Funding Delayed for Services to Aid Quake Victims

A plan to spend more than $5 million on social services programs for victims of the Northridge quake and others hit a snag Monday due to complaints about the process for allocating the funds.

Councilman Mike Hernandez, chairman of the city’s Community and Economic Development Committee, called for an evaluation of the process after representatives of dozens of nonprofit agencies that had applied for funding complained that they did not get the funding they requested.

The $5,180,000, which was provided through federal and state grants, was to be allocated to nonprofit agencies to provide services for quake victims and to help prepare low-income and special-needs citizens for future disasters.

The services include counseling for quake victims, assistance in finding housing, help in resolving disputes between contractors and homeowners and preparedness training for low-income residents and people with special needs such as drug addicts and non-English-speaking residents. Of the 92 qualified proposals submitted by nonprofit agencies, 51 were recommended for funding.

The proposals were ranked on a scale of 1 to 100 based on points the agencies received for meeting criteria such as effectiveness and program design.

However, about a dozen proposals were recommended for funding even though they scored lower than proposals that were not recommended.

Hernandez instructed the staff of the Community Development Department to review all proposals that scored below 86 points and explain how some were recommended for funding despite low scores. Hernandez recommended that the City Council go ahead and fund those proposals that scored above 86 points.

“Either we play by the rules or you don’t play by the rules,” he said.

A Community Development Department official explained that some agencies were recommended for funding despite low marks because they offered programs in neighborhoods that are in dire need of such services.

The official said she was not sure how much of the $5-million funding would be delayed due to the review.