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As the state's fiscal crisis has deepened over the last several years, social services programs – including IHSS – have been suggested for cuts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and this year is no different.
In his January budget, Schwarzenegger proposed capping the state's share of IHSS workers' compensation, which the California Budget Project estimated could cost the state's 370,000 IHSS workers $1.2 billion between this coming June and June 2011.
The report stated that Lake County's estimated 1,560 IHSS workers could lose more then $2.6 million
in that one-year period, a number that's more than half a million dollars higher than a local Social Services official believes it could be.
The California Budget Project reported that 450,000 low-income seniors and those with disabilities receive services through the IHSS program.
Because of the care they receive – help with dressing and bathing, house keeping, meal preparation, shopping and other domestic tasks – IHSS care recipients are able to remain in their homes.
The federal government pays 61.6 percent of IHSS costs, the state pays 25 percent and counties pay 13.4 percent, the California Budget Project reported.
In February 2009 the state Legislature capped the state cost of IHSS workers' wages and benefits at $10.10 per hour, including $9.50 an hour in pay and $0.60 an hour in benefits, but the California Budget Project reported that a federal district court has issued an injunction to stop the implementation of that plan.
Schwarzenegger's recent plan, which would take effect June 1 if approved, proposes to go deeper, capping the state's IHSS contribution at the California minimum wage level of $8 plus $0.60 an hour for benefits.
Forty-five of California's 58 counties – including Lake – pay combined wages and benefits above the $8.60 level, according to the report. The highest compensation in the state is $14.84 an hour in Santa Clara County, while the lowest is minimum wage, found in several counties including Colusa, Humboldt and Lassen counties.
Carol Huchingson, director of Lake County Social Services, said Lake County currently pays $8.75 an hour in wages, plus $0.60 for benefits, for a total of $9.35 hourly.
Huchingson said she found the California Budget Project estimate of $2.6 million in lost compensation for local IHSS workers over the coming year to be high.
She estimated it would actually be just under $2 million, a number based on her estimate of 2.6 million recipient hours for the coming fiscal year.
She said the governor also has proposed reducing the eligibility for IHSS recipients based on the level of disability.
However, she said many of those proposals – like the previous cap on wages – were stopped by litigation.
Even if the new proposals moved forward, she said advocacy groups typically are the next line of defense and will take the proposals to court.
Still, the state's fiscal crisis adds to the uncertainty. “I do question at what point does the whole thing just go over the top because the state has no money,” said Huchingson, who added that she doesn't believe that the wage cuts will be upheld this year.
Tristan Brown, political director for California United Homecare Workers – the union that represents local IHSS caregivers – is concerned that the threat of cuts remains very real.
He said there also have been suggestions that IHSS be completely eliminated – which met opposition in the Legislature – or that an 80-percent cut in “nonmedical” services be instituted. Such services include shopping, housekeeping and other important kinds of care.
He called that proposal a “devastatingly massive cut.”
Likewise, Brown said the suggestion that assessments of disabled clients be used to limit eligibility will hurt people in need.
With the state looking at a huge deficit, Brown thinks that when the governor's May revise comes out IHSS will still be facing cuts. That's because he said priorities appear to be shifting elsewhere; he pointed to a stand being taken by legislators around education money.
The federal portion of IHSS – at nearly 62 percent – is the highest it's ever been, and Brown suggested that any program that brings that kind of federal money into counties shouldn't be on the chopping block. Cutting IHSS could cause the state to lose that money altogether, he added.
Brown said there's a general sense in Sacramento that people are bracing for the cuts to come.
“Any cut to this program is devastating to people,” he said, adding that the union believes that the proposals for scaling back services are a matter of life and death for some IHSS recipients.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Leland Buckmaster of Nice was found not guilty of five theft, contracting related and elder theft counts filed by the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson charged Buckmaster with theft from an elder, grand theft, embezzlement, contracting without a license and charging in excess of $1,000 for a deposit on a contract, according to a statement from Buckmaster's attorney, Doug Rhoades.
Following two days of testimony, the jury took only 45 minutes to return not guilty verdicts on all counts, Rhoades said.
The jury foreperson, who did not authorize use of a name, stated the case was such that no proof of the charges sufficient for a guilty verdict had been provided by the prosecution.
“This case should never have been filed or prosecuted” was the opinion of the foreperson.
Buckmaster had been charged based on an agreement to provide a water filtration system which was not completed in a timely manner.
After the not guilty verdicts, the defendant thanked the jurors as they exited the courtroom.
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And no doubt you’ve heard that the US Census count drives not only how many congressional and state representatives we have working in our behalf but the distribution of some $400 billion a year for important programs in education, health care, transportation and other areas that define our quality of life.
You’ve stayed on top of how Lake County’s budgets were cut this last decade and want to do your part to be sure it gets no worse – but what if you never received a form? Well, grab your coat or grab your phone – your choice!
If you’re not busy this Saturday, April 17, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., you can join Lake County’s March to the Mailbox at Austin Park in Clearlake.
Pick up a form or get help completing it from a sworn census worker, score some census memorabilia, munch down on a tasty hot dog and groove to the sweet sounds of the Lower Lake Jazz Band – all courtesy of Lake County’s own Complete Count Committee.
Other community organizations will be there to provide you with information you can use and, starting about noon, you can dialogue with local dignitaries and census representatives about the importance of Census 2010 and how it was conducted.
Not your cup of tea? Then grab your phone and call the Telephone Questionnaire Assistance line. One quick phone call and a Census 2010 form will be mailed to your residence or post office box – again, your choice – so that you can complete it in the privacy of your own home.
Whichever way works best for you – if you haven’t completed a Census 2010 Questionnaire, now is the time to do it. It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s important to how our next decade here in Lake County “shapes up.”
Stand up for your community – be counted!
For more information about the March to the Mailbox event, call Melissa Swanson at 707-994-8201 extension 106.
To request a new form – mailed to your home or post office box – call 1-866-872-6868 (English), 1-866-928-2010 (Spanish), 1-866-783-2010 (TDD) or another of the language-specific lines posted at www.census2010.gov.
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The crash that injured the 16-year-old female – and also left her 17-year-old passenger with minor injuries – occurred at around 8:30 a.m. Monday in rainy conditions, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay. Neither of the teens were identified due to their minor status.
Tanguay said the teen driver, in a 1994 Honda Accord, was at the stop sign on Hartmann Road at Highway 29 when she pulled out in an attempt to turn left.
Thomas Lamburth, 35, of Middletown was driving a 2007 Ford F-350 northbound on Highway 29, approaching the intersection, when the Honda Accord pulled out in Lamburth's path, Tanguay said.
Tanguay said Lamburth was unable to avoid a collision, with the front of his truck hitting the Accord's driver's side.
South Lake County Fire Protection District and CHP responded to the scene. Both vehicles sustained major damage, and Tanguay said the Accord's driver had to be extricated from the vehicle before she was taken by ground ambulance to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, where she was treated for major injuries.
Due to the weather conditions, emergency personnel had been uncertain that they could safely fly the young woman out to the hospital, Tanguay said.
The teenage passenger also was injured, but Lamburth was not, Tanguay added.
Highway 29 remained open during the course of the investigation. Tanguay said CHP Officer Brian Engle is the lead investigator on the incident.
The report noted that Lamburth and both teens were wearing their safety belts.
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The quake, reported at 11:02 p.m., occurred at a depth of less than one mile, according to the US Geological Survey.
It was centered two miles west southwest of Anderson Springs, five miles east southeast of The Geysers and five miles south of Cobb, the agency reported.
The US Geological Survey received shake reports from Middletown, Sunnyvale, Durham and San Jose.
Cobb resident Roger Kinney reported being able to hear the quake before it hit. He said it was a shaking and rolling type of temblor which didn't get as big as he expected.
The 3.3-magnitude quake was followed about a minute later by a 1.8-magnitude aftershock, centered in the same location, US Geological Survey records showed. At 11:04 p.m., a 1.4-magnitude temblor occurred two miles west southwest of Anderson Springs and five miles east southeast of The Geysers.
A 3.1-magnitude earthquake occurred near The Geyser geothermal steamfield on April 10, as Lake County News has reported.
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A group of local stakeholders has come together to conduct a countywide needs assessment in Lake County, and is working with a consultant firm, Barbara Aved Associates.
The goal is to create a report by fall 2010 that identifies key health needs and barriers to receiving services, and is useful for prioritizing and planning programs and services that improve the quality of life in Lake County.
A wide variety of data will be collected during the assessment process. These include commonly used measures of population health status, such as the incidence of certain diseases and death rates, and social and economic variables that have been shown to affect a person’s health, including income,
education, employment, and even literacy, language and culture.
To ensure the community has an opportunity to participate, surveys, interviews and focus groups will be held throughout the county over the next couple of months.
The Healthy Lake County Questionnaire is a general survey that is available for Lake County residents to provide their opinions about health needs and recommendations.
Printed in English and Spanish on light blue paper, the survey has been placed in a variety of places in the county (for example, libraries, coffee shops, campuses) and will also be distributed at health fairs, casinos, churches, etc.
People can also take the survey online by going to www.surveymonkey.com/s/HealthyLakeCountyQuestionnaire .
Both the online and paper surveys will be available from April 9 until May 26.
Co-workers, clients, customers, neighbors and friends, and other residents are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to guide policymakers in improving health in Lake County by voicing their opinions in the Healthy Lake County Questionnaire.
For further information, please call 707-263-1090.
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