March 9th, 2010
On March 2 around 100 employers attended the third “Cash for Employers” event where they learned about a variety of fiscal benefits and programs for hiring hard-to-employ populations, including the formerly incarcerated. At the event the Reentry Network promoted the Reentry Employment Toolkit which outlines the financial incentives and benefits associated with hiring people who have a past conviction. The event also highlighted the Alameda County Social Service Agencies Subsidized Employment Program and the City of Oakland’s Enterprise zone tax credits. Cash for Employers was held at the East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF). All of the documents and materials from the event, including the Reentry Employment Toolkit can be accessed through the links below.
- Reentry Employer Toolkit
- Employer-Based Asset Building Strategies
- Subsidized Employment Program summary
- Employer Programs Overview
- Enterprise Zone Tax Credits
- Cash for Employers Event AGENDA_Final
- Cash For Employers PowerPoint
March 8th, 2010
These materials were developed for our Clear The Count convening and outreach in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, made possible with funding by the Kapor Foundation. We are making these available under a Creative Commons Attribute & Share Alike license. Feel free to print or modify these in your own promition of the US Census 2010, just check the license terms so you understand and share away!
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Carmen Violich
February 26th, 2010
Matthew Cate, Secretary of the the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, discusses the Department’s new parole policies, the importance of research in guiding policy decisions, his prior work as Inspector General of the agency he now leads, his advice for the next Governor on California corrections, and more.
Cate on the California Juvenile Justice System
Cate on Advice to the Next Governor
Click HERE to listen
February 22nd, 2010
The following is taken from a San Francisco Chronicle article on February 11, 2010. To see the full article follow this link: In-Home Health Care Workers
(02-11) 15:45 PST OAKLAND — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had no legal authority to disqualify everyone with a felony record from working in the program that provides in-home care to 430,000 low-income elderly and disabled Californians, a judge ruled Thursday.
State law bars workers from the program for 10 years if they have been convicted of child abuse, elder abuse or defrauding Medi-Cal or any patient, said Judge David Hunter of Alameda County Superior Court.
Outside of people in that category, in-home patients can employ anyone they want, Hunter said. He said Schwarzenegger’s broader ban, covering any past felony conviction, exceeded his powers.
Schwarzenegger’s restrictions took effect Nov. 1 but were suspended Nov. 24 by another judge’s restraining order. That order expired Jan. 29, but the state has refrained from enforcing the ban while awaiting Hunter’s ruling, said Lizelda Lopez, spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services.
The state could appeal the ruling. Lopez said the department is reviewing it.
“We are following the court order, but we do not believe convicted felons should be eligible to care for elderly and disabled Californians in their homes,” she said.
The ruling came in a lawsuit by care workers and patients who said the Republican governor’s plan would make it impossible for many recipients to employ their chosen caregiver – often a close relative or friend – because of a conviction from many years ago. Losing in-home care might force them into nursing homes, they said.
One plaintiff is a Sacramento woman who provides in-home care for her 90-year-old mother. She said she would be disqualified under the governor’s plan because of a 1976 conviction for felony grand theft.
Another plaintiff is a Long Beach man who was convicted 40 years ago of possession of marijuana, then a felony, and now cares for a friend recovering from a stroke.
The In-Home Supportive Services program provides care to the blind and disabled and those older than 65 who need help with daily tasks to live at home. The federal government pays half the cost.
Schwarzenegger says there is widespread fraud in the program and has ordered background checks for caregivers and fingerprinting for workers and recipients.
A federal judge has stopped the state from cutting $2 an hour from in-home workers’ wages, now $10 to $12 an hour in most counties. The same judge has blocked another cost-cutting measure that would eliminate home care for 36,000 people and reduce services for another 97,000. The state has appealed both rulings.
Schwarzenegger’s 2010-11 budget proposes to drop 87 percent of the recipients from the program and would eliminate all state funding unless the federal government increases aid to California by $6.9 billion. Legislative Democratic leaders have opposed his plan.
E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.
