ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Fighting Hard for Children

Less than two months after the state cut 15% from local allotments for the important Women, Infants and Children Program, which provides food for poor pregnant women and children, Orange County has had an important reversal of fortune. The state, in what amounts to an acknowledgment of the growing urbanization and complexity of the area, has made this the only county in California to get additional positions for the program.

The short-term benefit of this important decision is that 2,000 more poor people each month can be fed by the local program, an amount adding up to an extra $1 million a year in welfare benefits. The decision reflected state recognition that the demand for welfare services in Orange County has grown considerably in recent years.

All of this says something about a vastly changed Orange County--which no longer fits the stereotype of an upper- and middle-class suburban enclave. Credit for making this case must go to the relentless lobbying efforts of the county’s health care staff, which has kept the heat on for more than a year to expand local WIC assistance.

State WIC administrators, in making the decision while ordering cutbacks in local programs around the state, are to be commended too. Originally they had told Orange County to reduce its caseload by 3,400 to stay under its allotted level. This was a recognition of the extreme pressure on Orange County to meet increasing demand with ever-tighter resources, especially for pregnant women, breast-feeding women and infants.

Even with the additional state funding, officials say Orange County still has a need in this crucial area it can’t meet. But at least in putting dollars to work helping more youngsters get the right start in life, the state demonstrates that it understands the importance of early intervention.