United Way Cuts Grants to Valley Agencies

Concluding a wrenching debate over how to share its diminishing resources, United Way’s Valley leadership has severely trimmed its annual grants to dozens of familiar social-service agencies to free up funds for new programs.

Faced with a fourth consecutive year of declining contributions, United Way officials said they crafted the new allocation policy to give the highest priority to preventive programs, particularly those aimed at children and AIDS, at the expense of those that treat existing problems.

Last week, the United Way’s North Angeles Region notified its 64 affiliates in writing of the cuts, which average 20% or a total of $582,000. Contributions to a handful of longtime recipients were reduced to a pittance, leading at least one agency to sever a longstanding tie to United Way and two more to consider eliminating their Valley operations.

At the same time, 10 agencies will receive United Way funding for the first time and two current affiliates will gain sizable new grants. Among the new agencies are the Northeast Valley Health Corp., AIDS Project Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. The money will sponsor short-term child care for children of HIV-positive parents during medical appointments and expanded AIDS outreach and education.

Officials of the agencies most hurt sharply criticized the funding shifts.

“We are concerned that United Way has lost its focus,” said a letter from the board of the Pacific Lodge Boys Home of Woodland Hills, which Friday notified United Way that it has refused the $5,000 offered and severed its relationship with the charity.

“It’s a sad moment,” said David Genders, executive director of Pacific Lodge, which operates a residential program for abused or delinquent boys. “You’re talking to somebody who’s championed United Way for 20-some years.”

Departing from its customary practice of dividing all its resources among a “family” of agencies that cover the spectrum of social services, the board of United Way’s North Angeles Region is moving toward a strategy of targeting the most urgent community needs.

United Way officials said the new policy reflects the painful choices that must be made in a time of worsening social problems and diminished philanthropic resources.

“In no way is it saying that what some of the agencies are doing is not good or is not needed,” said Dorothy Fleisher, director of planning and agency relations for the North Angeles Region. “It’s just saying we can’t invest in everything, so we are going to have to be more selective.”

The severity of some of the cuts raised eyebrows when the plan went before the parent agency in Downtown Los Angeles earlier this month. Though conditionally approving the plan, the executive committee of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles kicked it back to the Valley leaders for reconsideration.

The Downtown leaders asked the Valley board to do everything possible to lessen the impact of the cuts and ensure that the agencies had adequate warning of the impending losses.

“It was simply to review their process to see if there was any way the severity could be mitigated,” said Patricia Murar, senior vice president for administration, downplaying the significance of the unusual parliamentary maneuver. Valley leaders said they agree that they must work closely with the affected agencies to lessen the damage, but they cannot restore any of the reductions.

“We agree it would be better if we could give the agencies more time to deal with such Draconian cuts,” said North Angeles board member Kay Inaba, who also sits on the Greater Los Angeles board. “That’s not an option that’s economically viable for us. I wish we had some reserves, but we don’t.”

The giant philanthropy, which solicits donations in the workplace, is in its fourth year of a fund-raising slide that has cut annual receipts in Los Angeles to barely half 1990’s high mark of $95 million.

Despite hopes for an upturn, the 1994 campaign is now expected to close out at the end of this month at about $58 million, $3 million less than last year’s campaign raised.

Viewing the weak fund-raising as a long-term condition, the Greater Los Angeles board asked its five regional administrations to reassess their communities’ needs to make the greatest use of shrinking funds. The North Angeles Region used the process to make more sweeping changes than any other region.

In the Valley, leaders decided to take 20% away from the annual grants to the 64 affiliates--totaling $2.9 million--to stimulate new programs in the areas it assigned the highest priority: preventive services for families, preschool children and people with HIV/AIDS.

A few existing programs which had programs in those areas were given modest increases in their annual grants. The 31st District Parent Teacher Student Assn. got an increase in its current grant plus a new grant for its dental care program for schoolchildren, and the Visiting Nurse Assn. received a donation for its visits to AIDS victims.

The losers in the process include charities that receive support from other United Way regions. One example is Family Service of Los Angeles, a counseling agency that was cut from $70,000 to $30,000. Similarly, Children’s Hospital was cut from $20,000 to $2,000, and Orthopaedic Hospital from $10,000 to $1,000. All three receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from other United Way regions.

Hardest hit in the shift were residential programs. Vista Del Mar, a West Side residential facility that offers counseling, adoption and foster care services both in West Los Angeles and at a satellite office in the Valley, lost all but $5,000 of last year’s $60,000 allotment. Aviva Center, a Los Angeles agency operating facilities for abused children, was cut from $35,000 to $5,000, the same as Pacific Lodge. Also severely cut were Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army.

Officials of several of those programs said they were dismayed by the cuts and would have to evaluate the services they extend to the Valley. Officials with Family Service of Los Angeles said they will consider closing an office in Tarzana.

“The error in their ways is that they have established a philosophy and direction for services for kids that essentially says to the most difficult and the most disturbed population in our community that we don’t care what happens to you,” said Jerry Zaslaw, chief executive officer of Vista Del Mar.

“They are going to focus on the younger child who is still reasonably intact and try and see that the risk level is reduced. That’s well and good. But . . . while the concept of preventive services is noble, there is still going to be a substantial population that are not going to be able to avail themselves of those services.”

Zaslaw said he was surprised by the 90% cut and will now have to readjust his budget, with the possibility of closing the agency’s Valley satellite.

At Pacific Lodge, Genders said the $5,000 he was offered this year--a fraction of its $100,000 allocation five years ago--was not enough to compensate for the restrictions on independent fund-raising that come with United Way affiliation as well as complex accounting requirements.

“It’s a business decision,” he said. Yet he conceded taking it personally.

“They’ve used this agency to sell United Way, to show it off, to show the kind of services that are given to the community,” Genders said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Then they turn it around and say, ‘This is not a priority.’ ”

UNITED WAY AGENCIES WITH THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE CUTS

Agency 1993-1994 1994-1995 Children’s Hospital $20,000 $2,000 Orthopaedic Hospital 10,000 1,000 Vista Del Mar Child Care 60,000 5,000 Pacific Lodge Boys’ Home 35,000 5,000 Aviva Center 35,000 5,000 Family Service of Los Angeles 70,000 30,000 Burbank Center for Retarded 20,000 10,000 San Fernando Valley Volunteer Center 20,000 10,000 Jewish Community Center 20,000 10,000 Camp Fire Girls--Los Angeles 80,000 45,000 Salvation Army 100,000 67,000 Jewish Big Brothers 80,000 57,000 Catholic Charities 345,000 255,000

AGENCIES RECEIVING NEW UNITED WAY GRANTS Valley Community Clinic: $61,000 AIDS Project Los Angeles: $23,000 Northeast Valley Health Corp.: $40,000/2 years L.A. Gay and Lesbian Community: $37,500 El Nido Family Centers: $74,500/2 years PTSA 31st District: $75,000/2 years Foundation for Children’s Dental Health: $6,000/2 years Child Care Resource Center: $35,000 Big Sisters of Los Angeles: $32,000 Glendale Family Service: $48,000 Friends of the Family: $75,000/2 years Special Services Group: $75,000/2 years