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

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While service providers don’t yet know whethe r they’ll receive IOUs — or what the amountds will be — Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santsa Clara, is prepared for the “We receive about $400,000 in state funding,” Harlajn said. “We’re already accustomed to getting monehy from the statelate — last for example, it took untilo December before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the centetr has relied on a $150,000 line of credit through to coverf the gap, along with $500,000 out of its reserv funds. The center’s operating budget is $10 milliohn for fiscal 2009-10.
The money that may be on hold from the state covers, in part, the center’s shelter and drop-in street outreach, and parenting classes. “The problenm right now is thatwe don’t know for certain how much they’rs going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for 26 years. “But this is by far the worsty I’ve ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’ds budget problems, 10 percent cuts have already been plannedfor foster-carw payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids infosterd care.
Foster care rates are the same acroswsthe state, so families in high-costf areas such as the Bay Area get the same amount of compensation as people in more affordable places. “We’re fronting half a milliom dollars already,” she said. It’s a layered problem for the since in addition to state money some comesz from the federal Housing and Urba nDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthe for payments tobe “We’re hoping to get paid by she said. “Nonprofits are just gettinbg slammed.
” Harlan said the Bill Wilson Cente r has closed down two programs already and cut abouyt 15 percent ofits staff, leaving abou 110 employees. These are real layoffs, she pointex out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do. “Wed had to give one stafcf person a layoff notice and a week latedr his wife was laid off from another she said. in Campbelp gets about $500,000 a year from the statw for its AIDS CFO Ira Holtzman said the agency is largr enough and financially stable enough that he would just book an IOU as accountss receivable and hope the money camethrough eventually.
The Healtyh Trust’s budget for fiscal year 2010 is morethan $16 million, Holtzmanm said. Pam Brandin, executive directot of and Visually Impaired, which has officee in Palo Alto andSanta Cruz, said that even thougy her agency provides the kind of servicee that are especially at risk in Statr Controller John Chiang’s plan, the Vista Center is relatively “We receive money through Title 7 Chapte 2 services,” Brandin explained. “Since much of our funding is federaplmoney we’re hoping that it has to be released and passed on; the state won’tf be allowed to hold on to it.
” The Vistaw Center also has school contractxs through special education funding. “Lastg year when the state had simila budget issueswe didn’t receiver any IOUs,” she “but that situation was resolved soonerf than this appears to be. The agencies that receive IOUsprobably won’t even know they’re coming until they submit their bills.” She’d also banking on Vista Center’s status as a preferre d vendor with the state, “so we’ll be paid in advancs of other vendors — if in fact the statee is even writing checks.
” Lisa president & CEO of Avenidas Rose Kleinere Senior Day Health Center in Palo is also cautiously optimistic. “Thwe only funds we receive from the state are MediCal payments for services provided at our adulttdaycare center,” she said. “Our understandin g is that those services are protected by the statre constitution as well asfedera law. We do receive funding indirectlgy throughthe county, but we don’g expect that to be affected.” Tom public policy director of the , said peoplde are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowing what’s going to happen.
But even with the most optimisticfoutcome it’s still going to be very ugly.” He pointefd out that the deficit last year for Santa Clara Countyh was more than $270 million, and many of the cuts were made in programw around health, mental health, drugs and alcohol and social And there’s no relief on the horizon: For 2011 the countyh is looking at a deficit of about $250 million, he