FOR KVCR News, I'm Jessica Greenwell.
In Southern California, non-profit, faith-based organization, Lutheran Social Services serves six counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino, providing critical services like primary care, mental health, and housing support to underserved communities. Medicaid funding, supports around 70-75% of their services.
I spoke with Dr. LaSharnda Beckwith, CEO of Lutheran Social Services Southern California, after a recent trip she took to Washington DC to voice her concern about potential cuts to this critical funding.
Thank you for taking the time to speak today, Dr. Beckwith. How was the trip? What you were able to share with representatives?
Beckwith:
We really did focus on numbers, showing how costs would be reduced by the programs that we provide. For instance, emergency room visits, and the number of beds in hospitals, that type of thing. They want to know, what’s the return on their investment? And um, one happened to be within a district where I live. And I was able to point out the number of people within that district, 257,000 that was on Medicaid within his particular district, with 98,000 of those being people with disabilities, children and seniors.
I mentioned 70-75% of our revenue comes from Medicaid. It’s critical, for, again, sustaining those broad range of services that includes primary care, mental health, behavioral health, and other types of social services and intensive case management, addiction.
Greenwell:
And I know right here locally Lutheran Social Services has partnered with the city of San Bernardino to establish the San Bernardino Community Wellness Campus….
Beckwith:
We are very excited about the San Bernardino Community Wellness Campus. As you know, we were awarded 35 million from the state of California. And we had put a lot of money up front ourselves to get that going. We, in partnership with San Bernardino applied for that, and so San Bernardino City gave us $5 million and then we, of course, got money from the state to bill through Project Home key, to build 140 units that of interim housing for folks to be able to not just go into our shelter, certainly, there's a shelter for men, but the interim housing will be for a multitude of different folks.
Beckwith:
The full spectrum of an individual's needs is what the whole person approach is about. As you know, mental, physical, social and emotional, and we want to say spiritual over here, because people are more than just their health issues, many of the populations that we serve, they have complex challenges that they have to face, mental health concerns, housing instability, unemployment and even social isolation. So addressing only one aspect of their situation often isn't enough to create real, lasting change. We have integrated this approach. That's what I will if you look at our website, you look at our strategic plan, it's integrated the combining mental health, behavioral health, primary care, housing assistance, social support, all of that is integrated throughout Lutheran Social Services, because we recognize that health is interconnected with factors such as stable housing, employment, transportation, community connections. And I'm gonna tell you, I think this is what appealed to the representatives I was talking to.
Greenwell:
I know that some people have concerns about the allocation of this funding and that it's, you know, being poured into a crisis that we're not seeing measurable results.
Beckwith:
Well, as I mentioned there, and I'll say it to you, I just had my board meeting. We were just talking about this. You got to have measurable outcomes in place, period. And you got to be able to open your books anytime, even if there's, you know, random audits, donors, policy makers and the public, they rely on the 990s to ensure accountability and transparency so that they can make sure that there's proper use of funds, especially when dealing with large bond measures like prop one funding so well maintained and transparent 990s. Yeah, can't stress that enough.
Greenwell:
I'd also like to hear what your thought is about the model ordinance to clearing encampments and the requirement that local governments will need to provide shelter and have a 48-hour window before homeless encampments are cleared. People want to see action. They want to see progress. But do you feel that this call to action could inadvertently create more issues, or do we have the shelter infrastructure in place for that initial triage step? How does this all work together? And what do you think about that, about the mandate?
Beckwith:
Although I'm a little bit conservative, I will say that I support Governor Newsom in… look at what he's done for us. He spent a lot of money in these initially, it was, I think it was Project Home key and getting hotels and different things like that, trying to get money to the different cities counties so that they can help clean up their areas. Then on the donor side, on the other side, people are like, well, it just keeps growing, and that's what you're hearing in DC, at least from the current administration. You're putting money into it, but nothing's really happening. It’s just money going to waste. So, I think that his strategy reflects an understanding that ending homelessness still requires compassion, coordination and addressing systemic issues. So his approach is to clear those encampments humanely and safely, but he still believes that it's important that the individuals are engaged in support services and expanded housing opportunities. I guess that's all I can say to that.
Greenwell:
That’s Dr. LaSharnda Beckwith, CEO of Lutheran Social Services Southern California. For KVCR News, I’m Jessica Greenwell