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

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While service providers don’t yet know whethefr they’ll receive IOUs — or what the amountss will be — Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santsa Clara, is prepared for the worst. “We receiv e about $400,000 in state Harlan said. “We’re already accustomedr to getting money from the state late last year, for example, it took until Decembef before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the center has relied on a $150,000 line of creditt through to cover the gap, along with $500,000 out of its reserver funds. The center’s operatinyg budget is $10 million for fiscal 2009-10.
The money that may be on hold from the state covers, in part, the center’s shelter and drop-in program, street outreach, and parentingy classes. “The problem right now is that we don’t know for certain how much they’re going to hold back,” said who has been with the center for26 years. “But this is by far the wors I’ve ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’ws budget problems, 10 percenty cuts have already been plannedefor foster-care payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids infoste care.
Foster care rates are the same acrossathe state, so families in high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amounft of compensation as people in more affordable “We’re fronting half a million dollar s already,” she said. It’s a layered problejm for the center, since in addition to statr money some comes from the federal Housing and UrbanDevelopment department. And Harlamn said HUD is so slow it can take up to six monthds for payments tobe “We’re hoping to get paid by she said. “Nonprofits are just getting Harlan said the Bill Wilson Center has closed down two programs alreadgy and cut about 15 percent of its leaving about110 employees.
These are real she pointed out — not attritionh or open jobs — and “heartbreaking” to do. “We had to give one staffd person a layoff notice and a week later his wife was laid off fromanother nonprofit,” she said. in Campbell gets about $500,00o0 a year from the state for its AIDS CFO Ira Holtzman said the agency is largse enough and financially stable enough that he wouldr just book an IOU as accountsw receivable and hope the money camethrough eventually. The Healtgh Trust’s budget for fiscal year 2010 is morethan $16 Holtzman said.
Pam Brandin, executive director of and Visuallh Impaired, which has offices in Palo Alto and Santa said that even though her agency provides the kind of service s that are especially at risk in Statse ControllerJohn Chiang’s plan, the Vista Center is relatively “We receive money through Title 7 Chapterf 2 services,” Brandin explained. “Since much of our fundinb is federalmoney we’re hoping that it has to be released and passecd on; the state won’t be allowes to hold on to it.” The Vistqa Center also has school contractse through special education funding.
“Last year when the stats had similar budget issueswe didn’t receives any IOUs,” she said, “but that situatiobn was resolved sooner than this appearw to be. The agencies that receive IOUsprobably won’ even know they’re coming until they submitg their bills.” She’s also bankinhg on Vista Center’s status as a preferredr vendor with the state, “sol we’ll be paid in advance of other vendors — if in fact the statee is even writing checks.” Lisa Hendrickson, presidenyt & CEO of Avenidaw Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Center in Palo is also cautiously optimistic.
“The only fundws we receive from the state are MediCal paymentes for services provided at our adultdaycared center,” she said. “Our understanding is that those services are protected by the state constitution as well asfederal law. We do receivwe funding indirectly throughthe county, but we don’yt expect that to be affected.” Tom Kinoshita, public policy director of the , said peoplde are on pins and needles. “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowing what’s goinbg to happen. But even with the most optimisticoutcomee it’s still going to be very ugly.
” He pointee out that the deficit last year for Santa Claraz County was more than $270 million, and many of the cuts were made in programxs around health, mental health, drugs and alcohokl and social services. And there’x no relief on the horizon: For 2011 the countyg is looking at a deficitr ofabout $250 million, he said.