LA Poverty Spike
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LOS ANGELES (CBS) -- As Los Angeles County becomes increasingly less able to help those in need, the poverty level is rising "in a serious way," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said in remarks published Wednesday.
A newly passed state budget will send at least $128 million less to the county than officials expected. That money that would have gone to pay for such things as child protective services, health programs for the poor and disabled and the processing of rising applications for food stamps and Medi-Cal, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"That's the paradox of county government," Yaroslavsky told the newspaper. "Unlike other levels of government, demand for services increases exponentially as revenues decrease. We have an increased number of people on public relief, more people losing their homes and more people with children needing services."
The need for help has spread beyond poor communities.
"Poverty is up in a serious way," Yaroslavsky said. "I was at a food pantry in Tarzana, and folks there ... told me that from August of 2007 to August 2008, the number of families partaking of free food is up 20 to 21 percent. This is in a relatively affluent community."
Over the last year, the number of people receiving general relief checks -- $221 available monthly to those struggling to make ends meet -- has increased by more than 8,500, up to 70,260 from 61,715. The Times reported.
That figure is the highest it has been since 1998, when the county sharply tightened qualifications for public assistance. |
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