should be directed toward evaluating and helping the licensee
improve the quality of care. (p. 5, par. 7; p. 6 par. 1; page 7 par. 2)
6. Make cash assistance available promptly to those in immediate need where
there is no reason to doubt eligibility. (p. 4)
7. Develop full services to adults and families in the area of money manage-
ment utilizing guardianship, modified payments, and the substitute payee
procedure. Provide for the services of the homemaker and/or home aides
and volunteers in this area as well as that of family functioning and child
care. (p. 5 par. 4; P. 7 par. 4; P. 8 par. 4)
8. Standardize intake procedures so that responsibility for handling restora-
tions are the same for all categories of assistance. (p. 3; p. 4 par. 4)
9. Develop and refine the evaluation and assessment of the social, health, and
economic needs of all applicants 50 that meaningful services can be given.
(p. 3 par. 1; P. 5)
10. Clarify the proper role of the agency in working with absent parents, with
directions to the staff as to their responsibility for locating and evalu-
ating with parents their parental as well as their financial responsibility,
as provided by Welfare and Institutions Code No. 11476. (p. 4 par. 5)
11. Utilize the services of the State Department of Employment for the benefit
of welfare applicants and recipients by proper referral and followup.
(p. 4; p. 5 par. 3; P. 8 par. 2 and 3)
RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING TO ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
1. Develop written guidelines for workers and supervisors to insure that all
have a clear understanding of policies and procedures relating to program
processes and organization of records to facilitate internal control and
accountability in support and maintenance operations. (p. 1 par. 4; P. 16 par. 1)
2. Delegate authority to the lowest practicable level from the Director down
commensurate with responsibilities and operate conscientiously through the
chain of command with clear channels for communication in both directions.
Make more use of the quality control process to evaluate the effectiveness
of staff performance rather than the cumbersome and unproductive case by
case surveillance by supervisors. (p. 14 par. 2)
3. Carefully analyze the duties of social workers to determine which ones can
be done by clerks and act to establish and fill the needed clerical positions.
(p. 15 par. 1 and 2)
-vii-
4. Make provision for the centralizing of all reminder, assignment, caseload
inventory, and bank and property verification controls in the clerical
section. In such restructuring, establish an assistant supervisory posi-
tion to reduce the span of control of the chief clerk. (p. 3)
5. Follow through on the plan to transfer the fiscal clerical function now in
the auditor's office to the welfare office. (p. 14)
6. Implement the employee evaluation plan now being developed, as early as
possible, so that workers can become aware of the direction and extent of
progress needed in their jobs. (p. 17)
7. Raise the salary scale to a competitive level and develop a fair, simple,
written procedure for handling employee grievances to facilitate the recruit-
ment and retention of a competent, qualified staff. The presently excessive
high turnover in personnel is costly and wasteful. (p. 16 and 17)
8. Expedite the plan already started for identifying staff training priorities
based on program objectives and staff needs and carry out the staff develop-
ment program in accordance with these priorities. (p. 17 par. 4)
-viii-
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
PART 1. COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Partially as a result of the Grand Jury's investigation and its attendant wide-
spread publicity, the image of the welfare department in the community is not
good.
Efforts have been made by the board of supervisors, and it is clearly their inten-
tion, to correct the deficiencies in management in the areas of administration
and policy direction and control, internal communication, personnel administra-
tion, and the lack of involvement of the board as a governing policy body in
the operation of the department. All of these were pointed out by the 1965
Grand Jury.
Leadership supporting and implementing the objectives and goals of the program,
however, are also essential to the effective organization and management of the
welfare department, as they are to any other department of government, or to a
successful private enterprise. In many ways, these essential components have
been missing in Sutter County. The legal responsibility for the public social
services function of the welfare department has not been recognized. The con-
cept of preventive and rehabilitative services is neither well understood by
the administration and staff nor adequately interpreted to the board and
community.
Before an interpretation plan can be undertaken to bring about improved commun-
ity knowledge and comprehension of the agency and its programs, the board of
supervisors and in turn the staff of the department must have a clear under-
standing of their program obligations and responsibilities as defined in the
statutes.
The welfare department must also assume a responsible role in identifying and
dealing with the problems of poverty in a constructive way, but it is clear
that the total job cannot be carried by the welfare department alone. There-
fore, more coordination and clarification of responsibilities must be sought
with other community agencies to bring meaningful results. The alternative is
increasing dependency costs since poverty breeds more poverty and repeats
itself in succeeding generations.
One avenue to pursue in bringing about a concerted effort to reduce dependency
would be to involve the welfare advisory committee to the board of supervisors
which has already made progress in certain areas of social planning. Another
would be the creation of a work and training advisory committee to bring about
understanding of the importance and impact of this significant program on the
community.
The director should continue to develop contacts with community groups, indi-
viduals, and organizations but use them to emphasize the mission of the depart-
ment to alleviate the problem of poverty and dependency rather than join in
the handwringing over the necessity of maintaining people on public assistance.
The common misconception that county welfare and assistance costs account for
half of the local property lax levy must be replaced by facts. A statewide
analysis recently made by the State Board of Equalization for the fiscal year
1964-65 shows that in Sutter County the average property tax bill for homeowners
was $170, of which amount only $15, or $1.25 a month was actually paid for
county welfare department operation and assistance.
-2-
PART 11. PROGRAM OPERATIONS
A. Meeting Program Goals
Tentative attempts to provide helpful services to families by some of the
workers have not been encouraged, and the duty assignments have been so
designed as to make any meaningful efforts in this direction difficult.
To be effective the services approach requires the establishment of under-
standing and rapport between worker and client, and a conscientious and
knowledgeable utilization of the strengths and potentialities of both the
recipient and the resources available in education, training, medical care,
etc. With only one and one-half days per week available to most workers
for field work, because of the lack of clerical help to deal with necessary
paper work, it is clear that there is no time for dealing with the social
and economic factors that bring these people to the welfare office for help.
Limiting caseloads to 60 per worker, as has been done in AFDC, is meaningless
unless the workers are relieved of clerical duties and are given training in
how to go about the preventive and rehabilitative job.
B. Protective, Preventive, and Rehabilitative Services
1. Intake Services
The period during and immediately after the intake process is when
clients are most in need of skilled and understanding attention and
can benefit from it the most. The tone of the first interview, the
general atmosphere, and the efficiency and relevance of the process
of ascertaining needs, both financial and social, determines to a
significant degree the applicant's future attitude toward the
agency and toward his own problems.
The department recently established a separate unit to take care of
intake in the categorical aids and General Relief. In addition
there is another unit whose work is to take applications for the new
Medi-Cal program and act as screeners of public assistance applica-
tions. Applicants are given a screening interview immediately upon
their appearance at the office and unless they are clearly ineligible,
an appointment is made for further interview with the intake worker.
The general atmosphere of the reception area is businesslike and pleas-
ant in appearance.
Among other duties, the intake worker must personally verify bank and
property assets at the source. Such verification, if passbooks are
not available or are inadequate as proof, could be the responsibility
of a property and resources clerk thus permitting the intake worker
time to individualize the situation of the applicant and with him arrive
at an understanding of the mutual responsibilities involved in getting
assistance and/or developing a plan for independent living. The
fact that some approved applications have been held without assignment
to a social worker for several weeks, has deprived these recipients
of counseling and personal contact at a crucial time.
-3-
The agency does not comply with the provisions of the Welfare and
Institutions Code 11056 and Manual Regulation No. 012.20 in granting
aid for immediate nondeferrable needs at the time of application.
In some Instances general assistance is granted along with surplus
commodities. Rather than asking the county auditor to issue a warrant
immediately after eligibility and need have been fully established
(which the auditor is willing to do), a credit letter is often issued
instead. This process involves giving the applicant a letter to a
vendor informing him that the applicant will get a check at a future
date and asking him to extend credit without a guarantee of payment.
This letter must be returned to the agency with the vendor's verifi-
cation that the account has been paid if eligibility is to continue.
This is not in compliance with the law prohibiting restrictive payments,
is a needlessly cumbersome and awkward method of meeting immediate need,
and is an imposition on the agency, vendor, and applicant alike. In
view of the law and regulation above the practice must be discontinued.
In situations where the applicant is obviously eligible and in need of
assistance at the point of his application, the county would be in a
position to save local funds as well as to better serve its needy citi-
zens, by the issuance of a warrant for categorical aid to cover the
assistance needed rather than having payments made from strictly local
sources.
There are unnecessary barriers to AFDC fathers making application for
Aid to the Disabled and in a case of an erroneous denial a new appli-
cation had to be processed from the beginning.
All applications, reapplications, transfers in, and restorations are
the responsibility of the intake staff with the exception of restora-
tions for OAS. Handling of restorations in all categories should be
the responsibility of the ongoing worker since his familiarity with
the case situation permits him to complete this work more easily.
In carrying out the provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
Section 11476 and Manual Section C-316.20, the department is not fully
meeting the objectives of the service plan to deal with dependency
because of desertion. Commendable effort is directed towards securing
support from the deserting parent to the fullest extent possible, but
steps to reunite the family and to maintain parental responsibility
should be given similar attention.
When incapacity is the basis for eligibility, there is not sufficient
contact between the welfare department and the examining physician for
exchange of information. As a result, the examining physician has
sometimes been at a loss as to the purpose of the examination and the
result is an inadequate determination of incapacity. These reports
should be shared with the medical consultant so that both social and
medical factors can be considered in the final determination of
eligibility.
The agency unnecessarily requires a contact with the farm labor office,
as well as the California State Employment Services Office. Verifi-
cations from both offices have to be returned to the welfare department
-4-
before an application can be approved. The California State Employment
Service is set up to give tests to determine the suitability of refer-
rals to jobs and has clear procedures, in the case of welfare applicants,
for referral to the farm labor office where appropriate. These proce-
dures are detailed in Circular Letter No. 1615 which relates to the
separation of functions between the welfare department and the local
employment office.
The intake unit has some problem in processing the applications within
the 30-day limitation from date of application. In the Aid to the
Disabled program, with a 60-day limit, the process is complicated by
the necessity for waiting for approval by the State Review Team.
2. Services to Families and Children
In addition to the determination (and redetermination) of eligibility
at specified intervals, and the prompt and regular payment of assistance
to those legally qualifying for such aid, the county welfare department
has an even more important function--the provision of social services,
without which, dependency both in numbers and total cost, will continue
to grow. Mechanical completion of case plan schedules on every AFDC
case is useless without skilled analysis and individualized counseling
or referral. The agency will not be fulfilling its legal obligations
and will not continue to qualify for the 75 percent federal reimburse-
ment for administrative costs beyond June 30, 1967, unless steps are
taken to meet minimum requirements.
Generally missing are the supportive social services which motivate
people to help themselves and which lend encouragement when circum-
stances are overwhelming. Immediate and tangible help for extra needs
for transportation, clothing, and child care would do more toward
enabling recipients to capitalize on employment opportunities than the
impersonal urging to get jobs which generally prevails.
The Quality Control process has not been utilized as an administrative
tool as intended. The process was seen only as additional work with
no recognition of the deficiencies this procedure was showing to the
agency. Some effort has recently been made to understand and utilize
this process for its intended purpose.
The efforts of the administration to tighten up the operation of the
agency in a unilateral way has made the workers and supervisors fearful
of being held responsible for mechanical errors to the point where their
performance is ineffective. The staff does not understand the whys or
wherefores of decisions and, therfore, there is little attempt at pro-
fessional work but only a performance that will avoid criticism.
In the licensing of foster homes and day care homes for children, no
recruitment program has been initiated. Neither the welfare nor the
probation department see a need for recruitment as the current supply of
homes meets the community need. In spite of this, placements of children,
and adults, are often made on a crisis basis with a followup to license
the home after the placement has been made.
-5-
X-ray clearances, the criminal identification and investigation (CII)
report, plus letters from three references basically constitute the
study prior to licensing. Motivational and other factors relating to
the suitability of the applicant to be a foster parent are inadequately
recognized. This contributes heavily to the poor quality of the license
studies and increases the problem of later supervision and development.
Licensing in most of the foster homes for children and the adult homes
is handled by a single worker and the rapid turnover of workers in this
position, which has occurred in the past, has left lengthy periods of
time when this responsibility has been carried by no one. A new worker
has recently been assigned to the position who has a potential for
development. She seems to be aware of some of the weaknesses of the
program and is concerned with the well-being of the adults and children
in placement. She seems eager to learn but so far there have been no
resources made available for training purposes and she, therefore, must
develop on her own.
The welfare department has no child welfare services as such. It pro-
vides the placement services upon referral from the probation office
through the court. If the family is not already receiving assistance,
an eligibility determination is made by the department for eligibility
of the child for AFDC. All of the court wards in placement are supported
by AFDC funds, and the probation department and the welfare department
share joint responsibility for supervision of the child in placement.
Complaints about the abuse or neglect of children are received by the
police department or the sheriff's department for initial investigation.
If they determine that the situation requires further action, they con-
tact the probation office and the two of them work together in the
removal of the child from the home and prepare a report to the court
requesting wardship. Little effort is made by anyone during this period
or later to work with the child's family to avoid the need for placement,
to help resolve the problems that might lead to removal, or to prepare
the child in advance for his ultimate placement.
It seems clear that in the light of the service requirements this group
of children is in the identifiable group which require the county welfare
department to provide protection and service. Therefore, the depart-
ment's responsibility should be to take the lead in developing agree-
ments with the court, the police, and the sheriff's department to estab-
lish procedures so that community complaints might be referred to the
welfare department for evaluation of the home situation, enabling its
workers to deal with the family in improving the situation and making
a determination of the need for placement. In this way, adequate back-
ground information would be available to the court when it is called up-
on to make a decision as whether or not to remove a child from his home.
The director has made some tentative effort to reach an agreement with
the probation office on this matter but without success. There would
be advantage to the community for the welfare department to be desig-
nated by the court as the agency to follow up on complaints of neglect,
etc., and present a report to the court if placement out of the home
should be indicated. Under the present arrangement, AFDC payments for
-6-
children in foster care are not participated in by the Federal
Government, all of the money coming from state and local sources.
3. Services to Adults
The county welfare department is responsible for providing necessary
public social services to adult applicants or recipients who are in
need of such protective and supportive service. In meeting this basic
requirement, the social worker is responsible for: 1) identifying all
applicants or recipients who are in need of services; 2) defining the
types of help needed and identifying the resources required and avail-
able; 3) formulating a service plan; and 4) carrying out the plan for
services and following up the plan to support its effectiveness. In
Sutter County, the percentage of Old Age Security cases who are found
to be in need of services constituted only 2.8% of the total load, con-
trasted to a statewide average of 5.3%. In the Aid to the Disabled
program, the number of cases identified as being in need of services
was 98.9%, while the statewide average was only 19%. Rather than
individualizing on the basis of personal needs of particular recipients,
the workers are identifying cases by category. Adult workers who carry
standard continuing caseloads, all have cases which require visits
several times a year. Many of these extra visits are related to medical
needs and these cases should undoubtedly be classified as protective,
supportive service cases, and placed in defined service caseloads to
qualify for 75% administrative reimbursement.
Forty Old Age Security recipients are placed in the eight licensed board-
ing homes in the county. Since licensing is conducted in a rather hap-
hazard manner, with little evaluation of the motivations of the people
applying, some of these homes leave a lot to be desired. Supervision
is restricted to occasional visits, attention to menus, etc. Little
effort is expended in work with the operators to help them understand
the health and social needs of the aged, and there has been no develop-
mental program.
In the adult section, there was some understanding and knowledge of the
substandard housing requirements, and workers often made efforts to try
to get better housing for some of their clients. The Richland Housing
Center has been accepting more and more aged clients for occupancy of
their units.
Guardianship and the substitute payee procedures are seldom used in this
county as a protective or supportive service. There is no public guar-
dian, nor does the district attorney or the county counsel provide ser-
vices to the families of the recipients to establish guardianship where
there are insufficient funds to do it through private attorneys. In
order to provide for the needs of clients when they become incapable of
managing their own affairs the welfare department should proceed under
Welfare and Institutions Code 10002, in addition to the substitute payee
procedure (Manual 222.50) to meet this problem.
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4. Complementary and Other Services
Work Experience and Training and Adult Education
Much of the emphasis on work experience and training in the 15 community
work and training projects is given to having the recipient work out his
relief grant. Little time is taken to assess Individual needs and abili-
ties to make a meaningful determination of readiness for employment.
No careful analysis of the possibility of upgrading the recipient's
skill or preparing him specifically for future full-time employment
is made. The aptitude testing and employment counseling service of the
California State Employment Service are not utilized. Referral to the
California State Employment Service is made (along with simultaneous
referral to the farm labor office) only to determine the availability
of immediate employment. With the increasing mechanization of both
agriculture and industry, a community can ill-afford not to do something
about the hard-core group of seasonally or chronically unemployed, par-
ticularly with the present severe shortage of skilled workers in the
economy. A concentrated effort to cut down on dependency by remedial
education and vocational training would be a good investment for the
county both financially and socially.
There are resources in the community which are not being fully utilized
for the benefit of the agency's clients. The Department of Employment
has a Manpower Development Training Act project which is available for
training in clerical, licensed vocational nursing, and geriatric nurs-
ing, as well as on-the-job training in printing, machine operation,
service station work, laundry work, and office machinery repair. Yuba
College has a flexible program of adult education that can accommodate
the needs of almost any group which has a common, identifiable educa-
tional lack. The college also has a MDTA course in business, as well
as vocational nursing, and courses to gain a high school diploma. The
local department should develop a clear channel of communication with
these programs and projects, identify education and training needs of
every potentially employable individual on its rolls and provide coun-
seling, tuition, medical service and whatever else may be needed to
encourage their using these facilities to break the chain of continued
dependency on public funds.
Homemaker Service
The agency has had a full-time homemaker on its staff since 1958. The
majority of the homemaker's time is used in providing services in adult
cases only, and has proved to be a valuable adjunct to the agency's
program. Help is provided to clients in budgeting, utilization of
commodities, nutritional planning and food purchasing, as well as care
for some patients in their own homes. It would be advantageous to the
agency to have this type of service provided more generally to recipi-
ents on AFDC to prevent potential placement of children, avoid crises
and improve family life. It might be possible to use the demonstrating
role of the homemaker to identify some common needs of recipients which
might be served by volunteers and homemakers, additional homemakers
could be recruited from those now receiving AFDC and trained for this
service.
-8-
Community Agencies
There is a real need for joint planning toward a comprehensive service
in this county. Most of the agencies carry out their function as they
see it, with little involvement of any of the others. Outside of the
Youth Council, organized in February 1966, to study neglect and abuse
of children in the county, and the creation of a Truancy Board very
recently, to deal with individual truants and their parents, there has
been little or no interchange among agencies involved in common social
problems.
With the exception of the Family Service Association Agency in Marysville
and the Children's Home Society Branch at Chico, community agencies
which are the normal resources for help in implementing the public wel-
fare program, are under public auspices. The welfare department had no
directory or file of these resources available for the everyday use of
the caseworkers, as required by Welfare and Institutions Code 10805.
During the review, a mimeographed list was prepared which should be
expanded into a directory with directions for its appropriate use for
consultative and referral purposes with function, limitations on ser-
vice, and names of persons to call for specific purposes, etc.
The psychiatric social worker for the Bureau of Social Work of the State
Department of Social Welfare's Division of Protective Social Services,
who serves a three-county area, has consultative contacts with several
of the local agencies and consequently could be a key resource in help-
ing to identify overlapping efforts as a preliminary step in developing
a comprehensive integrated service. Since the programs of the welfare
department include practically all of the social problems in the commu-
nity, it would be appropriate, in fact Operations Manual 1.0250C requires
it, for the agency to take the initiative in getting together some
arrangement for consultation and clarification of responsibilities.
C. Medical Services
1. General Provisions
Two noteworthy clinics have been developed by the Sutter County Hospital
in conjunction with the county health department. One is the family
planning clinic. No restrictions have been placed on attendance at this
clinic and about three hundred women per month are in attendance at it.
No charge is made for the services since it is the expressed desire of
the administration to insure continued attendance at this clinic on the
part of those people who are in need or are in marginal circumstances.
The second clinic is the migrant labor health clinic. This is an exten-
sion of an emergency clinic program at the county hospital, which in
the past has cared for the urgent medical services of farm workers.
As full an array of medical services as is possible in this community
is afforded to the migrant farm laborer. In addition, the planning is
such that evening clinics are held, making it unnecessary for the migrant
laborer and his family to take time off from work to attend the clinic.
It is noteworthy that local government in this county through its county
hospital and public health department has moved toward accepting responsi-
bility for the health of its farm laborers and for preventive health
measures to that group.
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The public health department offers a wide array of services to the
public which are available to clients of the welfare department. In
addition to the family planning and migrant labor clinic and regular
public health nursing service, crippled children services, a continual
immunization program, well-baby clinics, armed forces rejection clinic,
venereal disease clinic and X-ray services clinics are available to
the public.
Public hospital facilities for the needy of Sutter County are inadequate.
The county hospital was built in 1929 and has changed little from that
time. Three doctors of medicine are on staff of the hospital. None of
these is a specialist. There is limited service from the medical men
in the community. As a result, the hospital and the clinic are not
able to give a number of specialty services to the poor of Sutter County.
The board of supervisors is facing the problem of the county hospital.
Plans have been advanced to replace this hospital with an entirely new
one. The board of supervisors has accepted bids for a new two million
dollar hospital.
There are two privately owned acute hospitals in Yuba-Sutter area.
These comparatively new, excellent facilities offer at the present time
adequate facilities for the public. Nursing homes are well distributed
throughout the two-county area and at the present time offer an adequate
supply of beds for the total population.
It is difficult for anyone who has not established a relationship with
a physician to obtain one when needed. The ratio of physicians to
population is considerably lower than the state average. New client
and nonclient patients find it difficult to obtain the services of a
physician. Not all of the medical specialties are available to the
public in the area. This means that in a number of instances it is
necessary for a client to go to either Chico or Sacramento to get
necessary medical care.
There is little use of rehabilitation centers by this county. None
exists in the county and the staff of the welfare department has little
awareness of the possibility of use of rehabilitation centers in other
parts of the state. Mental health services are not available in this
county. The board of supervisors has appointed a committee and has
asked it to evaluate the need for such services. The provision of these
services would greatly strengthen the ability of public and private
agencies to more fully meet the needs of their clients.
2. Medi-Cal Program
In the short period of time from the inception of the Medi-Cal program
on March 1, 1966, to the date of this review, this department had made
strides in integrating this program into its daily operations. Two new
social work positions have been created and filled. Persons in these
positions have a dual function. In addition to accepting applications
for those who are medically needy and carrying the certification and
recertification responsibility for them, these staff members also
serve as screeners for potential applicants for other forms of categori-
cal aid. It is anticipated that eventually each one of these social
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workers will have a caseload of 150 certifications and recertifications
per month. This kind of a load, together with their responsibilities as
screeners, will seriously interfere with their ability to give any type
of medical social services to the medically needy.
Former Medical Assistance for the Aged cases have, unfortunately, been
split into two loads in two separate units. Those MAA cases now on the
Medi-Cal program who have no other resources to meet their personal and
incidental needs other than the Old Age Security grant remained in the
caseload situated in the Adult Services unit. Those cases who have other
resources to meet their personal and incidental needs, and perhaps some
liability, are carried in a load in the intake unit. The needs of persons
in both of these loads will be similar and could much better be met if
the two caseloads were under one supervisors.
In the past, the worker handling the MAA load was effective in maintain-
ing the interest of the family in the patient-client. While this will
continue with the OAS-Medi-Cal cases, it could well be lost for those
cases now in the intake unit since those workers have not had the experi-
ence which would lead them to effective ways to involve the family in
the interest of the person in the nursing home.
The county welfare department was not aware of the progress of the public
health department and the county hospital in obtaining approval from the
State Department of Public Health for the provision of home health aide
services to clients eligible for categorical assistance and Medi-Cal.
Welfare staff must have a thorough knowledge of health resources if they
are to give effective help to welfare clients, many of them ill or dis-
abled, in obtaining needed medical and related services. A vigorous
working relationship based on mutual respect and acknowledgment of
responsibilities needs to be developed between the public welfare depart-
ment and the county hospital and county health departments respectively.
3. Professional Consultants
The advent of the Medi-Cal program has changed some of the functions of
the professional consultants. (Even though the county welfare department
has been relieved of many of its former responsibilities, it still must
determine eligibility and provide social services.) Staff training and
development through individual and group conferences on rehabilitation
services, evaluation and interpretation of medical and dental information
and reports, and the significance of illness in social service planning
are still important components of the contribution that professional con-
sultants can make. Every effort should be made to provide this to the
welfare staff.
D. Support and Maintenance
Restrictive policies in the General Relief program coupled with failure to
make immediate need payments to categorical aid applicants result in a stand-
ard of living for those dependent upon county funds which is incompatible
with a minimum standard of decency and health. The amount allowed falls far
below the minimum standard food allowances in the Aid to Families with
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Dependent Children program. A family of one adult and four children, 13
years and over, would receive $12.50 a week for food from General Relief as
compared to the $32.85 which would be allowed per week in the children's
program.
Other nondeferrable needs are met in a similar manner. Rent gets paid only
when there is an order for eviction. Utilities are provided for only after
all efforts to prevent the cutting off of services have failed. The stand-
ards for continuing General Relief for persons not eligible for any of the
adult categorical programs is low. For instance, the food allowance would
be $40 per month for two adults compared to $54.80 in the current coded cost
schedule. The clothing allowance is $8 for the two people compared to $19.30
allowed in the same cost schedule. Other allowances are more comparable to
those in the cost schedule. The contention that surplus commodities provide
the difference in the two food costs is not a substantial one. Regulations
of the Department of Agriculture provide that surplus commodities cannot be
used to supplant any assistance allowance.
The welfare department creates added work for itself by determining respon-
sible relative liability every two years for the majority of the Old Age
Security cases where there are responsible relatives. This includes going
through the process where the responsible relative is a married daughter who
is not employed. By being much more selective in checking on liability, it
could contribute toward reduction of its workload.
In the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, Sutter County does
not adequately employ the money management procedures as set forth in Manual
Section C-222.50. There are only two families receiving modified payments
and in these cases some of the grant is paid directly to the vendor. The
plans for these families are not administratively controlled nor is there
adequate provision of services to the families to resolve their money manage-
ment problems. The determination to place families under money management
is without identification of the problem, the contributing factors in the
situation, a planned schedule of contacts and actions, provisions for needed
services, periodic evaluation and modification of the plan of action, and
administrative review and control.
Sutter County has developed referral procedures and relationships with the
district attorney's office in which both departments participate to handle
incidents of fraud. The 1965 grand jury report raised some question about
the design of forms for listing information which must be provided by
applicants for and recipients of assistance. The reported indicated that
these forms should be designed in such a way that false statements in them
could readily result in convictions for perjury and fraud. This kind of
an approach would result only in compounding the problem of paper work, and
would be attacking the problem in a rather cumbersome way. Making time
available for the social workers to have adequate contact with the families
and individuals receiving assistance would enable them to keep track of
eligibility factors much more effectively than relying on written statements.
This approach would give emphasis to the prevention of fraud. It would also
enable the social workers to deal with the problems of clients which keep
them dependent and to work toward helping them become self-supporting.
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Written explanation to the client to request a fair hearing if there is dis-
satisfaction with the action of the county welfare department is provided on
the form sent to the client to notify him of the action of the welfare depart-
ment. Verbal explanation of the right to appeal is given on the individual
inclination of the worker. The welfare department administers public assist-
ance programs to many persons who by education or culture have difficulty in
understanding written communications. For these persons verbal explanation
of the right to a fair hearing is a needed service. The administration of
the welfare department should impress upon workers the need to discuss this
right with the client.
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PART 111. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
A. Organization
1. Structure
Generally speaking, the organizational pattern of the welfare department
is a good one, designed to carry out the responsibilities assigned to
the agency. Spans of control are within reasonable limits except for the
chief clerk, who has ten people reporting directly to her. One of these
is classified as Supervising Clerk 1, but she actually performs no super-
visory duties. Consequently, the positions of both the chief clerk and
the Supervising Clerk I, are improperly classified under the Merit System
Classification Plan. The Supervising Clerk I should be given proper
supervisory duties and the chief clerk should be permitted to function
as director and planner of clerical operations rather than as a first-
line supervisor. The other exception to orderly structure is the place-
ment of a welfare clerk full time in the county auditor's office, under
the auditor's supervision, but on the welfare department payroll.
2. Delegation of Authority
The agency is highly centralized with authority delegated only in very
routine processes. The director retains responsibility for special case
selection, of worker assignments to exceptional cases, and the granting
of special need allowances. Supervisors down the line again delegate
little authority to subordinates. It is agency policy that unit super-
visors must review and approve all case actions except changes of address,
plus cosigning all correspondence except that going to recipients. In
addition, a clerical worker also reviews the case actions for accuracy
and completeness. (This violates one of the basic principles of adminis-
tration, contributes little to the growth of capability in workers, and
actually is a waste of personnel and time.) In spite of this close
supervisory surveillance of all budgetary changes, budgets are frequently
computed inaccurately for family groups. There is confusion on the part
of the workers and supervisors about budgetary procedures for cases with
stepfathers, incapacitated fathers, and cases with nonrelated persons in
the home. Decision making should be delegated to the lowest practicable
level, with the attention of the director, her assistant, and the super-
visors focused on the performance and the results accomplished.
There are many evaluative controls that can be used, of which the present
quality control procedure is one. This is a required process which every
county welfare department must make a part of its administrative operation.
A statistically valid sample of case actions are reviewed monthly by the
state and county together to check the accuracy and appropriateness of the
case decisions made. This program in Sutter County very clearly reveals
points of weakness in the agency's handling of eligibility and other
factors. It should be used as a tool to improve agency performance
rather than looked upon only as added paperwork. Telling the workers
what to do and why they are doing it is vital to insuring that the efforts
of all of them are pointed in the same direction. When a director and/or
supervisors make decisions for experienced workers and check each step
they take there is little progress made in improving the agency's operation.
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3. Utilization of Professional Staff
The social work staff are not being utilized properly in this agency.
Because of a lack of sufficient clerical help they are performing
clerical duties to such a degree that is possible for them to spend
only about a day-and-a-half each week in the field with their clients.
Social workers are required to compute budgets, fill out the budget
worksheets, post information, do their own filing and filling out of
forms. Social workers and their supervisors. are spending a good
deal of time keeping duplicate reminder controls on their desks which
should be centrally maintained by the clerical unit.
4. Distribution of Workload
Workloads in the adult programs are distributed evenly among workers,
but in AFDC there is a wide differential in caseloads. At the time of
the review, AFDC caseloads varied from 32 to 70, with no discernible
rationale for the lack of uniformity in assignments. Out of the total
of 393 AFDC cases reported as active at the end of March 1966, only
372 of these were actually assigned to a worker for ongoing service,
and 35 others had been assigned to one worker only a few days before
the end of the month. Therefore, during the month, there apparently
was a phantom caseload of 56 cases, with no one responsible for their
control or service. Also the county is risking an audit exception of
any claiming at the 75% rate of administrative costs related to such
cases. A standardized method of controlling workloads had been estab-
lished in the county, combined with a flexible geographical district
basis to limit travel expenses, but the actual practice no longer follows
the plan.
The licensing caseworker has too high a caseload (116 with 97 licensed
homes to visit on a monthly or bi-monthly basis) to be able to do any-
thing but a fire fighting job.
5. Communications
This agency suffers from overcommunication, rather than from a lack of
it. The communication system is not confined to the administrative
structure, but spills over without channel or control to the point where
office gossip and internal administration are discussed by staff members
with the board of supervisors and other county officials. In the past,
due to lack of formal administrative direction, this was practically
the sole avenue of communication available to the staff and as a result,
the proverbial grapevine has grown to the degree that it overshadows
and saps the vitality of the formal administrative communication process
and endangers the very life of the organization. To counteract this,
the administration has mistakenly tried to eliminate it entirely. Memos
directed to this point have been rather threatening and peremptory in
tone. As an adjunct to the formal system the grapevine process may have
a very definite value, Effective communications between the director,
supervisors and staff is a vital element of effective administration,
but the best administration is supportive, and not dictatorial. Every
member of the staff can make a contribution to the success of the total
program and should be given the opportunity to do SO.
-15-
Organizations are human and not mechanical, and as such they need to
be run on a "feeling" basis and with understanding and sensitivity.
With this kind of approach, the general staff meetings and supervisory
meetings which have recently been instituted by the director on a
regular basis, should be effective in keeping staff members informed,
on-board with the objectives of the agency, and clear on current policy.
One essential step in this direction, would be to provide each employee
with a binder containing 1) county policy and procedures, 2) a descrip-
tion of job assignment; 3) information on personnel rules and employee
benefits. In addition, copies of the state manual should be readily
available for the use of supervisors and workers and it should be clear
that they are expected to be in conformity with the information contained
in them. A copy of state and county manual material should be available
at the reception desk for the use of applicants, recipients, or the
general public.
B. Personnel Management
1. Morale and Turnover
The turnover rate measured by the ratio of separations to total staff
in this county has been extremely high. According to the merit system
records for the 13 month's period, from October 1, 1964 to November 1, 1965,
there was a 67% turnover for Social Service Worker 1, and a 45% rate for
Social Service Worker 11, making a combined average of 55%. The state-
wide average for this same period was less than 30%. Turnover for all
other classes in the agency, most of which were clerical, for the same
period totaled 69%. Statewide the turnover rate for clerical does not
normally exceed 35%. Low morale is a major problem in this agency and
stems from a number of factors. Some of the staff have not accepted
the reality of a change in directors and are uncomfortable with the new
and different relationships which normally result from such a change.
Morale was also affected by the grand jury investigation of 1965, which
raised questions about the adequacy and competency of the incumbent
staff. By involving the staff itself in the steps that need to be taken
to diminish personnel problems and dissension, the director should be
able to develop an administrative organization and an environment which
will afford staff the freedom and comfort to work together in accom-
plishing the goals of the department and the program.
2. Recruitment and Salary
One of the problems of recruitment of adequate staff in this county is
the low salary level provided by the board of supervisors. There is no
central administration of personnel for the county, so the welfare
department utilizes the merit system registers. Because of the low
salaries many times the county has to resort to emergency appointments
of people who are not qualified to take the examination when it is given.
Salaries have been about 15% below the statewide standard for merit
system counties. It was pointed out in the 1965 grand jury report that
this is a rather shortsighted approach to personnel recruitment since
it results mainly in the county being a training ground for other public
jurisdictions and private employment. Although the welfare department
-16-
has been more successful in recruiting clerical staff, they have not
been able to retain many of them. As soon as they gain enough ex-
perience, they tend to resign and accept better paying jobs in the
local area or elsewhere.
3. Performance Evaluations
The welfare department does not have a system of performance evaluations
for employees. The county personnel ordinance requires notification to
the county auditor and recommendation to the board of supervisors for
the successive steps in the salary range and presumes a discussion with
the employee himself, on the decision to give or to withhold raises.
One of the recommendations of the grand jury was to develop an effective
evaluation system. The assistant director has been assigned the respon-
sibility to implement this process, and a start on it was being made at
the time of the review. This procedure should provide for regular
measurements of meeting responsibility for progress in the job, whether
or not they relate to salary increments.
4. Employee Benefits
Provision of fringe benefits such as vacation, sick leave, compensatory
time, health insurance, mileage, etc., are provided for in a well prepared
county personnel ordinance, which covers all county employees. In the
county plan is an appeal procedure in case of discharge from service,
but no grievance procedure. The director has issued a memo stating that
she will accompany any employee with a serious problem to the county
supervisor of his choice for a discussion. The agency should design a
formal system of handling grievances through the agency hierarchy with
a final decision, if necessary, by the full board of supervisors. Each
employee should be provided with a copy of the county personnel ordinance
plus the grievance procedure.
Accumulation of sick leave benefits is now limited to 30 days. Raising
or eliminating this maximum in other jurisdictions has served to cut
down on the tendency to use sick leave in questionable situations, and
to protect the employee in a serious prolonged illness.
The agency is making a serious effort to develop a meaningful and effec-
tive staff training and development program. More involvement of the staff
members themselves is needed in the designing and carrying out of the
program to help them to identify their need for training and to reassure
them that they have the capacity to improve their performance and can
do so by wholehearted participation. The priority of training activities
should be made clear by the administration and on-going workloads should
be adjusted where necessary to allow the time needed.
The agency policy on educational leave and other out-service training
is commendable and with a more adequate salary schedule, in time should
show positive results.
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C. Workload Management
1. Controls
Sutter County has an electronic data processing unit operated by the
county auditor, which provides a monthly caseload inventory to the
welfare department, plus a list of upcoming renewals, among other
things. The welfare department does not fully utilize the potential
of the EDP system, as it keeps additional hand maintained caseload
inventories. Also, information on completed renewals is not fed into
the machine so that controls on overdue renewals must be prepared by
hand. The agency should develop a uniform system of controls central-
ized in the clerical unit, so that duplication of record keeping does
not occur and the director can have readily accessible information on
caseloads, on renewals, assignments, etc.
2. Warrant Authorization and Payment
A county auditor processes the supplemental assistance payrolls weekly,
and the regular payrolls monthly or semi-monthly as required. The
auditor is willing to provide immediate payments when necessary out-
side this schedule. The welfare agency should look at its procedures
in this area, not only for the possible saving of local funds by pro-
viding for immediate need payments from categorical aids for those
obviously eligible, but also to meet the emergency needs of citizens
of Sutter County with promptness and concern for their plight.
The agency had no control records on the time from application to receipt
of the warrant on accepted cases, but a check on this process by the
review team, showed that period to average over 30 days, exclusive of
ATD.
Held warrants are controlled satisfactorily with few if any overdue
before clearance of suspension.
The agency's internal procedures for handling repayments and absent
parent contributions are adequate with proper separation of receiving
and depositing or forwarding monies. There is technical nonconfirmity
with Welfare and Institutions Code No. 11457 in that absent parent
contributions collected by the district attorney or the probation office,
are sent directly to the recipient's family, rather than to the welfare
department. The county supervisors are considering a plan to central-
ize all collections in the welfare department, so this procedure may be
in process of correction.
3. Forms, Records and Files
A forms control system is needed as a basic start towards work simplifi-
cation and proper analysis of methods and procedures.
A uniform filing system should be installed, as some categories of cases
are now filed alphabetically and others in numerical order. Inactive
records should be centrally located in the main office where all intake
is handled. An out-card system would make the central index more effec-
tive in locating records as needed.
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The projected plan to develop a written policy on a uniform arrangement
of materials in the case records should be followed through with a
scheduled plan for regularly removing obsolete items as well as dis-
posing of cases inactive over five years.
D. Facilities and Equipment
On an overall square footage basis, space provided for the welfare department
is adequate for the present staff. Space is more than adequate in the County
Administration Building but is rather crowded in the main office. The new
building on Garden Highway is well designed, well furnished, and is attractive.
The waiting room is commendably spacious and pleasant. The placement of
thermostats causes some unevenness in the performance of the air conditioning
system in hot weather. The director should continue to emphasize the need
to have all operating units in the same building and seek a proper priority
in the county's over-all building plan to make this possible. Outstationed
call-in facilities for Live Oak and any other appropriate locality should be
provided and/or continued.
Equipment in the way of vehicles and office equipment is adequate. Dictating
equipment is not used to the best advantage since noise and lack of privacy
make it difficult for the workers to dictate at their desks. The provision
of a dictating booth or two would speed up recording of case material.
The telephone system in the new building should be brought up to the level
of that provided in the county office building where the adult section is
housed.
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APPENDIX
SOCIOECONOMIC PROFILE - SUTTER COUNTY
The Setting 2/
Sutter County, located in the Sacramento Valley, has an area of 607 square
miles. Most of the county is level, and approximately half of it is covered
with fertile soil. Elevations in the county are, for the most part, only a
few feet above sea level. The climate consists of long, dry, hot summers,
averaging about 80 degrees; and rainy winters, averaging 45 degrees. The
economy of the county is largely dependent upon agriculture and related
industries. Peaches, prunes, and rice comprise the major crops in the area.
Population
There was only a moderate expansion of population in Sutter County during the
decade 1950-60. It grew at the rate of 27.2% while the population of the
entire state increased 48.5% during the same period. The county's 1960 popu-
lation was 33,380.3/ The rate of growth has declined somewhat since 1960.
The estimated population, as of July 1, 1965, was 39,000, a rate of increase
of 16.8% (compared to the statewide average growth of 19.3%) 4/
Sutter County's population has less formal education than the rest of the state.
The median number of school years completed is 11.2 compared to 12.1 statewide.
In 1960, persons over the age of 25 with at least a college education amounted
to 7.2% in Sutter County as compared to 9.8% statewide. The high school drop-
out rate in Sutter County was 8.5% compared to 10.3% statewide, based on the
1960 census 5/
The county's population having Spanish surnames is 5.2% compared to 9.1% state-
wide 6/ Nonwhite minorities are less in the county than in the entire state.
In 1960, only 5.0% of the county's population was nonwhite compared to 8% state-
wide
7/ Negroes constitute less than 1% of the county's population compared
to 5.6% statewide. 87
1/ California Blue Book, 1958, pp. 1109-1112.
2/ Community Labor Market Survey, Marysville-Yuba City, California,
Nov. 1964: State Department of Employment.
3/ California Statistical Abstract - 1964, Table G-6, P. 49.
4/ Population of California Counties, Advance Report, Aug. 2, 1965,
by State Department of Finance.
5/ California Statistical Abstract - 1964, Table L-2, p. 151.
61 Californians of Spanish Surname, May 1964, State Division of Fair
Employment Practices.
71 U. S. Census of Population - 1960, California, General Population
Characteristics, pc(1) 6B, Table 13, pp. 6-51 and 6-59.
8/ U. S. Census of Population - 1960, California, General Population
Characteristics, pc(1) 6B, Table 28, pp. 6-199.
-20-
Employment 9/
During the last three calendar years, the annual unemployment rate in the
Yuba City - Marysville Labor Market Area (Sutter and Yuba counties) has been
higher than the statewide average. In the year 1965, the monthly unemployment
rate for the entire state ranged from a low of 4.7% of the total labor force
to a high of 7.3% and an average of 5.9%. In the Yuba City - Marysville Area,
the unemployment rate ranged from a low of 5.1% to a high of 13.8% and an
average of 10.4%. In 1963 and 1964 the annual average for the area was 11.1%
and 9.9% respectively. For the state it was 6.0% for both years. In 1963,
the monthly averages for the county ranged from 5.3% to 17.6%, while the state-
wide range was from 4.8% to 7.5%. In 1964, the monthly averages for the area
ranged from 4.6% to 17.3%, while the state range was from 5.0% to 7.2%.
Poverty and Deprivation
Approximately 30% of the families residing in Sutter County have incomes under
$4,000 which characterizes them as poverty-stricken families according to
federal usage. This is considerably higher than the statewide average of
21.4%. Another 24% have incomes falling within the deprivation level, that is,
between $4,000 and under $6,000 per year. The poverty level and deprivation
level families taken together represent approximately 54% of Sutter County's
families. This leaves about 46% of Sutter County's families with incomes of
$6,000 per year or more, that is, ranging from relative comfort to affluence.
Sutter County has a higher proportion of its families with incomes below $6,000
than the counties of Santa Clara and Solano, but proportionately lower than
such counties as Yuba, Stanislaus, and Tulare.
Another indicator of the general economic condition of its families is the
median earnings of the male breadwinner. In Sutter County, the median is
$4,644, which is lower than Santa Clara ($5,998) and Solano ($5,563) counties,
but higher than Stanislaus ($4,352), Yuba ($4,378), and Tulare ($3,617) coun-
ties. This ranking by median earnings is generally in the same order for
such occupational groups as professional, managerial, farming, craftsmen, and
labor 12/
Minority group families in Sutter County are more poverty stricken than others.
of the white families (including those with Spanish surnames), 52.8% have in-
comes below $6,000 and 28.7% have incomes below $4,000. In contrast, the non-
white families are more poverty stricken, with 78,2% at the deprivation level
or below and 58.4% at the poverty level or below. 137 Because of the small num-
ber of white families with Spanish Surnames living in the county, U. S. Census
material does not show their income characteristics separately from other white
families.
9/ Technical Paper, Series LF6.3, State Department of Employment.
10/ See Appendix, Table I, p. 23.
11/ U. S. Census of Population, 1960, California, General Social and
Economic Characteristics, pc(1) 6C, Table 65, Table 86, pp. 6-438.
12/ See Appendix, Table 11, P. 25.
13/ See Appendix, Table 1, P. 23.
-21-
Broken Families in Sutter County 14/
The pattern of broken families is lower in this county than the rest of the
state (7.4% for Sutter and 9.4% for the state). The percentage of broken
families is lower than Fresno's 8.5%, Tulare's 8.0%, Solano's 8.6%, and
Stanislaus' 8.9%. It is higher than Merced's 6.8% and Santa Clara's 7.2%.
The proportion of children affected by broken homes, that is, 11.4% of chil-
dren under 18 years of age not living with both parents is lower than in
Tulare, Solano, Stanislaus, Yuba, and Merced counties with respectively
15.8%, 13.4%, 13.7%, 13.7%, and 11.7%. It is higher than Santa Clara's 10.1%.
Because the small number of Negro families in Sutter County make the sample
insufficient, the proportion of nonwhite children in broken homes, 7.5% show
less than that of white children of whom 11.6% are not living with both par-
ents. Actually, a greater percentage of nonwhite families than white families
suffer from broken homes as a condition of poverty.
Public Welfare Costs
It is not generally known that public welfare funds are obtained from three
sources, federal, state and county. Of the $2.9 million 15/ spent for public
assistance in fiscal year 1964-65, the Federal Government contributed $1.3
million, or 45.2 percent; the state contributed $1 million, or 35.2 percent;
and Sutter County contributed a little over $574 thousand, or 19.6 percent,
from property taxes. This means that the Sutter County homeowner who had an
average property tax bill of $170167 in the fiscal year 1964-65, contributed
out of this about $15 toward the county welfare bill. This would amount to
$1.25 per month as the average cost to the average homeowner, or about 4 cents
a day.
Table VI 17/ depicts the Sutter County property tax dollar and the budget
dollar for the fiscal year 1965-66. From the table it can be seen that only
8c of the total county property tax dollar was projected to go to public wel-
fare. of the 20.4 cents budgeted for public welfare out of the total county
budget dollar, only 3.6c was the county's share. The major portion of the
welfare budget is financed from federal and state funds. Although the total
amount of the 1965-66 budget for the operation of the entire county government
was $16,066,198, only $7,089,550 needed to be raised by county property taxes.
Since the latter figure is a little more than double the $3,277,209 budgeted
for public welfare, many assume erroneously that almost one-half of the county
property taxes collected are spent on public welfare. This is not true, as
only $573,130 are needed to be raised by property taxes for public welfare in
fiscal year 1965-66.
14/ See Appendix, Table IV, P. 28.
15/ See Appendix, Table V, p. 29.
16/ Director's Newsletter - April 1966, published by the California State
Department of Social Welfare, Sacramento, California.
17/ See Appendix, Table VI, p. 30.
-22-
TABLE I DISTRIBUTION OF FAMILY INCOME . - 1959
A - - ALL FAMILIES
ANNUAL INCOME
FAMILIES
FAMILIES
No. between
% between
No.
%
levels
levels
Above Deprivation
$6,000 and over
3,937
46.1
3,937
46.1
Deprivation Level
cumulative
cumulative
Under $6,000
4,607
53.9
2,050
24.0
Poverty Level
Under $4,000
2,557
29.9
1,751
20.5
Extreme Deprivation
Under $2,000
806
9.4
806
9.4
TOTAL FAMILIES
8,544
100%
B - WHITE FAMILIES (INCLUDING THOSE OF SPANISH SURNAME)
ANNUAL INCOME
FAMILIES
FAMILIES
No. between
% between
No.
%
levels
levels
Above Deprivation
$6,000 and over
3,858
47.2
3,858
47.2
Deprivation Level
cumulative
cumulative
Under $6,000
4,323
52.8
1,978
24.2
Poverty Level
Under $4,000
2,345
28.7
1,610
19.6
Extreme Deprivation
Under $2,000
735
9.0
735
9.0
TOTAL FAMILIES
8,181
100%
Source: U. S. Census of Population, 1960, California, General Social and Economic
Characteristics, PC (1) 6C, Table 65, PP. 6-250; Table 88, pp. 6-446.
-23-
C - - NONWHITE FAMILIES
ANNUAL INCOME
FAMILIES
FAMILIES
No. between
% between
No.
%
levels
levels
Above Deprivation
$6,000 and over
79
21.8
79
21.8
Deprivation Level
cumulative
cumulative
Under $6,000
284
78.2
72
19.8
Poverty Level
Under $4,000
212
58.4
141
38.8
Extreme Deprivation
Under $2,000
71
19.6
71
19.6
TOTAL FAMILIES
363
100%
I
Source: lbid.
-24-
TABLE II MEDIAN EARNINGS OF SELECTED OCCUPATIONAL
GROUPS IN SIX COUNTIES -- 1959
Santa
Sutter
Yuba
Stanislaus
Tulare
Clara
Solano
Male, Total
with Earnings
$4,644
$4,378
$4,352
$3,617
$5,998
$5,563
Professional, Managerial
and Kindred Workers
6,627
6,231
6,358
6,042
8,134
6,722
Farmers and Farm Managers
4,494
3,829
3,137
4,686
4,439
4,192
Craftsmen, Foremen
and Kindred
5,505
5,283
5,304
4,922
6,435
6,360
Operatives and
Kindred
4,313
4,167
4,411
3,647
5,339
5,308
Farm Laborers, except
Unpaid and Farm
2,235
2,197
2,123
2,084
2,250
2,159
Foremen
Laborers, except
Farm and Mine
3,756
3,426
3,072
2,801
3,739
4,195
a/ Includes persons in other occupational groups shown separately.
Source: U. S. Census of Population, 1960, California, General Social and Economic
Characteristics, PC(1)-6C, Table 86, PP. 6-433 through 6-438.
-25-
TABLE III PUBLIC WELFARE EXPENDITURES AND CASELOADS
TABLE ITTA* - SUTTER COUNTY, MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1964
Total Cases
Total Recipients
Total Expenditures
No.
%
Amount
%
AFDC-FG
406
1,463
53.1
$65,254
33.1
AFDC-U
6
32
1.2
1,310
.7
AFDC
412
1,495
54.3
66,564
33.8
OAS
755
755
27.4
78,363
39.9
AB
31
31
1.1
3,885
2.0
APSB
-
-
-
-
-
ATD
123
123
4.5
13,543
6.9
MAA
79
79
2.9
30,435
15.4
GR
87
268
9.8
3,879
2.0
TOTALS
1,487
2,751
100%
$196,669
100%
* Source: State of California, Department of Social Welfare, Research and
Statistics, Public Welfare in California, November 1964 (Statistical
Series PA 3-62) and PAMC and MAA (Statistical Series MC1-41).
TABLE 111B** - STATE OF CALIFORNIA, MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1964
Total Cases
Total Recipients
Total Expenditures
No.
%
Amount
%
AFDC-FG
128,504
447,338
49.6
$21,041,014
30.0
AFDC-U
9,318
53,883
6.0
1,968,355
2.8
AFDC
137,822
501,221
55.6
23,009,369
32.8
OAS
270,327
270,327
30.0
29,585,699
42.2
AB
12,227
12,227
1.4
1,617,790
2.3
APSB
136
136
-
22,089
-
ATD
53,925
53,925
6.0
6,138,574
8.7
MAA
25,427
25,427
2.8
8,536,269
12.2
GR
21,376
38,621
4.2
1,281,408
1.8
TOTALS
521,240
901,884
100%
$ 70,191,198
100%
** Source: Ibid.
-26-
TABLE 111C* - SUTTER COUNTY, MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1965
Total Cases
Total Recipients
Total Expenditures
No.
%
Amount
%
AFDC-FG
400
1,479
50.5
$ 74,202
31.6
AFDC-U
26
145
4.9
13,260
5.7
AFDC
426
1,624
55.4
87,462
37.3
OAS
767
767
26.2
90,796
38.7
AB
28
28
1.0
3,618
1.5
APSB
-
-
-
-
ATD
185
185
6.3
22,012
9.4
MAA
68
68
2.3
28,014
11.9
GR
71
258
8.8
2,708
1,2
TOTALS
1,545
2,930
100%
$234,610
100%
*
Source: State of California, Department of Social Welfare, Research and
Statistics, Public Welfare in California, November 1965, (Statistical
Series PA 3-74) and PAMC and MAA (Statistical Series MC1-53).
TABLE 1110* - STATE OF CALIFORNIA, MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1965
Total Cases
Total Recipients
Total Expenditures
No.
%
Amount
%
AFDC-FG
146,043
512,619
50.2
$22,082,803
27.0
AFDC-U
13,200
77,493
7.6
3,555,030
4.4
AFDC
159,243
590,112
57.8
25,637,833
31.4
OAS
273,899
273,899
26.9
31,331,950
38.4
AB
12,348
12,348
1.2
1,676,153
2.1
APSB
45
45
-
7,434
-
ATD
79,667
79,667
7.8
9,647,522
11.8
MAA
32,609
32,609
3.2
12,246,854
15.0
GR
17,573
32,531
3.1
1,076,806
1.3
TOTALS
575,384
1,021,211
100%
$81,624,552
100%
** Source: lbid.
-27-
TABLE IV ESTIMATES OF BROKEN FAMILIES IN SUTTER COUNTY
Sutter County
State of California a/
No.
%
No.
%
Families With Own Children
Under Age 18
5,198
2,296,445
Married Couples With Own
Children Under Age 18
4,812
2,080,723
Estimated No. of Broken Homes
386
7.4
215,722
9.4
Children Under Age 18 Not
Living With Both Parents
All Races
1,480
11.4
736,469
13.7
White
1,432
11.6
602,744
12.3
Non-White
48
7.5
133,725
27.3
Total No. Children Under
Age 18
All Races
12,957
100.0
5,456,803
100.0
White
12,316
95.1
4,964,869
91.0
Non-White
641
4.9
492,114
9.0
a/ Based on statistical sample. Actual 1960 count for entire state not available.
Source: U. S. Census of Population, 1960, California, General Social and
Economic Characteristics, PC(1) 6C, Table 82, p. 6-409 thru' 6-414;
Table 87, p. 6-439 thru' 6-442.
-28-
TABLE V
SOURCE OF TOTAL DOLLARS EXPENDED FOR
PUBLIC WELFARE - SUTTER COUNTY
FOR 1963-64
Total Expenditures - $2,665,530
Federal Share
State Share
$1,208,321
$944,375
45.4%
35.4%
County Share*
$512,834
19.2%
18.9
GR
18.2
OAS
16.1
MAA
AFDC-FG,U,
3.3
BHI 41.8
1.7
ATD
AB &
APSB
Source: California State Department of Social Welfare. Special study of
county public assistance costs per $100 of total local property
taxes levied.
-29-
TABLE VI
SUTTER COUNTY
DISTRIBUTION OF COUNTY PROPERTY TAX DOLLAR 1965-1966
Government rnment 9.24
Other County
welfare
Other County Government
656,706
Welfare
573,130
Hospital &
Hospital & Other Service
other
Education
Programs
698,900
56.2c
Hospital Building
458,055
Hospital Bldg.
Health
88,322
Special Districts
503,082
Road
126,467
noo Special
Education
3,984,888
Total
Health 1.3c-
7,089,550
Road
DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL COUNTY BUDGET DOLLAR 1965-1966
Total Budget
Other County Government 1,819,479
Other Government County
Welfare
3,277,209
11.30
Federal
1,505,036
State
2th share Faparal
1,191,795
County
580,378
Hospital
593,730
458,055
Welfare 20.40
Hospital Building
State 7.4c Share
Health
114,059
Education
51.7c
Special Districts
617,838
county Share
Road
879,040
Education
8,309,788
Total
16,069,198
Health Hospital To Road 3.3 5.5
To be financed by:
55.9% Balance & Revenue
Available
8,979,648
44.1% County Taxes
7.089.550
Total
16,069,198
Source: Sutter County Final Budget for 1965-66, compiled by
Lucille V. Neil, County Auditor,
-30-
State of California
Health and Welfare Agency
Memorandum
To
: Paul Beck
Date : September 28, 1967
Assistant Press Secretary
Governor's Office
Subject:
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814
From : Department of Social Welfare
Attached are copies of pertinent correspondence between the Sutter County
Board of Supervisors and this office. It should be kept in mind that many
additional contacts were made by me with members of the board of supervisors,
both in personal meetings and in telephone conversations.
I feel that my decision not to file conformity charges against Sutter County
as recommended by the Federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
has proven to be correct, since my "personal diplomacy" with the Sutter County
Board has brought positive results from both the viewpoint of Sutter County
and the State Department of Social Welfare.
Although it is not my place to judge the correctness of federal funding of
CRLA, I must state that some of the legal and procedural points raised by
CRLA against the Sutter County Welfare Department are valid based upon federal
and state statutes and regulations.
John JOHN C. MONTGOMERY C. Mantgement
Director
Attachments
cc: Mike Deaver
Spencer Williams
bec: Mr. Spencer Williams, Administrat
Health and Welfare Agency
Director's Office
F. C. Locher
SEP 27 1967
M. Chopson
September 26, 2967
D. Lapham
J. Rosati
R. Michaels
mc
Mr. Ike J. Norred, Chairman
Sutter County Board of Supervisors
463 Second Street
Yuba City, California 95991
Dear Hr. Morred:
This will supplement the letter of September 13, 1967, from this department (copy
attached) and the conversations State Department of Social Welfare legal staff
has had with Mr. Fred Engle concerning legal representation for Butter County
in the Patricia Foss sppeal from suspension and dismissal.
It is understood that Mrs. 1000 has appealed her case and that arrangements
are being made for & hearing on the matter. You may wish to have Sutter County
represented by either your district attorney, your county counsel, or by private
counsel hired by Sutter County for this purpose. Rowever, to accomodate the
county and in the spirit of strengthening state-county relationships, I will assign
legal counsel of this department to represent Sutter County or to act as co-counsel
with any other lawyer that you select in the Patricia Foss appeal. This is pro-
vided that the board of supervisors, speaking through you or the county administra-
tive officer, makes such a request.
I vent to make it clear that I have no question concerning the professional ob-
jectivity of my legal staff with reference to litigating this matter.
Should legal staff of this department be assigned this matter and after investi-
gation find the case to be without merit, I would re-evaluate the situation with
a view towards withdrawing legal staff consistent with sound legal procedures.
Sincerely yours,
John C. Montgan
Jchn C. Montgomery
Director
cc: Mrs. Mary Quitoriano, Director
Sutter County Welfare Department
Fred Engle, Esq.
Attorney at Law
P. O. Drawer B
Yubs City, California
September 12, 1967
SEP 13 1967
MP
Mr. Ike Norred, Chairman
Sutter County Board of Supervisors
Sutter County Office Building
463 Second Street
Yuba City, California 95991
Dear Mr. Norred:
Thank you for your letter of September 5, 1967. In accordance
with your request, we are in the process of preparing suggested
modifications of the documents, "Rules of Project" and "Employment
of Aid to Familles with Dependent Children Mothers," for consideration
by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors.
We appreciate very much your cooperation in this difficult situation.
Very truly yours,
John C. Matgan
John C. Montgomery
Director
cc: Larry D. Cilley
Mrs. Mary L. Quitoriano, Director
County Administrative Officer
Sutter County Welfare Department
bcc: M. Chopson
H. E. Simmons
Director's file
General Files
JCM:mo
COUNTY OF SUTTER
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
SUTTER COUNTY OFFICE BLDG.
463 SECOND STREET
YUBA CITY, CALIFORNIA 95991
AREA CODE 916 673-7005
September 5, 1967
SPECIAL OF VIA VERY
Dear Mr. Montgomery:
This will acknowledge your letter of August 21 concerning your current
evaluation of the recently concluded County-State review of the present
operations of the Sutter County Welfare Department.
The Sutter County Board of Supervisors were of the opinion that this
report clearly established the County's awareness of the fact that the
provision of surplus commodities does not replace the County's
obligation to provide cash assistance where immediate need is demon-
strated. This information is specifically set forth on page 6, recommen-
dation 6, of the report with documentation verified by sample cases on
page 24. In order to further clarify this policy as requested, the Board
of Supervisors will, however, communicate to the Welfare Director a
reiteration of their concurrence with the provisions of State law relating
to the provisions of immediate aid.
Your request that the Welfare Department revise the "Rules of the Project"
and "Employment of Aid to Families With Dependent Children Mothers"
can willingly be rescinded and reissued in accordance with State direc-
tives even though these rules were sincerely thought to currently be in
accordance with those directives. You are therefore requested to provide
the County with a revision of these rules that is acceptable to the State
so that they may be adopted by the County and reissued as a revised
office bulletin of the Welfare Department.
Your concern over the announced suspension of Mrs. Patricia Foss, Social
Work Supervisor I, is understandable, especially since it coincidentally
occurs subsequent to completion of Mr. Lapham's and my study. It can
easily be substantiated that the relationship between Mrs. Foss and the
Welfare Director has, for over a year, been a difficult one; characterized
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
IKE MORRED
LIVE OAK
DISTRICT I
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR:
CHAIRMAN
J CILLEY 6.
ROBERT PAILLEX
YUBA CITY
DISTRICT 2
J. A. BAGLEY
MERIDIAN
DISTRICT 3
COUNTY CLERK:
GEORGE R. MCFEELY
TUBA CITY
DISTRICT 4
GERALDINE HALL
GBER F. BEILBY
RIO oso
DISTRICT 5
REGULAR MEETINGS ARE HELD MONDAY OF EACH WEEK
Page 2
September 5, 1967
Mr. Montgomery
by several acknowledged incidents of conflict. Admittedly, the recent notice
of suspension touched upon matters related to Mr. Lapham and myself in con-
fidence by Mrs. Foss; however, these matters were known to the Welfare
Director before the interviews occurred and only "generally" verified by
myself to the Welfare Director. I am sure that Mrs. Foss would agree that
her discussions with the Welfare Director concerning the charges of suspen-
sion brought to light additional unresolved areas of conflict that were not in
any way related to her remarks made to either Mr. Lapham or myself. It is,
I feel, unfortunate that this incident has occurred at a time that coinciden-
tally coincides with the release of the Lapham-Cilley Report; however, the
Sutter County Welfare Director was of the considered opinion that situations
and circumstances in her department currently warranted the requisite suspen-
sion of Mrs. Foss. At Mr. Lapham's written request this suspension was
brought to the attention of the Sutter County Board of Supervisors on August
21, with the response that although the matter did not require the attention of the
Board at this particular point in time, it would take note of the fact that the
suspension was pending and the Board would hold a private personnel session
should Mrs. Foss so wish.
We trust that the above comments will serve to advise you of the Sutter County
Board of Supervisors' position on the matters raised in your letter and that each
of us can consider ourselves back on the road to repairing any damaged rela-
tionship between your office and Sutter County, for it is indeed the wish of
this Board that the welfare directives of the State be administered in Sutter
County consistently with your office's interpretation at any point in time.
Best personal regards.
The
Very truly yours,
Ike Norred, Chairman
Sutter County Board of Supervisors
By: LARRY D. CILLEY
County Administrative Officer
Mr. John Montgomery
State Director of Social Welfare
State Department of Social Welfare
P. O. Box 8074
Sacramento, California 95818
LDC:11
cc: All Supervisors
April 26, 1967
Mr. Lawrence Cilley
County Administrative Officer
Sutter County
Yuba City, California 95991
Dear Mr. Cilley:
This letter is to confirm that on April 24, 1967, approximately thirty farm
workers, on their own initiative, appeared at the headquarters office of
the State Department of Social Welfare in Sacramento. Representatives of
this department, Including the undersigned, met with them and received
reports of alleged questionable practices within Sutter County related to
the provisions of the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program.
Statements were taken from those present, and I informed them that repre-
sentatives from the State Department of Social Welfare would review these
charges with the Sutter County Welfare Department.
For your information, I am listing the general areas of complaints Involved
in these interviews.
1. Road blocks or refusals in the taking of applications (e.g., need
for third party assistance in getting action and direct referral
to jobs before taking an application).
2. Requiring participation in work projects without provision of work
connected expenses.
3. Denial of a choice of Interpreters.
4. Failure to grant Immediate aid under conditions of urgent need
(e.g., use of surplus commodities or General Relief food orders
as a substitute for Aid to Families with Dependent Children).
5. Denial of Aid to Families with Dependent Children on Improper
application of residence requirements.
Mr. Lawrence Cilley
-2-
April 26, 1967
6. Failure to notify families as to reasons for changes in grant or
discontinuance of aid.
7. Failure to apply program criteria for discontinuance of aid upon
nonappearance for work projects.
8. Failure to develop or to refer to other resources in the case of
families found ineligible.
9. Improper application of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children
need standard.
I have asked Mr. E. H. Newman, Chief of the Family and Children Division,
and Mr. Norman Clayton, Chief of our Quality Control Bureau, to report back
to me on these charges. It is expected that they will be visiting Sutter
County on Monday afternoon, May 1, 1967 and will contact you immediately
upon arriving at the county offices. In my instructions to them, I narrowed
their review to a general study of the complaint cases as received on April 24,
including authorization for appropriate validation of information received
within the countrys of their fact finding role.
It should be understood that Mr. Newman and Mr. Clayton have been speci-
fically instructed by me to meet with Mr. Myron Moskovitz, California Rural
Legal Assistance Attorney and other appropriate representatives of the
April 24 group, subject to the understanding that if an atmosphere of
publicity or mass action develops, they are to cut off such contact.
It is my hope and trust that necessary review of these most serious charges
will in no way interfere with needed lines of communications that have been
developed between the board of supervisors and your office with my office
in Sacramento. It is my full desire to work jointly with the board of
supervisors in order to resolve any differences through a review of clearly
factual information.
You will find both Mr. Newman and Mr. Clayton are dedicated public officials
who will work within the context of their direct assignment from my office.
Any assistance that you might be able to give them will be appreciated.
Also, in accordance with your telephone request to me, attached is a list of
the complaining farm workers,
Sincerely yours,
Dictated by the Writer
Signed and Forwarded in his absence
John to Montgomer
avoid delay
bcc: M. Chopson
Director
Harry White
E. H. Newman
Attachment
Norman Clayton
CC: Mrs. Mary L. Quitoriano, Director
Sutter County Welfare Department
JCM:AS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA-HEALTH AND WELFARE AGENCY
RONALD REAGAN, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE
2415 FIRST AVENUE, P.O. BOX 8074
SACRAMENTO 95818
April 4, 1967
Mr. Ike J. Norred, Chairman
Board of Supervisors
Courthouse
1967
APR
A
Yuba City, California 95991
Dear Mr. Norred:
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW - SUPPER COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT
The attached report is a review of the administration of public welfare in
your county. Our administrative review staff has endeavored to produce an
evaluation which will assist you In formulating your own plans for improving
your local welfare administration.
We should like to draw your particular attention to the first of our priority
recommendations, which deals with the need for a declaration of public welfare
policy by your board. The number of instances, noted during and subsequent to
the review, in which practices by your welfare department do not conform to
law or regulation, makes such a policy declaration comential.
During the course of the administrative review of welfare department operations,
the following deviations from requirements were noted:
1. Cash payments were not being made to eligible applicants in immediate
need. (N&I Code Section 11056, and regulations ABCD 012.20)
2. The practice of requiring recipients to spend an initial grant of aid
in accordance with a letter of credit, constitutes making restrictive
payments. (W&I Code Section 10501, and regulation ABCD 222)
3. The modified money payments being made to recipients were not properly
justified. (W&I Code Section 11454, and regulation C-222.50)
As you know, members of our review staff recently met with key officials of your
county regarding the findings end recommendations of the administrative review.
Your officials assured our representatives that the deviations cited above, have
been corrected so that current practices in these areas are now in accordance
with law. We are gratified that these changes have been made. Members of our
field staff will be discussing these changes in greater detail with your welfare
administration.
Mr. Ike J. Norred, Chairman
-2-
Subsequent to the administrative review, this department has noted the following
practices of the welfere department, which are not in accordance with the law:
1. Individualized assessments of the parents capacity and availability
(including child care plans) are not being made before AFDC mothers
are reforred for work. (MAI Code Sections 11205, 11302 and 11303,
and regulations C-171, C-171.1, C-172.1 and C-174)
2. Assistance is being automatically and arbitrarily discontinued when a
man is discharged from a work project, or fails to report to a
potential job. Laws and Regulations enumerate justifiable reasons for
refusing employment, and require individualized determination of their
applicability. (W&I Code Sections 11207, 11302, 13303 and regulations
C-172.1, C-173.1 end C-174)
3. While R flat rate of 125.00 per month has been allowed recipients for
additional food, clothing and incidentals, other expenses connected
with work and training, such as transportation, are not being allowed.
(W&I Code Section 11305 and regulations C-173.1 and C-204.70)
4. A staff development and training plan for the complete fiscal year
1966-67, has not been submitted to this department. (Regulation
SD 610)
Representatives of our department will welcome the opportunity to meet with
your board and your welfure administration to discuss the additional issues
raised in this letter and the administrative review findings and recommendations.
Will you please advise us regarding possible dates of such a meeting.
Sincerely yours,
John C. Matgan
John C. Montgomery
Director
Enclosure
CC: Mrs. Mary L. Quitoriano, Director
Sutter County Welfare Department
190 Garden Way
Yuba City, California 95991
bcc: Marion Chopson, Deputy Director
Community Welfare Services Branch
Harry White - Sacramento Area
Larry Sullivan, Administrative Review
Edward R. Kienitz, Administrative Review
Director's File
Central File
CWSB File
GENERAL FILES
August 21, 1967
Mr. Ike 3. Sorred, Chairona
Sutter County Board of Supervisors
463 Second Street
Yuba City, California 95701
Dear Mr. Norred:
This letter is a follow-up of the evaluation report of Sucter County prepared
by Bale Laphem of my staff and Larry Cilley. your County Administrative Officer.
In general, this report Totms & basic for reconcilintion of views with reference
to the administration of public social services by your county welfare department
20 on integral part of the public welfare administration in the State of Colifornia.
There are Dome specific matters which require further attention in order that all
parties can begin to accept the state-county administrative partnership as the
most appropriate and efficient VEY to administer these vital public services.
Although the Laphns-Cilley report indicates that such progress has been ride and
that the general points et issue have been modified with respect to the invediate
payment of assistance where the need and eligibility of the funily is clearly shown,
I feel this requires clearer emmelation of policy by your board. For exceple, 1
believe you recognize that the Date provision of surplus commodities does not sat-
infy the very specific requirement of law that the payment of cash aid is required
where imediate need is demenstrated. A clear instruction by your board to the
welfare director stating that the requirements of the law must be followed in this
respect appears needed.
The second natter that requires innediate attention are mendeents to the Sutter
County Walfare Department's documents, "Fules of the Project" and "Employment of
Aid to Families with Dependent Children Mothers". Several espects of these NO-
terials are in direct conflict with state 1aw and regulations of the department
issued in accordance with law. Regulations applicable to the "Rules of Project"
are contained in Department Bullatin 636 and AId to Fundlies with Dependent Children
Hanual Sections C-172.1 and C-173.1. Those concerning "Imployment of A1J to Families
with Dependent Children Mothers" are covered in Md to Families with Dependent
Children Manual Sections C-171, C-150, and C-172.1. I would suggest that a revi-
sicn of these directives, consistent with the regulations, be worked out in consul-
tation with by staff.
A third cetter of extreme concern to ne results from the recent action of
Mrs. Quitorishs in amounting the suspension of Mrs. Foss. Although Mrs. Quitorismo
indicates that this action vas in no way related to the fact that this employee was
Mro. Ike J. Horred
-2-
August 21, 1967
interviewed by Mr. Cilley and MA Lephan in the course of preparing their report,
the coincidence of the suspension action and the substance of the charges placed
against Mrs. Form reises serious doubt about this. Moreover, it secrs certain
that an appeal and hearing by the State Herit System Committee will ensue from
this action.
Fegardless of the rerits of this suspension action, coming at this point in our
efforts to reconstruct state-county relationships and to build internal staff
confidence within the county velfore department, the further pursuit of a sus-
pension acticn related to like. Foss will undo such of the prograss we have been
able to make up to this point. Considering this, you may want to bake your can
inquiry into the circumstances that led to this action before it reaches the
appeal stage,
I know that you and other members of the board of supervisors appreciate the
importance of a successful conclusion of our joint efferts to resolve all out-
standing questions as pronotly CG possible. As I have told you personally OR
several occasions, I as deeply committed to local administration of public vel-
fare in California. Ify consitment includes maximum Intitude to county officials
in the execution of administration.
However, I am faced with the necessity of sening that each of the 53 counties
administers these services in a uniform mennor, consistent with the general and
specific directions set forth in the law. You can understand that each county
has a separate and important responsibility to the people of California, through
the State Department of Social Welfare, to see that the statutes are faithfully
not.
Pary truly yours,
John C. Montgomery
Director
CC: Mrs. Mary Quitoriano, Dir. Sutter Co. Welfare
JCM:cel
bee: Mr. Spencer Williams, Administrator
Mr. Jack M. Morelman, Legal Counsel
Health and Welfare Agency
County Supervisors Association
of California
Mr. Joseph R. Morrell, Jr.
1100 Flks Building
Family Services Representative
Sacramento, California 95814
Welfare Administration
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Mr. Don C. Quisenberry, President
50 Fulton Street
County Welfare Directors Association
3an Francisco, California 94102
of California
P. 0. Box 1727
Hodesto, California 95354
F. C. Locher, Chief Deputy Director
Marion Chopson, Cou. Welfare Services Br.
L. H. Newton, Farm. and Children Div.
Norman Clayton, Quality Centrol
Dale V. Laphan, Management Analysis Bur.
Frank Vasquez, Chief Referee
Verne E. Gleeson, Projects Director
Health and Welfare Agency
Wilfare
Spencer Williams, Administrator
April 29, 1968
WELFARE, PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS
We are a humane and generous people and we accept
without reservation our obligation to help the aged,
disabled and those unfortunates who, through no
fault of their own, must depend upon their fellow
man. But we are not going to perpetuate poverty by
substituting a permanent dole for a paycheck. There
is no humanity or charity in destroying self-reliance,
dignity and self-respect
the very substance of
moral
fiber.
"We seek reforms that will, wherever possible, change
relief check to pay check.
"In the whole area of welfare, everything will be
done to reduce administrative overhead, cut red tape
and return control as much as possible to the county
level. And the goal will be investment in, and
salvage of, human beings.
from the inaugural address of Governor Ronald
Reagan, Sacramento, California, January 5, 1967.
Welfare in California started on a new, creative course with the
inauguration of Governor Ronald Reagan.
The ultimate objective was clear: Break the cycle of dependency
that has chained generations to ever-swelling welfare rolls.
Many steps will be required to reach that distant destination.
The task of turning the welfare tide is enormous in both magnitude
and complexity.
Year after year the number of persons on welfare and the money
spent to support them has mounted.
In the past decade, expenditures for public assistance have risen
157 percent and the average number of recipients has gone up
126 percent while the state's population has increased by only
38 percent
The Aid to Families with Dependent Children category leads the
way, up from less than $90 million in 1956-57 to more than
$401.5 million in 1966-67--an increase of 350 percent.
-2-
Aid to the Totally Disabled, a program not even in operation a
decade ago, accounted for an expenditure of more than
$132.5 million in the past fiscal year.
Old Age Security payments, the largest category in 1956-57, has
dropped into second place. However, in 1966-67 it required more
than $347 million, an increase of 47 percent over 1956-57.
On January 1, 1967, there were 1,148,000 Californians receiving
cash grants from state welfare programs at an annual cost of
$924 million.
This is equivalent to spending more than $100,000 an hour, every
hour, night and day. . It equals $3 million every business day.
In addition, cash grant welfare recipients received medical
assistance at a cost of more than $373 million, bringing
California's welfare bill to $1.3 billion.
The cash grant program currently includes:
--292,000 men and women 65 years or older receiving Old
Age Security payments. This group accounts for about
35 percent of the total expenditure.*
--120,000 receiving Aid to the Disabled. Another 12,500
persons receive Aid to the Blind.
--834,000 persons (75 percent of them children) in the Aid
to Families with Dependent Children categories. This
group accounts for about 45 percent of the total expendi-
tures for cash grants.
In its first year, the Administration made significant achieve-
ments towards its declared goals. They include:
Communication Restored
Before 1967 relationships between the Department of Social Welfare
and both the boards of supervisors and the welfare departments of
the 58 counties were so tense that effective communication had
virtually ceased. The first important step was the reestablishment
of effective communication and this has been done.
*see appendix for "profiles" of program recipients.
-3-
Today, harmonious working relationships exist and the spirit of
cooperation has enabled the State and counties to strengthen
their working partnership and make progress towards simplification
of welfare procedures.
Cost Cut
Basic administrative expenses of the Department of Social Welfare
were reduced 13 percent from original budget requests, a savings
of $1,243,000 in the current fiscal year.
Administration Streamlined, Red Tape Slashed
California was the first state to secure Federal approval for use
of a simplified "declaration of need" application for Old Age
Security eliminating unnecessary paperwork and repetitious
interviews.
Four voluminous categorical aid program manuals were condensed
into one. Not only are there 2,358 fewer pages, but the language
had been simplified and the content made more understandable.
This monumental revision was a joint State-county effort. Further
efforts are under way to make department communications readily
accessible to the social workers.
Extension and Liberalization of Welfare Checked
For the first time in 15 years, the Administration successfully
checked the historic legislative pattern of extending and liberali-
zing welfare benefits at each session.
Fraud and Abuse Studied
A statewide Governor's fact-finding conference was convened as
the first step in determining the nature and extent of welfare
fraud and abuse in California. On the recommendation of the
conference, the State Social Welfare Board, with the assistance
of a specially appointed advisory committee, conducted five
hearings in different areas of the state and took thousands of
words of testimony from scores of witnesses representing every
conceivable viewpoint. The Board's report and recommendations
are not yet formulated.
-4-
Medi-Cal Costs Cut
A $130 million deficit in the Medi-Cal program inherited from the
prior fiscal year was eliminated and tighter administrative
controls placed in effect which are expected to keep the program
within appropriations this current fiscal year. A rollback of
physicians' fees, limitation of non-county hospital stays except
in special circumstances, and closer checks on the medical
necessity for nursing home care were anticipated to save more
than $28 million in the current year
The first contract for prepayment of physicians' services was
signed, marking a major step forward in improving service to
recipients while at the same time controlling ever-spiraling
costs.
Family Planning
A new family planning policy was adopted which gave social workers
the authority to initiate and conduct discussions with welfare
recipients with respect to family planning. This was coupled
with controls to ensure complete freedom from any pressure or
coercion.
A Hand Up Instead of a Handout
Greater emphasis was placed on rehabilitation as a means of
restoring individual dignity and self-support. The current budget
of the Department of Rehabilitation was increased $5 million--a
sound investment in the future productivity of those rehabilitated.
More than 6,600 disabled persons were returned to employment in
the fiscal year ending last June, of which some 1400 were removed
from the welfare rolls at a first-year welfare savings of
$2,750,000. The pace accelerated further in the new fiscal year
and in the first seven months, the number of disabled persons
returned to employment was 90 percent higher than during the same
period the previous year.
Summer Jobs Provide More than Money
The State took the lead in providing summer employment for youth,
placing 600 in State jobs. The program will be enlarged this year.
Directed in a large part towards young people from poverty areas,
the program offers more than money. In addition to payment of
wages it stresses the virtues of work and provides the self-
confidence that comes from one knowing his ability to earn his
own way in a competitive economy.
-5-
Job Training and Placement Coordinated
State agencies were given clear and specific direction to provide
concerted and coordinated programs to secure training and employ-
ment for public assistance recipients. The California Job
Training and Placement Council, including representatives of both
government and private industry, was created to study and recommend
ways to reach the hard-core unemployed with needed training and
employment.
Cooperation among the county welfare departments and the State
departments of Employment and Social Welfare was strengthened. As
a result, more emphasis and follow through is now being applied
to the requirement that welfare recipients look for and take jobs
they can fill.
TWO
In addition, the Department of Employment, through its Human
Resources Development and Concentrated Employment programs, has
emphasized the development of training and placement of persons
from poverty areas Many persons served by these programs are
entering the labor market for the first time.
Further Coordination Proposed
Combination of the Job Training and Placement Council, the
Service Centers, and the Office of Economic Opportunity into one
department of Human Resources Development is proposed as part of
the Governor's plan to reorganize the executive branch of State
Government This would further coordinate and strengthen job
training and placement efforts
Cooperation with Private Sector Emphasized
Governor Reagan appointed H. C. McClellan to conduct statewide a
program patterned after the one he so successfully initiated in
the Watts area of Los Angeles, The entire program is privately
financed. His efforts, while directed toward all who lack
opportunity, offer particular hope to those minorities with a
disproportionate share of poverty and unemployment. Greater
effort has been made to cooperate with private welfare agencies.
New Methods Sought
New, more effective ways of reducing public dependency and
potential dependency are under study. One such effort is Project
FOCUS recently launched in cooperation with Fresno City and
County. This pilot program will employ the most modern management
techniques to weld together all of the available resources,
-6-
Federal, State, local, and private, in a concerted thrust aimed
at producing self-reliant citizens.
Growth of Welfare Rolls Slowed
There are encouraging signs that growth of the skyrocketing Aid
to the Disabled and Aid to Families with Dependent Children
programs has been slowed. While total numbers are still up, the
proportion of increase was less rapid than in the three years
preceding 1967, in part, at least, the result of the increased
emphasis on job placement, expanded efforts of rehabilitation and
a. closer check on eligibility.
Goals
The major welfare goal of this Administration is to help our
disadvantaged and our needy to help themselves to achieve
productive, meaningful lives to learn self-sufficiency and to
free themselves to the maximum extent possible from dependency on
public assistance. Employment is the route to that goal.
Short Term
Currently there are an estimated 83,000 persons on state welfare
rolls who are capable of training or employment. Some 12,000 of
these are in training programs, another 26,000 have part-time
employment. While the entire group is but a small portion of the
total welfare roll, their employment would have a snowball effect
since it would eliminate need for aid to their dependents. If
all 83,000 were on payrolls instead of aid rolls, the number of
persons on welfare could be cut by more than 300,000. This would
mean a monthly welfare savings of $15 million plus providing our
economy the benefit of their productivity.
More important, the children in these families would grow up in a
self-supporting, independent atmosphere in which they would learn
to recognize productive employment as the means to personal
fulfillment.
Long Range
The hope for significant reduction in public dependency lies with
the 480,000 children 12 years old or less who are now supported
on aid programs.
It is with this group that the cycle of recurring public dependency
must be snapped. They must not grow up to view welfare as a way
of life.
-7-
Conclusion
Welfare presents many difficult and complex problems. There are
no instant solutions. Major improvement will come only through
hard work and sustained determination. Significant progress,
however, was made in the first year of this Administration and
further achievements are anticipated this year. However, many of
the proposals to change the direction of welfare, to stress self-
sufficiency, and to streamline welfare administration, require
changes in State and Federal laws. Such changes have been
requested of the Legislature and the Congress.
In his message to the Legislature, the Governor recommended
legislation leading to a uniform standard of assistance which
would greatly simplify welfare administration and eliminate
present inequities.
To keep assistance to the disabled from becoming even more
inequitable, the Governor sponsored urgency legislation to
increase the average maximum grant above the now established
legal ceiling pending enactment of legislation to provide better
home care services for the disabled under a more favorable
Federal sharing formula that would reduce State cost by $4 million
and eliminate the $1.6 million county contribution.
The Governor also proposed that when the taxpayer has been
supporting the aged and disabled, then the taxpayer should share
in the estate with the provision that no settlement would be
required as long as a surviving spouse lives in the home.
Other recommendations were that computations of grants to married
persons should take into account all shared items and that
unnecessary disability assistance not be given to recipients
living with parents whose income is substantial.
Finally, in an effort to provide an incentive for adults receiving
aid for dependent children to secure employment rather than remain
on welfare, the Governor proposed that the maximum family payments
be equal to the earnings of a family breadwinner working for the
minimum legal wage.
APPENDIX
CHARACTERISTICS OF AFDC
The typical AFDC family group is comprised of a 31-year-old
mother, who has lived here 17 years, and her three children. The
family is likely to be of a minority group; 28 percent are Negro
and 23 percent are Mexican-Americans. Eighty-five percent of
these family groups qualify for aid on the basis of the father'
continued absence from the home. The mother has had an average
of nine years of education and is without work. Her past
employment is likely to have been in some kind of service, as a
waitress or domestic.
The average monthly assistance grant to this family is $171
There is some likelihood of outside income--43 percent have some
outside income, averaging about $90 per month. This usually is
in the form of contributions from the absent father, benefits
from OASDI, or earnings of the mother. Only about one-third of
the families have any personal property of value. Most of those
who do have some such property, have only a car--usually valued
at less than $150.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OAS
The typical old Age Security recipient is 77, widowed, has lived
here 35 years, and has received OAS for seven years. Seventy
percent are women. Negroes and Mexican-Americans are about
equally represented in the caseload, comprising 15 percent of the
total on OAS, and other minority groups represent about 3 percent.
The OAS recipient's average total monthly income is $160 from the
welfare grant, medical care and other income such as Social
Security. About 25 percent own their home, 3 percent own income-
producing property, and 70 percent have property reserves--mostly
cash, interment plots, or life insurance. Eighty-three percent
live in a house or apartment. Forty-four percent live alone.
About 11 percent live in a hotel or rooming house. Six percent
live in some type of out-of-home care facility.
There are about 291,000 OAS recipients; 24 percent of the total
persons on welfare.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AFDC-U
The typical AFDC-Unemployed family consists of a 33-year-old
father, a 30-year-old mother, and their four children. The family
has lived here about 15 years. Twenty-two percent are Negro;
KTOW=24A
DOLA so
26 percent are Mexican-American. The children in these families
qualify on the basis of the father's unemployment. Usually both
parents have completed about nine years of schooling. The
father's usual occupation is in operative, semiskilled or
unskilled labor. The mothers are less likely to have ever had
any kind of job than the mothers in the family group cases;
43 percent of the "U" mothers have never been employed, compared
to 23 percent of the family group mothers. Their employment,
15
again, has been in service work.
of
The "U" family has a monthly welfare grant of $206. Forty-four
percent have some outside income, averaging $130 per month; in
most cases from unemployment insurance benefits or earnings from
the father's part-time work. Less than 50 percent of these
families have any personal property of value, and nearly all of
those who do, own only a car valued at less than $150.
20
There are about 800,000 AFDC recipients; 66 percent of the total
persons on welfare. (AFDC family group and AFDC-Unemployed both
within this total.)
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