Saratoga News

Saratoga Adult Care Center's funding request rejected again

Social Services cites failure to show sufficient outcomes

SASCC appealing decision

By Sarah Lombardo

For the second year in a row, the Saratoga Adult Care Center has been denied county funds, a vital part of the center's budget.

"We don't really know what happened," administrative director Mary Richards said. "For us, it is just devastating."

Richards said the Saratoga Adult Care Center was the only center in its class to be denied, pointing out that the Live Oak Adult Care Services, the Cupertino-Sunnyvale Senior Day Services, the Senior Coordinating Council of the Palo Alto Area Inc., and Mexican American Community Services Inc. were all granted their requests, which totaled some $256,000.

Not only was the Saratoga Adult Care Center's request for $22,000 denied, but the center was also ranked 22nd out of 24 applicants considered for funding by county officials.

The Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council is appealing the decision, but few city staffers said they expect Santa Clara County officials to change their minds, especially in light of the center's low score on officials' funding "score cards." Sherie Rice, contracts manager for the county's Social Services Agency, said a decision on the appeal will be announced May 8.

Rice said the center was denied because it didn't show sufficient outcomes from its programs. Outcomes, Rice said, are direct ways in which individual families and communities are impacted by a center requesting money.

The denial leaves a $44,000 hole in the center's budget because the county recently decided to move to a two-year funding cycle, which means SASCC can't seek funding again for the Adult Care Center until the year 2000.

"We're going to be scrambling to find funding," Richards said. "Things are going really, really well, and then to be hit with this ... "

The denial also comes at a time when the city is seeking the return of tax-equity allocation funds from the county. Those funds, which amounted to about $700,000, were lost when Saratoga voters rejected the utility-users tax in 1996. Although the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to phase out TEA funds from Saratoga coffers to make the impact less harsh on the city's budget, city officials have been trying to work with the county for the return of all TEA funds.

Some city staffers said they suspect the loss of the utility tax may have played a part in the denial of funds, adding that county officials may think the city could try to fund the center itself. Richards said she didn't know of any reason why, but no matter what the reason, it's the seniors who end up feeling the consequences.

"There are about 40 families impacted every day through our center," she said. "They are the ones who are going to feel it."

The Saratoga Adult Care Center provides day-care services to local seniors--from both Saratoga and surrounding cities--as well as counseling and referral services. Relatives of seniors who attend the center say it not only provides elderly relatives with hobbies and social activities, but also gives families caring for elderly relatives a much-needed rest.

County Supervisor Joe Simitian declined to comment on the specific case of the Adult Care Center while it was still being appealed, but pointed out that the county often receives more requests for money than is available.

"There is a limited and specific amount of money and an indeterminate number of applications," he said. "When you've got $9 million worth of requests chasing $2 million, lots of folks are going to be left out of that."

Richards said the center is working to try to become self-sufficient, trying to encourage fee payments from its participants who can afford it and by holding fundraisers.

"We are trying to support ourselves," she said. "We've been working hard, but we're going to have to work a whole lot harder."

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