General Relief is a last-resort program for indigent adults not qualifying for other public benefits. According to state law, the county is responsible to offer this kind of assistance. Photo by David Bacon.
San Benito County is rural community south of San Jose, nestled amidst the Costal Range Mountains. Nearly two thirds of the 58,884 residents live in Hollister and over 11% of the population lives below the poverty line. A homeless man called the Watsonville CRLA office, asking for help obtaining General Relief, a last-resort program for indigent adults not qualifying for other public benefits. According to state law, the county is responsible to offer this kind of assistance. Upon investigation, CRLA attorneys Gretchen Regenhardt and Phyllis Katz were surprised to learn San Benito County did not have a General Relief Program, an egregious violation of California law.
Working with our partner, Public Interest Law Project (PILP), CRLA fought to reform and transform San Benito County’s policies on General Relief. As a result of our advocacy, San Benito County has: 1) started providing General Relief to eligible residents 2) sought input from CRLA and PILP about how to improve their policies 3) accommodate applicants who have disabilities and 4) raised the amount of assistance to the mandated level in California.
“We have a social safety net to help people who are out of options,” said Gretchen Regenhardt, CRLA Regional Director. “San Benito was breaking the law, denying help to those in need. CRLA will be monitoring the County’s process to ensure that San Benito residents aren’t left out in the cold.”