Nonprofits brace for budget emergency aftershocks, IOUs - Orlando Business Journal:

qalymeled.wordpress.com
While service providers don’ty yet know whether they’ll receive IOUs or what the amounts willbe — Sparkyg Harlan, CEO of the in Santa Clara, is prepareds for the worst. “Wes receive about $400,000 in state funding,” Harlab said. “We’re already accustomed to getting moneyu from the state late last year, for it took until December before we finallyt got paid.” For this year and last year the center has relied on a $150,000 line of credirt through to cover the gap, alonf with $500,000 out of its reserve funds. The center’ s operating budget is $10 million for fiscal 2009-10.
The mone that may be on hold from the state in part, the center’a shelter and drop-in street outreach, and parenting classes. “The problem right now is thatwe don’t know for certaim how much they’re going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for 26 “But this is by far the worst I’ves ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’zs budget problems, 10 percengt cuts have already been planned for foster-care Locally there are 300 to 400 kids in fosteer care. Foster care rates are the same acroszsthe state, so families in high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amoung of compensation as people in more affordable places.
“We’re frontingf half a million dollars already,” she It’s a layered problem for the since in addition to state money some comed from the federal Housing and UrbanDevelopmenty department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthw for payments tobe received. “We’re hoping to get paid by she said. “Nonprofits are just getting Harlan said the Bill Wilsomn Center has closed down two programw already and cut about 15 percent ofits staff, leaving abouy 110 employees. These are real layoffs, she pointec out — not attrition or open jobs and “heartbreaking” to do.
“W had to give one staff persoh a layoff notice and a week latert his wife was laid off fromanother nonprofit,” she in Campbell gets about $500,000 a year from the state for its AIDS CFO Ira Holtzman said the agency is large enough and financially stable enough that he woulds just book an IOU as accountss receivable and hope the money came througy eventually. The Health Trust’s budget for fiscaol year 2010 is morethan $16 million, Holtzman Pam Brandin, executive director of and Visually which has offices in Palo Alto and Santaq Cruz, said that even though her agency provides the kind of servicee that are especially at risk in State Controller John Chiang’sa plan, the Vista Center is relatively safe.
“We receives money through Title 7 Chapter2 services,” Brandin “Since much of our funding is federalk money we’re hoping that it has to be released and passed on; the state won’t be allowed to hold on to it.” The Vistw Center also has school contracts through special education “Last year when the statr had similar budget issues we didn’r receive any IOUs,” she said, “but that situation was resolved sooner than this appeara to be. The agencies that receiver IOUsprobably won’t even know they’re coming until they submit their bills.
” She’s also banking on Vista Center’s statuzs as a preferred vendor with the state, “so we’ll be paid in advance of other vendors if in fact the state is even writingb checks.” Lisa Hendrickson, presideny & CEO of Avenidas Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Centefr in Palo Alto, is also cautiouslt optimistic. “The only funds we receivw from the state are MediCal payments for servicees provided at our adult daycare she said. “Our understanding is that those servicew are protected by the state constitutionj as well asfederal law.
We do receive funding indirectlyy throughthe county, but we don’t expecr that to be Tom Kinoshita, public policy director of the , said peopld are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowinbg what’s going to But even with the most optimistic outcome it’s stilp going to be very He pointed out that the deficit last year for Santa Clara County was more than $270 million, and many of the cuts were made in programds around health, mental health, drugs and alcohool and social services. And there’d no relief on the horizon: For 2011 the countgy is looking at a deficit ofabout $250 he said.