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Governor Announces $26.5 Million In Funding Awarded to 29 Counties To Help In Anti-Fraud Efforts In the IHSS Program 16 Other Counties Will Also Get Funding When They Submit Completed Plans – Governor Gives No Hint On What He Will Be Proposing In His 2010-2011 State Budget In Brief Sacramento Press Conference SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN) [Updated 12/21/09 12:40 PM (Pacific Time) - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this afternoon that 45 counties have been or will be awarded a total of $26.5 million in funding to help in efforts to reduce fraud in their county In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. The Governor made the announcement in a press conference held in Sacramento with Scott Thorpe, executive director of the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) and Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully. Los Angeles County, which has the most IHSS recipients and providers, will be receiving $9,460,104, with Sacramento County coming in with the second highest award amount - $3,057,697. The award money is not going to the IHSS or county welfare programs in those or other counties – but to the anti-fraud and abuse efforts in those and other counties headed or led by their county district attorneys. “I promised to fight fraud and abuse in California’s In-Home Supportive Services, which assists some of California’s most vulnerable citizens. Today, I am proud to announce $26.5 million in awards that will help root out fraud in this program,” said the Governor. “Any fraud in our system is too much and, now more than ever, every dollar must count. We estimate a significant return on our investment in this budget year alone and that is very good news not only for taxpayers but especially for the Californians that rely on the resources provided by this important program.” Behind the Governor stood members of a special Sacramento County task force composed of various local law enforcement and other county agencies that was formed September 1st to coordinate anti-fraud efforts in the Sacramento County IHSS program. The Governor said that the $26 million in funding was leveraged with federal and county funds – and is a part of the larger effort to address fraud and abuse in the IHSS program including mandatory fingerprinting and criminal background checks, unannounced home visits. The Governor said that the anti-fraud efforts are expected to result in State General Fund savings of $130 million during the 2009-2010 State budget year. He said that the the total cost of the $26.5 million in anti-fraud awards is shared between state, federal and county funds (the revised 2009-2010 State Budget appropriated $10 million from the state’s General Fund, with $12.2 million in federal matching funds and $4.3 million in county matching funds) John Wagner, director of the Department of Social Services that oversees statewide the IHSS program, in a statement said that “This funding will go a long way in assisting counties and the state to make sure that our scarce public dollars are available to people with legitimate needs. When people commit fraud, our ability to serve California’s neediest people is compromised.” New Worker Requirements Went Into Effect November 1st Those new requirements for all IHSS workers and those wishing to be an IHSS worker went into effect on November 1st, despite wide spread concerns raised by many counties and advocates who said that the State did not have the proper materials, instructions or released funding for additional county staff to implement the changes. Some of the deadlines to comply with the new requirements vary for persons who currently are IHSS workers (providers) from those who apply to be a worker after the November 1st effective date. However a State Superior Court Judge in Alameda County has blocked – at least for now - the Schwarzenegger Administration from implementing the new requirements specifically related to felony convictions for IHSS workers or prospective IHSS workers until a court hearing set for January 26th, to hear a lawsuit that is seeking to permanently halt those specific requirements. Other lawsuits reportedly are being considered or will soon be filed to stop the other new requirements including unannounced home visits (of persons receiving services under IHSS) and fingerprinting. Governor Praises IHSS Program and Says “Majority Of Providers Are Hard Working People and Honest” The Governor said that the IHSS program, which serves over 462,000 children and adults with disabilities (including developmental), persons with mental health issues, traumatic brain and other injuries, persons with Alzheimer’s, MS and other disorders, and low income seniors, is very important and allows “many Californians to stay in their own homes” and not be forced into living in a nursing facility or other institution. He said that while the “majority of [IHSS] providers and recipients all play by the rules”, and that the “majority [of IHSS workers] are hard working people and honest” that there were still some IHSS providers who were abusing the system. The Governor several made note of recent county grand jury reports that he said indicated “rampant fraud and abuse” in their county IHSS programs, though did not go into any details. The Governor said that California “taxpayers are being defrauded and some IHSS recipients are being victimized…” when fraud and abuse occurs in the IHSS program. District Attorney Scully said that the funding awarded to Sacramento County would help support its anti-fraud efforts in what she described as an “unprecedented partnership” of local, state and federal law enforcement and other agencies to stop fraud and abuse in the Sacramento County IHSS program. She added that “eligible IHSS participants and providers have nothing to fear” and that their target was for those abusing or defrauding the IHSS program in Sacramento County. However advocates have criticized the Governor for his previous budget proposals – and the Legislature controlled by the Democrats for approving many of those proposals – that called for massive reductions, including cuts to the State’s contribution (participation) toward IHSS worker wages; major reductions in eligibility and services based on a little known internal assessment tool, and new requirements for IHSS workers. Two separate federal lawsuits have stopped the cuts to the State contribution toward IHSS worker wages and reductions to eligbility and services using the “functional index score and rankings” assessment tools. In addition to those budget reductions and policy changes included a line item veto he made cutting an additional over $37 million impacting IHSS Public Authorities, which is also the focus of two separate state lawsuits – though the courts have not yet ruled on either case. Some advocates and advocacy organizations have also criticized several of the Governor’s anti-fraud and abuse proposals to the IHSS program – and also how some of the district attorneys are implementing those efforts as targeting or adversely impacting legitimate IHSS recipients and workers. Both the Governor and district attorneys have denied those claims in previous press conferences. Governor Gives No Hints On What He Will Include In 2010-2011 State Budget The Governor, who will be soon submitting his proposed 2010-2011 State Budget on or before January 8th that is certain to include new major proposed spending cuts to health and human services in order to close what is projected to be a budget shortfall of over $21 billion, said that the effort to combat “waste, fraud and abuse in government programs” is very important right now when California faces yet another budget crisis and limited funds. However the Governor gave no hint or any details on what he plans to do when he submits his final budget, sometime on or before January 8th or whether he would be proposing new reductions to the IHSS program or other health and human services. Reporters present during the press conference also did not ask any questions seeking those details – though two questions did focus on the health care reform effort in Congress and its impact on California. The Governor did indicate that he will be emphasizing to the Legislature next year the issue of “jobs, jobs, jobs” as his number one priority, noting the State’s continued high employment rate of over 12%. Most advocates believe that massive new cuts will be proposed to many state funded programs when the Governor submits his budget proposal – the final one before he leaves office after completing his final term, next January 2011. The Governor said he would be forced to make more new spending cuts, when he spoke to the Fresno and Sacramento Bee editorial boards earlier in the Fall, after saying the state faced a growing budget shortfall in the current budget year – and in the following year that was enormous and higher than what was expected. He said then and has repeated since then that he would not be in favor of proposing new tax increases to fill the gap, as he did last February. Governor Praises President Obama’s Efforts In Health Care Reform In response to a reporter’s question about the Governor’s view of the health care battle in Congress, Schwarzenegger praised President Obama’s “great work” on the health care reform effort and his “will and determination” and said he was “very supportive” of the overall reform efforts, but that it was his responsibility as governor to see that the State gets “our fair share of the federal money” in several different areas. In an issue that he said would impact future budgets – but not the current or next one – that he was concerned about was a possible $3 billion in new costs that would be required by new federal requirements that California could face under the current versions of health care reform being considered by Congress. The Governor said that the state is getting “only 78 cents to the dollar we pay in federal taxes” and that it was “unfair that we face an additional $3 billion” in new federal mandates (requirements) “when other states are exempt”. LIST OF 26 COUNTIES WHO WILL RECEIVE FUNDING

• Alameda - $1,368,425
• Amador - $20,046
• Butte - $198,954
• Contra Costa - $599,980
• Fresno - $740,277
• Glenn - $44,403
• Imperial - $220,269
• Kern - $313,886
• Kings - $76,244
• Lassen - $23,775
• Los Angeles - $9,460,104
• Mariposa - $36,548
• Merced - $153,043
• Napa - $78,307
• Orange - $868,962
• Placer - $230,229
• Riverside - $854,232
• Sacramento - $3,057,697
• San Bernardino - $1,286,402
• San Francisco - $680,033
• San Joaquin - $402,878
• Santa Clara - $1,034,435
• Shasta - $150,768
• Solano - $361,386
• Sonoma - $361,728
• Stanislaus - $397,775
• Ventura - $229,184
• Yolo - $118,901
• Yuba - $76,907

LIST OF 16 OTHER COUNTIES WHO WILL RECEIVE FUNDING ONCE THEIR PLANS ARE COMPLETED:

• Calaveras - $27,901
• Colusa - $30,730
• Del Norte - $17,957
• Humboldt - $166,689
• Madera - $72,118
• Marin - $180,388
• Mendocino - $198,107
• Nevada - $67,226
• Plumas - $26,314
• San Diego - $1,365,381
• Santa Cruz - $221,867
• Sutter - $160,771
• Tehama - $215,275
• Trinity - $21,195
• Tulare - $173,085
• Tuolumne - $55,218