Spokane7
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September 30, 2010 in City
DSHS to cut 380 workers, among other actions
Budget reductions will affect mental health, children’s aid programs
OLYMPIA – One of the state’s largest agencies will cut 380 employees, give the remaining staff two more days of unpaid leave and reduce the amounts spent on long-term care, mental health, children’s assistance and several other programs.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services detailed Wednesday how it will absorb the mandated 6.3 percent budget cut that most state agencies other than public schools must take because of lower-than-expected tax revenues.
DSHS is under orders to cut $168 million from the fiscal-year budget that ends on June 30. It’s the largest agency facing cuts ordered by Gov. Chris Gregoire after low revenue forecasts were released earlier this month.
To do that, DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus said the agency will cut spending on long-term care programs by $40 million; mental health spending by $25.6 million; children’s administration by $19.3 million; supplemental nutrition assistance for non-citizens by $7.2 million; and the Disability Lifeline by $6.1 million.
“This is not just about reducing; this is about resetting for the future,” Dreyfus said in a press release announcing the cuts.
The agency will also cut the equivalent of 380 full-time positions, either through attrition or layoffs; it’s already down 2,000 from 2008 employment levels, she said. Those who remain will take two additional days off without pay, one in November and one in May. Like most state employees, DSHS workers had already been ordered to take 10 unpaid days off between July 2010 and June 2011.
The department has 2,863 employees, most of them full-time, in Region 1, which includes Spokane and 13 other counties in northeastern Washington. It can’t estimate the number of layoffs in Spokane or any other specific region at this point, spokesman Thomas Shapley said. The agency employs between 17,000 and 17,500 statewide. DSHS is the first state agency to announce its cuts, but other agencies are under orders to have their plans in place by Friday. The Legislature could make changes after the session starts in January by rewriting the budget for what’s left of the fiscal year, telling state agencies to eliminate some programs and keep others intact, or ordering bigger cuts for some agencies and smaller ones for others.
But without legislative changes, state law only allows Gregoire to order across-the-board cuts for programs that don’t deal with basic education, debt repayments and federal mandates.
Agency plans are submitted to the state’s Office of Financial Management but aren’t formally approved by that agency or Gregoire, state officials said.
Glenn Kuper, a spokesman for the OFM, said the agency or Gregoire could tell a department head to change something but “we’re not seeing anything yet that we’re telling them not to do.”
Kuper added: “It’s about what we expected, given the size of the cuts.”
Supermajority for taxes unconstitutional, judge rules 
cheddar on September 30 at 6:55 a.m.
Why do we even have a “Free food for illegals” program in the first place?? Some much needed fat trimming here, and about time.
Scoutster on September 30 at 7:06 a.m.
The tip of the spear of these cuts are thousands of very poorly paid service workers who change your grandma’s diaper and do other very important jobs most of you wouldn’t do in a million years.
Imagine supporting a family on $9.00 an hour. Working full-time you’ll bring in about $18-19K a year. And the state just told you you will have to absorb a pay cut of 7% (which is what it is for the folks at the bottom of the food chain).
You get what you pay for.
JBlim on September 30 at 7:07 a.m.
You must be referring to the “supplemental nutrition assistance for non-citizens” program. Not all non-citizens are illegals. I don’t know why we feed them. Maybe they are inefficient cherry pickers when they are malnourished.
hawken on September 30 at 7:47 a.m.
If people won’t change the diapers for their own grandmother… why should they expect me to pay someone else to change it for them? Surely, you’re not implying these people don’t care about the well-being and comfort of their grandmother?
Why should we take any of those unknown,other jobs you mention, when we can make more money sitting at home drawing government unemployment compensation?
misjustice on September 30 at 7:51 a.m.
Are there no poor houses? No prisons?
hawken on September 30 at 8:00 a.m.
I thought we were discussing granny and jobs people won’t take?
But in response to your question…. yes, there are poor houses. The best are run by the church.
Maybe granny could move in with her family? That’s a novel idea!
I don’t think granny wants to go to prison to have her diaper changed! Your logical progression has me a bit confused here. Maybe you could clarify.
misjustice on September 30 at 8:07 a.m.
And the Dr. attempts to hijack ANOTHER thread…
Let the poor go to prisons and workhouses, after all they have no value to society. They’re poor!
hawken on September 30 at 8:11 a.m.
You need to go back and read scoutser who introduced granny and jobs other people won’t take.
Here’s another possible solution for granny since DHS won’t be changing her diapers anymore.
Have granny’s kids call a nearby Christian church. I guarantee you that granny will have ladies there at no cost, out of Christian love, to meet her every need.
Scoutster on September 30 at 8:17 a.m.
hawken
What planet do you live on?
misjustice on September 30 at 8:22 a.m.
I’m guessing Uranus.
hawken on September 30 at 8:23 a.m.
Relating to your legitimate concern for the poor…. let’s again look at American history during the great depression. We Americans are probably the most charitable people in the world when it comes to our neighbors as well as the poor nations of the world.
“Soup kitchens in America started around 1929 when the effects of a growing depression began to be felt. The need for soup kitchens was felt even more keenly when the tailspin in the econonomy worsened in 1932, and 12 million Americans — about 25 percent of the normal labor force — were out of work.
When soup kitchens first appeared, they were run by churches or private charities. The Capuchin Services Center in southeast Detroit, for example, served 1,500 to 3,000 people a day. That center opened on November 2, 1929. Volunteers of America also was important in setting up soup kitchens all over America….”
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1660.html
misjustice on September 30 at 8:26 a.m.
I’ll revise my question; Are there no soup kitchens, no poor houses, no prisons?
PlanB on September 30 at 8:29 a.m.
I know they can get rid of the people who keep track and call me when I am a few days late on a child support payment. And also the people who will notify my ex it’s time to sue me again, and then sue me for more child support on behalf of my ex-wife: at no cost to her. Basically the entire department that makes sure they wring the maximum amount of money out of me, launder money from me to her (I used to pay her directly), but will do nothing when there are “visitation” (for lack of a better term: since when do my kids ‘visit’ me? They live with me) issues.
hawken on September 30 at 8:29 a.m.
yes, yes, yes…. so what exactly is your point?
hawken on September 30 at 8:31 a.m.
yes, yes, yes…. is directed to you misjustice, in answer to your three questions…. again, what exactly is your point?
PlanB on September 30 at 8:33 a.m.
Exactly where is this mythical place where ladies will give me all the christian love I need at no cost?
hawken on September 30 at 8:34 a.m.
Not you PlanB…. it’s granny who needs her diapers changed!
hawken on September 30 at 8:44 a.m.
Looks like misjustice is having a bit of trouble trying to figure out whether or not there is a point to her last three questions above… Let’s give her a little time here…
newhouse on September 30 at 9:03 a.m.
according to this gao report: www.gao.gov/products/gao-09-375 noncitizens are not really entitled to this benefit. What else can we cut that was never legal in the first place?
hawken on September 30 at 9:14 a.m.
John: Please don’t gum up the discussion with actual facts!! Or what’s legal or not legal, unless you’re willing to get the same high-tech lynching here that I get.
eagleproducer on September 30 at 9:16 a.m.
Doc Hawken: I’m still waiting for you to post a link to your doctoral dissertation. They are published, you know, and part of public record.
Unless, of course, you got it from the Jimmy Swaggert school bible thumping, in which case I’d expect you to replace McMorris/Rogers once she sickens sucking from the public teat.
tick, tick, tick….
wend528 on September 30 at 9:18 a.m.
Hawken, your lack of compassion for others is obvious in your posts. Number 1: Soup kitchens are for the homeless and their aren’t enough of those in Spokane to feed the amount of homeless that Spokane has.
Number 2: Those Christian women that supposedly come out to help grandma–Not all churches have those volunteers. They don’t come in on a daily basis. And it grandma went to a nursing home because she doesn’t have family to help out (which happens quite often due to the fact that her family is attempting their jobs) the nursing home would probably be paid for by the state. Those state workers that go in that may now be losing their jobs, save this state money.
Plan B: Pay your child support on time.
hawken on September 30 at 9:20 a.m.
Do I need to include the last three years of my tax returns as well?
hawken on September 30 at 9:27 a.m.
Wind528: I understand that reasonable solutions other than just growing big government bigger are just not acceptable in this forum. By your definition, there is no compassion unless it is big government funded.
hawken on September 30 at 9:35 a.m.
hey misjustice…. isn’t your friend in arms, spoketucky trying to high-jack this strain… where’s your reproof?
I understand misjustice…. you don’t want to play anymore…. now that your rapid fire sarcasm and faulty, logical progression are exposed as bankrupt in having a real point.
509ifyourlucky on September 30 at 9:36 a.m.
Public schools must also share in the budget cutting axe. They SHOULD NOT BE EXEMPT FROM CUTS in any way shape or form. Lets make a fair budget now, If DSHS has to absorb the mandated 6.3 percent budget cut, then public schools need to do the same.
Scoutster on September 30 at 9:45 a.m.
hawken…
What solution do you propose for a profoundly mentally retarded human being unable to care for herself with no family?
An argument can be made that the person should just be allowed to die. I think that is what I am hearing from you, that if a person has no support system (family, church, etc.) they really don’t need to exist. Would that be correct?
If not, is there any role for govt in caring for this person?
.
(BTW, this isn’t theoretical. The system is full of these folks and I work with them every day. And their care providers.)
hawken on September 30 at 9:49 a.m.
Scoutster: for such people, we as a society have a moral obligation to care for them at state expense.
hawken on September 30 at 10:06 a.m.
Scoutster: :You have used this in other posts where we have gone head to head…. Please help me here…. What does BTW mean?
Scoutster on September 30 at 10:12 a.m.
BTW = By the way
hawken on September 30 at 10:13 a.m.
thank you…..
MrNatural on September 30 at 10:24 a.m.
This is sad. The need is great and the assistance for the vulnerable is dwindling. Such corrosion to our communities such ambivalence toward humanity, such departure and hypocrisy of supposed Christian values should come to haunt us.
hawken on September 30 at 10:31 a.m.
Mr. Natural…. your animus for the Christian Church is obvious.
Animus - Definition (Websters Dictionary)
“a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will”
hawken on September 30 at 10:37 a.m.
Mr. Natural…. did you not read my response to Scoutster?
Scoutster: for such people, we as a society have a moral obligation to care for them at state expense.
Scoutster on September 30 at 11:03 a.m.
hawken..
so, how much do you feel the state should pay a person who works full time caring for such a person?
hawken on September 30 at 11:13 a.m.
Scoutster:
If you have an issue with how much the state pays their employees….. your issue is with the state…. not me….
To give you an informed answer would take much more effort than I am willing to invest regarding my time….. ie… comparative pay scales (state and private sector), specific qualifications, experience, resume’, references, credit history, criminal background…. et. al….
Are you suggesting the state might be incompetent in the amount they pay their employees?
MrNatural on September 30 at 11:30 a.m.
(sq)hawken…mind your own damn business you old coot…I’m entitled to my own damn opinion without your inane crap. If you feel the need to hurl feces, impress yourself, or chew on somebody’s shoelaces head to juvenile hall where you’ll blend in.
Scoutster on September 30 at 11:32 a.m.
I am saying the people who do the hands on work are mostly contractors of the state. They are not state workers.
And they get paid quite poorly.
And no health benefits.
And no retirement.
And no vacation.
And no raises.
And, now, a cut in wages. (For example in our program, from $9.61/hr to $8.93. Do you think you can raise a family on $8.93/hr with no benefits? Try it.
hawken on September 30 at 11:34 a.m.
Mr. Natural…. is this not a public forum? Keep responding with your tirades and risk further discredit to yourself.
hawken on September 30 at 11:37 a.m.
Soutester: I believe any employee should be paid a fair wage based upon market norms…. As I said before, your issue is with the state, not me. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Scoutster on September 30 at 11:41 a.m.
hawken…
It sounds a little disingenuous to say “this is with the state”. We are the state and you are complaining about the cost of govt. I’m telling you there are serious decisions and ramifications for these decisions.
Conservatives love to complain in the abstract.
Want smaller govt? Well, this is what you get.
hawken on September 30 at 11:46 a.m.
Scoutster: If your assessments are accurate…. take it up with state personnel or whomever in the government is responsible for those grievances.
hawken on September 30 at 11:51 a.m.
Scoutster: You raise other questions. Are you a state employee? If so, are you on state time contributing to this string all morning? These are not rhetorical questions.
misjustice on September 30 at 11:53 a.m.
Dr [sq]Hawken; you were well advised by Scouster on a previous thread to get acquainted with those that sit around the campfire…
You need to tone it down, Dr.
Mr. Natural has been on this site a long time and I believe has a reputation of being direct, honest, fair, considerate, humorous, and poetic. He doesn’t need some sanctimonious, Johnny Come Lately to exhaust himself going up and down the thread, jumping to conclusions and slinging accusations at ppl he doesn’t know a thing about.
Scoutster on September 30 at 11:57 a.m.
In answer to your question, hawken, no, I am not a state employee. I am not a public employee of any kind.
hawken on September 30 at 12:00 p.m.
OK Scoutster…. I’ll take you at our word… Your issue is with the state.
hawken on September 30 at 12:01 p.m.
misjustice…. you’re back…. still no point to be made from your last three questions?
hawken on September 30 at 12:06 p.m.
Scoutster: followup question…. are you a private contractor paid by the state?
MrNatural on September 30 at 12:18 p.m.
Oy Vey!…A pox upon me for my lack of restraint. My goat got get.
hawken…you go right ahead and query away as is your privilege…and please don’t be offended if you at times are disregarded.
As for the staying on message…I hope that the state can find a way to save these peoples jobs and the valuable services they provide to the community…
“BTW”…thanks mj :)
hawken on September 30 at 12:21 p.m.
misjustie…. my purpose here is not roast marshmallows with you sitting around the campfire…. singing “Kumbayah”… holding hands and swaying in unison… My purpose is to challenge your big government, cradle to grave world view.
hawken on September 30 at 12:27 p.m.
Were did scoutster go? maybe I struck a nerve with my last question…
Scoutser: “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” Shakespeare, Old English.
hawken on September 30 at 1:06 p.m.
Mr. Natural…. over the last few weeks I have become accustomed to being “disregarded.” That’s what most liberals do after their ranting tirades and lack of civil response to my challenges to their big government, cradle to grave world view…. Namely, disregard me….
I am not discouraged. I hope to have other interactions with you in the future.
hawken on September 30 at 1:26 p.m.
Sorry all, again…. I forgot to cite this definition of “Kumbayah”,,,,
“Kumbayah” (Gullah, “Come By Here” — “Kum ba yah”) — is an African-American spiritual song from the 1930s. It enjoyed newfound popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s and became a standard campfire song in Scouting and other nature-oriented organizations.
The song was originally associated with human and spiritual unity, closeness and compassion, and it still is, but more recently it is also cited or alluded to in satirical, sarcastic or even cynical ways that suggest blind or false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature.”
PlanB on September 30 at 2:25 p.m.
wend528: I do pay my support. I inadvertently forgot one time before going out of town.
Point is that there is a big bureaucracy waiting to jump on someone who made a simple mistake. And my ex actually gets her support dollars delayed because I have to pay through DSHS. They created a problem where there wasn’t one to begin with, and that is the government bloat and bureaucracy that is pointless and wasteful. Helping the disabled is our moral duty, shuffling paper from one desk to another is not.
However I have little faith that the waste will be precision cut out of the system. Mostly those who need help the most will take the brunt of this cutback.
BTW my kids are with me half of the time so why on earth do I even have to pay support at all???
eagleproducer on September 30 at 3:23 p.m.
hawken: Shakespeare is modern English. I would think a PhD. would readily be aware of such common knowledge.
I’m still waiting for you to post your doctoral dissertation. I don’t want nor did I ask for your tax returns. Until you post your dissertation you are a liar to me. Get it, Mr. Liar?
hawken on September 30 at 4:02 p.m.
spoketucky: I’m not giving you anything you can use to identify me personally, my home address, the universities I graduated from or my family. You sound a bit dangerous.
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”… yea…. I hear that New English everyday on the streets…. along with thee, thou, hath, doest….
My opinions are sufficient for this forum…. By the way it was you friend misjustice who trashed community college students… by accusing me of having only community college attendance. I was simply responding to her with my educational resume’… not sure why this is such a big deal to you?
misjustice on September 30 at 7:21 p.m.
Dr. [sq]Hawken; I did not trash community colleges; I trashed your 1/2 quarter knowledge of logic. When you spout off your limited knowledge, you remind me of a 1st quarter cc student “know it all”.
You’re correct, your opinions are sufficient for this forum; and so are everyone else’s.
eagleproducer on September 30 at 7:44 p.m.
hawken: I’m not sure how posting a .pdf of your dissertation would lead to revelation of your identity.
Yeah, I’m dangerous. I am dangerous enough to know I don’t need your dissertation to obtain any of the information you think is hidden by the purported anonymity of these threads.
Modern English. Not “New English,” whatever that is. Those second person pronouns you cited are still in our language otherwise you wouldn’t have referred to them. Shakespeare is not “Old English” Beowulf is. Chaucer is not “Old English” and his work predates Shakespeare by centuries. It seems English literature, like logic, wasn’t one of your stronger subjects.
JBlim on September 30 at 8:29 p.m.
hawken claims he has a PhD? In what? We need someone smart around here.
misjustice on September 30 at 8:34 p.m.
According to Dr. [sq]Hawken, ” I have a Ph.D, an MBA, Master of Science and BA…”
hawken on September 27 at 2:50 p.m.
JBlim on September 30 at 8:44 p.m.
Oh I do hope he can give us his thoughts on CAPM vs APT. What say you Doctor?
misjustice on September 30 at 9:02 p.m.
JBlim; would that be with macro economic variables?
JBlim on September 30 at 9:12 p.m.
Finance not economics, mis.
Scoutster on September 30 at 11:04 p.m.
I see he’s gone for awhile.
Listen, everybody…Let’s just ignore him. Just start skipping right over his posts…they only make us angry and all too often we rise to the bait. But there’s nothing there to make this campfire more interesting.
Let’s just do what our moms said to do: Just ignore him.
hawken on October 01 at 9:14 p.m.
MY PUBLIC APOLOGY TO JBLIM: On All his strings
JBlim is correct…. It was not JBlim that called me “wing nut.”
I did in fact confuse him with someone else. JBlim…. please accept my sincere apology.
I am embarrassed and genuinely sorry.
marielbowers on November 12 at 3:32 p.m.
this is an extremely frustrating subject for me. i have never needed services of the state or dshs in my 30+years. I’ve worked steady since i was 16, with my first job at 15. I’ve voted, paid my taxes, donated, volunteered… and now i find myself in need of the services that were always there when i was younger, but not now when i need them them most. i had to quit my job and move 100miles to take care of an ill parent in their early 50’s, who became completely debilitated overnight. when that happened, i was in an increasingly abusive 2yr relationship (my first time cohabiting), trying to find a way out, but i had a decent, fair paying job with health insurance. I had to leave quickly, having to get a court ordered protection to due so. I left more than half my belongings.
all of a sudden my life came slamming into a rock wall. I’ve always struggled with ‘feelings, thoughts & emotions’ i knew weren’t ‘normal’. my life growing up was not one filled with parental love. I’ve always made due on my own but that changed overnight. not now, everything changed in an instant. with all the stress and pressures of life crashing in, my mental health issues (what is more like “internal feelings”, than a “way of thinking”) came boiling to the surface. I had already been seeking help for depression and had had insurance to do so, but not now. i was barely functioning and had to place my parent in a care home in order to seek help and care for myself - from the state.
i have been on yet another hellish roller coaster with dshs and accepted health clinics. i have been trying for 10 months to get help and medical treatment for my issues and have GAU currently. I have been diagnosed by 5x by psychiatrists with Bi-Polar type 2, ADHD, PTSD, and Anxiety. to add to that i also have severe carpal tunnel with feeling loss in my fingertips and a shoulder that also needs rotator cuff surgery. i have not been to a dentist in 3 years. there are no mental health care coordinators at the health clinics in my area and turn over is high. ARNP’s and Dr.’s that rely on a Psychologist to tell them medications and dosing, with the ‘coordinators’ being the psychologist!
in still having care-giving responsibilities for my incapacitated parent, i have also had to deal with the aging services division, ombudsman offices and complaints and violations in regards to care homes that he has been in. sadly, those were the homes with the lowest number of health and care complaints.
i am not looking for pity or ‘poor, woes me’. there are people out there that are even worse off than me. but what about the state? how can they basically abandon them & people like me? what the hell have i been working all my life in this state, being a dutiful citizen and tax payer for? the economy is no excuse. they in Olympia helped create our states economy… leaving me high and dry in my worst time of need. how about a little paycut in the higher ups pocket book? instead of the dshs workers that aren’t there when i call, or hold times of over an hour and voicemails that are always full so you can’t reach anyone, let alone leave them a message. continuing to send me for evaluation after evaluation with no dr’s to actually help me get better… wastes more money then having the people to help the ‘me-s” out there get back on our feet and be productive again.