Saying Goodbye to a 20-Year Program of the Bill Wilson Center

Last week I said goodbye to Rudy, the program manager of Bill Wilson Center’s Independent Living Skills Program for kids aging out of foster care.   The goodbye was bitter-sweet; Rudy had recently accepted a management position with First Place For Youth in Oakland overseeing similar programs for kids leaving foster care.   I was delighted that they had hired him for the position because he had exceptional skills working with youth and as a manager.  He was leaving us because our Indpendent Living Sills Program was ending after 20 years and he was the program director and slated for layoff in August.     The closing of this program is not due directly to the budget shortfalls government is facing but because the County of Santa Clara has decided to have one contractor provide countywide services rather than the existing five.   It will be easier for them to deal with just one agency.

Their rationale is that it is more cost-effective to have one contract and that they will have better outcomes for the kids with one provider.   Of course, they had no outcome data to support this claim; it was just a feeling on their part.  We had never received a report from the county that our services were not meeting the goals or had unsatisfactory outcomes. 

Although state and local funds are decreasing, this federal pass-through, John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, continues to have strong support.   Most other counties in California have the Social Services Agency run the program but this county has chosen to contract out the program, although the county takes almost 50% of the federal grant for overhead and supportive services.   Every three years the contracts are put out to bid and the funding has remained consist.   Bill Wilson Center has added its own funding over the years plus volunteers and donated goods. 

When the RFP (request for proposal) was issued I knew we would probably not get the grant.  In the RFP, the county was requesting a certain model that they had already implemented with one of the other current providers.  But, we had high hopes that our track record with the kids would prevail.    Unfortunately, in the midst of the county budget battle, we received word that we were not selected.  

At the end of May I called Social Services Agency  staff and asked when we needed to discontinue services.  Our current contract only lasted 30 more days and we needed to provide 30 days notice to staff for lay offs.  I was told not to worry that we would have a transition time of two to three months.  After 20 years I expected that we would have 3 months to say goodbye to kids and staff and move them to another provider.   Our experience with other similar situations was that the county would provide us with three months.

I heard nothing else from the department until I happened to read the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for June 9, 2009.  On the consent calendar was a ILP Board Transmittal Item 7 for June 9 2009 director to give authorization to extend current ILP contracts for three months and not to exceed $80,000.  I knew that amount was not nearly enough to extend 4 providers for three month transition as was stated in the transmittal.   I contacted Social Services and was told by contracts management staff that they were proposing one full month and two half months of funding.  Contracts would have three months to spend this money.  What?  How were we supposed to operated a program with 1/2 funding?  I explained you can’t pay 1/2 month’s rent each month.

The next day I attended the Board of Supervisors meeting and asked for the item 7 to be pulled from consent so I could speak to it.  I often speak at the Board meetings but this time was very different.  I asked for them to consider three  full months funding for all four agencies as a transition.  After all, this was a program that we had been operating for 20 years.  The Social Services director had positioned himself at the table to respond to my request.  However, the supervisors seemed not to understand me or even hear me; perhaps it was that had just heard public testimony from 20 individuals on the impact of shutting down another program. Without even acknowledging me or my comments they passed the item as stated.  It was one of the most demoralizing moments I have had speaking to the Board of Supervisors — it wasn’t just that they chose to vote for the item, it was that they did not even seem to see me — it was like I was invisable.   I was having a bad day.

From my conversation with Social Services staff I was expecting to receive $28,000 (two full months of funding)  beginning July 1 to make the transition and close our program.  June 23, one week before our transition contract was to begin, we were told that we would receive $23,000 in funds beginning July 1 to make the transition.  I thought this must be a mistake — two months of funding is $28,000 why $5,000 less than was promised to us orally from staff?    The response from the county was simple — you have three months to spend $23,000 and run the program for as long as you have the funds.  Ok, then for practical purposes, the program ends in mid August.   Somehow the Social Services Agency expects us to operate the program for additional time as a voluntary program.    It’s hard to get PG&E to wave the utility bill and the landlord to skip his rent payment.    I was having another bad day.

For the past 20 years, Bill Wilson Center has built services around our Independent Living Program.   It is no longer a stand alone program but is part of a one-stop service center for kids aging out of institututions such as foster care and juvenile hall.  During the next few weeks I will write more about how the closing of this program will affect me, the kids we have been serving, and others who have been touched by our services throughout the years.