County Settles Suit; Welfare Benefits to Climb $50 a Month

Welfare recipients will soon receive a $50 increase in their monthly benefits under a settlement between San Diego County and a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation for indigents.

The Legal Aid Society of San Diego announced Wednesday that it has dropped a lawsuit it filed against the county following an agreement that will raise both the housing and personal needs allowances for welfare recipients.

Under terms of the settlement, the monthly housing stipend for the roughly 4,500 general relief recipients in the county will be increased to $170--from $130--and the personal needs allowance will rise to $25--from $15.

In addition, the county has agreed to add an annual cost-of-living increase to the housing portion of recipients’ benefits beginning in July. Recipients who work for their benefits will now receive their monthly stipends all at once instead of every two weeks, meaning they will have a larger lump sum with which to obtain shelter.

Better Chance at Housing

Robert Ross, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said Wednesday he is pleased with the resolution and “gratified” that the county “recognized that $130 a month is not enough to obtain housing in San Diego.”

“Overall, we’re happy about the settlement and feel the extra money will be a substantial help,” Ross said. “We think that the $50 increase, in conjunction with the increased vacancy rate in San Diego, gives general relief recipients a better chance of finding housing.”

County officials, meanwhile, said the expansion of benefits compelled by the suit is acceptable and consistent with increases that had been in the works for some time.

Long-Term Strategy

“We do feel that it is a reasonable settlement and fits into the long-term strategy of the Board of Supervisors to provide a reasonable amount of aid to the needy of San Diego County,” said Yolanda Thomas, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Social Services. The settlement means “we are acknowledging that (the previous allowance) was an insufficient amount.”

To cover the increases, which will take effect April 15, the county will need to tap contingency reserve funds for about $600,000, Thomas said.

In its lawsuit filed in December, the Legal Aid Society charged that the county had violated state law by failing to accurately determine the minimum cost of housing available locally and to accordingly adjust the amount general relief recipients receive for shelter. General relief recipients are those who are ineligible for other types of public assistance.

The suit, which was brought on behalf of eight welfare recipients, some of them homeless, alleged that because the housing allowance is inadequate, welfare recipients must choose to either pay rent with money needed for food or live on the streets.

According to a survey conducted by the Legal Aid Society, the cheapest lodging available in the downtown area is the Ace Hotel on 9th Avenue. Ross said the hotel’s accommodations range upward in price from rooms that sleep four in bunk beds, at $165 per person a month.

‘Arbitrary’ Figure

Even the county’s own list of lodging possibilities, compiled by the Department of Social Services, contains options that average about $200 a month, Ross said.

Legal Aid lawyers charged that the county’s finding that $130 a month is sufficient for housing was “arbitrarily” reached and was based in part on the belief that most general welfare recipients would share housing with relatives or friends at below-market rates.

The lawsuit alleged that by failing to provide a large enough housing allowance, officials violated a section of the state Welfare and Institutions Code that requires counties to “relieve and support” its indigent residents.

As part of the settlement, the Legal Aid Society agreed not to sue the county over similar issues for at least a year. Ross said attorneys will monitor the housing situation and re-evaluate whether $50 is enough at the end of that year.

‘We’ll Keep in Touch’

“We’ll keep in touch with the homeless population by getting out from behind our desks and talking to people on the streets from time to time,” Ross said. “We’ll try to get a feel for how they’re making out.”

The settlement was approved Wednesday by Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell, who also dismissed the lawsuit.

Ross said that because most of the plaintiffs in the Legal Aid Society’s suit were transients, attorneys had so far been unable to reach them and inform them of the pending increase.