Berg's legislation lifts county service consolidation deadline
Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard |
Article Launched:09/03/2007 04:15:16 AM PDT |
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California counties efforts to reduce expenses by consolidating services under health and human services departments got a boost last week with the Legislature's passage of Patty Berg's AB 315. Prior to the bill's passage on Thursday, counties had until Jan. 1, 2009 to complete efforts to offer services and benefits through integrated county health and human services departments. ”My bill helps counties use their limited resources to provide better services for county residents,” Berg said. “In an era of budget cuts, the key to cost savings and better services is to consolidate and streamline programs.” The county of Humboldt has already taken significant steps in that direction with the merging of several service-providing departments over the past eight years and was the first of California's counties to do so. ”Our model is pretty well publicized statewide,” said Phillip Crandall, director of Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services. That effort was initiated in 1999 with the passage of AB 1259 -- specifically naming Humboldt, Mendocino and Alameda counties-- and was supplemented with another bill in 2004 to continue the consolidation effort and open the option to all counties pending state approval, Crandall said. This year's legislation -- if signed by the governor -- will allow the county consolidation efforts to continue indefinitely. At the heart of all this effort to provide services in a more holistic manner is the ability to waive state regulations that would impede that objective. For example, Crandall said, one social worker could travel to visit a child placed out of the county -- addressing needs that involved more than one county department. Initially, the county consolidated social services, mental health and public health. A year or two later, Crandall said, the employee training department was added, followed later by the public guardian and veterans' sectors. The results is the ability to provide services more efficiently and improve communication across departments, Crandall said. ”As our resources get more and more limited,” he said, “We need to really try to target programs that work.” Under Berg's legislation, such consolidations require approval from each county's board of supervisors and include a list of 11 services that may be consolidated. The legislation will now be sent to the governor for his consideration. |
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