How Much Saved by Cutting Relief?

The Los Angeles County Supervisors appear poised to make a dramatic cut in the county’s general relief program. That local safety net has thus far allowed recipients to receive county-funded general relief checks indefinitely. The board could vote today on whether to cut back to just four months’ worth of benefits in one year’s time for able-bodied adults.

General relief goes to persons ineligible for other assistance. These programs are mandated in several states, but are funded by county governments. Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said that the board may be forced make these changes, in part, to fulfill a court order to pay back general relief benefits it once wrongly withheld from recipients.

That may open the board to charges it is “robbing Peter to pay Peter” in this case, but some perspective is needed. In 1991 and 1992, states such as Michigan completely eliminated general relief programs. Other states limit general relief to those who are disabled and cannot work. And a 1996 California law allows counties to reduce benefits to just three months a year, as San Diego County has done.

In other words, the supervisors, and particularly the state, had more draconian options but chose not to impose them. Orange County is wrestling with the same new welfare demands. Some supervisors there lean toward a sharp cut. Others suggest weaning off the dole.

Two issues remain. The anticipated savings from cutting relief do not come close to resolving potentially huge welfare reform costs unaddressed in the county’s proposed budget, a budget that already makes a number of assumptions about state and federal funding that may not develop. It’s likely that the supervisors haven’t gone nearly far enough on budget reductions or cutbacks.

There are long-term repercussions that supervisors ought to consider before voting. People on general relief bounced out of the safety net might just arrive at another county agency’s door. Additional burdens could be placed, for example, on the foster care system. Plainly, the savings that might accrue may be much smaller than anticipated.