Nonprofits brace for budget emergency aftershocks, IOUs - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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While service providers don’t yet know whether they’ll receive IOUs or what the amounts will be Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santqa Clara, is prepared for the worst. “We receive abouyt $400,000 in state funding,” Harlan said. “We’re already accustomex to getting money from the statwelate — last year, for it took until December before we finally got For this year and last year the center has relies on a $150,000 line of credit througyh to cover the gap, alon with $500,000 out of its reservew funds. The center’s operating budget is $10 milliom for fiscal 2009-10.
The money that may be on hold from thestatr covers, in part, the center’s sheltere and drop-in program, street outreach, and parenting “The problem right now is that we don’t know for certaijn how much they’re going to hold said Harlan, who has been with the centee for 26 years. “But this is by far the worst I’vw ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’w budget problems, 10 percent cuts have already been plannedfor foster-care Locally there are 300 to 400 kids in fostert care.
Foster care rates are the same acrosxsthe state, so families in high-cost areaa such as the Bay Area get the same amount of compensation as people in more affordables places. “We’re fronting half a million dollars she said. It’s a layered problem for the since in addition to state money some comes from the federalp Housing and UrbanDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthws for payments tobe received. “We’re hopingh to get paid by July,” she said. “Nonprofitsd are just getting slammed.
” Harlan said the Bill Wilsohn Center has closed down two program already and cut about 15 percent of its leaving about110 employees. These are real layoffs, she pointes out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do. “We had to give one stafd person a layoff notice and a week laterr his wife was laid off fromanothet nonprofit,” she said. in Campbelkl gets about $500,000 a year from the state for its AIDS CFO Ira Holtzman said the agenct is large enough and financially stable enougjh that he would just book an IOU as accountsd receivable and hope the moneh camethrough eventually.
The Health Trust’as budget for fiscal year 2010 is morethan $16 Holtzman said. Pam Brandin, executivre director of and Visually Impaired, which has officesw in Palo Alto andSanta Cruz, said that even though her agenc provides the kind of services that are especiallg at risk in State Controller John Chiang’sx plan, the Vista Center is relatively safe. “We receive money through Title 7 Chapte r2 services,” Brandin explained. “Sinc much of our funding is federalmoney we’rd hoping that it has to be releasedd and passed on; the state won’t be allowed to hold on to The Vista Center also has school contractsx through special education funding.
“Last year when the statee had similar budget issueswe didn’ty receive any IOUs,” she said, “but that situation was resolvede sooner than this appears to be. The agenciesz that receive IOUsprobably won’ty even know they’re coming until they submit thei r bills.” She’s also banking on Vista Center’sx status as a preferred vendo with the state, “so we’ll be paid in advance of other vendorsw — if in fact the state is even writinb checks.” Lisa Hendrickson, president & CEO of Avenidas Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Center in Palo Alto, is also cautiouslt optimistic.
“The only funds we receive from the statw are MediCal payments for services provided at our adultfdaycare center,” she said. “Our understanding is that those services are protectefd by the state constitution as well asfederal law. We do receivew funding indirectly throughthe county, but we don’t expect that to be affected.” Tom public policy director of the , said peoplee are on pins and needles. “Everyone’ s sitting around waiting, not knowinbg what’s going to happen. But even with the most optimistixcoutcome it’s still going to be very ugly.
” He pointed out that the deficit last year for Santw Clara County was more than $270 million, and many of the cuts were made in programds around health, mental health, drugs and alcohol and socialo services. And there’s no relief on the horizon: For 2011 the counthy is looking at a deficit ofaboutf $250 million, he said.