Nonprofits brace for budget emergency aftershocks, IOUs - The Business Review (Albany):

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While service providers don’tt yet know whether they’ll receive IOUs — or what the amounts will be Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santa is prepared forthe worst. “We receive about $400,00p in state funding,” Harlan “We’re already accustomed to gettint money from the statelate — last year, for example, it took untikl December before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the centefr has relied on a $150,000 line of credit through to cover the gap, alonhg with $500,000 out of its reserv funds.
The center’s operating budget is $10 million for fiscal The money that may be on hold from thestatee covers, in part, the center’s shelter and drop-i n program, street outreach, and parenting classes. “The problekm right now is thatwe don’gt know for certain how much they’re going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for 26 “But this is by far the worsyt I’ve ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’s budget 10 percent cuts have already been planned for foster-carse payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids infostert care.
Foster care ratezs are the same acrossthe state, so familiesw in high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amounyt of compensation as people in more affordabl e places. “We’re fronting half a million dollarx already,” she said. It’s a layered problem for the since in addition to state money some comess from the federal Housing and UrbamDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthz for payments tobe received. “We’re hoping to get paid by she said.
“Nonprofits are just getting Harlan said the Bill Wilson Centerd has closed down two programs already and cut about 15 percenrt ofits staff, leaving about 110 employees. These are real she pointed out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do. “We had to give one staffd person a layoff notice and a week latee his wife was laid off fromanothee nonprofit,” she said. in Campbell gets about $500,000 a year from the statse for itsAIDS services.
CFO Ira Holtzman said the agencu is large enough and financially stable enough that he woulxd just book an IOU as accounts receivable and hope the money came through TheHealth Trust’s budget for fiscakl year 2010 is more than $16 million, Holtzmab said. Pam Brandin, executive director of and Visually which has offices in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, said that even though her agency provide the kind of services that are especiallyy at risk in State Controller John Chiang’w plan, the Vista Center is relativelyt safe. “We receive money throughb Title 7 Chapter2 services,” Brandin explained.
“Since much of our fundintg is federalmoney we’re hoping that it has to be released and passed on; the statd won’t be allowed to hold on to it.” The Vistaq Center also has school contracts through special educationh funding. “Last year when the statd had similar budget issueswe didn’t receiv any IOUs,” she said, “butt that situation was resolved soonef than this appears to be.
The agencies that receiv e IOUsprobably won’t even know they’re coming untilp they submit their She’s also banking on Vista Center’s status as a preferref vendor with the state, “so we’llp be paid in advance of othee vendors — if in fact the statew is even writing checks.” Lisa president & CEO of Avenidax Rose Kleiner Senior Day Healtjh Center in Palo Alto, is also cautiousl optimistic. “The only funds we receivs from the state are MediCal payments for services provided at our adulttdaycare center,” she said. “Ourt understanding is that those services are protected by the statre constitution as well asfederakl law.
We do receive funding indirectlh throughthe county, but we don’t expect that to be Tom Kinoshita, public policy directo r of the , said people are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowing what’s goingt to happen. But even with the most optimistivcoutcome it’s still going to be very He pointed out that the deficiy last year for Santa Clara County was more than $270 and many of the cuts were made in programsx around health, mental drugs and alcohol and social services. And there’s no relievf on the horizon: For 2011 the county is lookingf at a deficit ofabout $250 million, he said.