Jackson - Matt Zanze, Director of Amador County Social Services, presented the Board of Supervisors Tuesday with a dire picture of the state of his department during our current economic recession. “As you know, given the situation in the county and the country, we have a lot of people requesting social services for the first time,” said Zanze. Applications for all assistance programs have remained above 350 since December of 2008. Zanze said there are currently 2,133 social services cases in Amador County through which people are receiving benefits from the County Medical Services Program, MediCal, Food Stamps and Cash Aid. Continuing social service cases for all assistance programs have increased from 1,918 in July 2008 to 2,133. Food Stamp issuance has steadily increased from $186,084 in July of 2008 to $318,407 in July of 2009. Supervisor Brian Oneto questioned why there is such a high increase in food stamps compared to other areas of aid. Zanze replied: “People are now on food stamps that have never been on food stamps before in their life.” Zanze said “the number of people applying for aid has grown…and applying for aid is not an easy process.” Zanze expressed concern over a state proposed 10 percent reduction in child welfare services. In addition, the state is considering cuts to child/vocational programs and cuts in medical aid. Some of this legislation may not go into effect until 2011. Social Services will receive allocation letters determining how much they will get from the State by late September or early October. “We don’t want to run out of money by April or May because we’re spending money we don’t have,” said Zanze. Perhaps most worrisome to Zanze is what he called a “statewide push” for fair hearings. Under California law, anyone who applies for aid is allowed a hearing if the aid they receive is discontinued or reduced. Zanze said these hearings must go before a limited amount of administrative law judges and there is a movement backed by unions and advocacy groups for the disabled to bring as many people to these hearings as possible in order to “prove a point.” On the subject of fraud, Zanze said, “there is a certain amount of fraud in just about every program.” He recalled the story of a woman who was pulling in two incomes from Amador and Calaveras County and not reporting that additional income to his department. “I can’t say (fraud) is a zero, but it’s minimal. Every worker is, in a sense, a fraud investigator’” he said. Board Chairman Ted Novelli thanked Zanze and his staff for all of their hard work and service to the county. There was no action taken regarding the presentation. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.