CDCAN
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION
NETWORK
DISABILITY RIGHTS NEWS REPORT
#069-2006 July 10, 2006 - Monday
Advocacy Without Borders:
Connecting people
with disabilities &
seniors to rights
and unified action
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Governor's Appointment
* Gov. Appoints Lloyd Throne of Eureka To Head
"Anti-Poverty" Agency
* Will Be New Community Services and Development Department Director
* Current Executive Director of Redwood Community Action Agency
SACRAMENTO - Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Friday the appointment of Lloyd
Throne, 64 and a Democrat, as the new director of the State's
"anti-poverty agency", the Department of
Community Services and Development, which administers funding to
community-based organizations and agencies to help hundreds of
thousands of low income
Californians with assistance in energy costs, housing, child care,
employment,
business opportunities and other assistance. Throne, since 1985, has
been executive director of the
non-profit Redwood Community Action
Agency based in Eureka
The Governor said in a
statement that Throne's "innovative leadership"
of the Redwood Community Action Agency resulted in "statewide
recognition for its quality programs serving diverse and low-income
communities. I welcome him to my Administration so he can continue his
work assisting at-risk Californians achieve self-sufficiency.”
The Community Services and
Development Department's interim director is
Wendy Wohl who has been serving since the departure of the previous
director, Tim Dayonot. Dayonot, also a Democrat, was appointed by Gov.
Gray Davis in 1999.
Community Services and Development Department Plays Key Role In
Fighting Poverty
* The Department of Community
Services & Development (CSD), under the California Health and Human
Services Agency, headed by Secretary Kim Belshe, administers state and federal funds to both public and
private community organizations who provide programs
and services for thousands of Californians with low incomes - many who
are seniors.
* The Department says that it is the State's "anti-poverty agency" and
that "all of our programs benefit the less fortunate individuals in our
society. We strive to help individuals and families build healthy and
productive lives, independent of public resources and full of promise
for achieving their highest potential". \
* While there is no specific
mention of persons
with disabilities with low incomes, community action agencies and other
providers funded through the Community Services and Development
Department do in fact serve that population, though specific numbers
are not available.
* The department
distributes these funds through a network of
local agencies - many of them which were originally created as
"community action agencies" by President Lyndon Johnson in August 1964
as part of his "War on Poverty" landmark legislation, which also
created Head Start and other community programs.
* Community Action Agencies across the nation and in California were
originally non-profit community-based organizations focusing
anti-poverty efforts in their own communities. Over the last 25 years,
many have of the community action organizations became part of their
city or county local government - though a number remain independent
non-profit agencies, including Redwood Community Action Agency in
Eureka.
* Many community action agencies fund or provide pre-school programs,
partner with corporations to open businesses that employ local
residents, provide help in building houses and assist people purchase
their first homes and provide emergency assistance during critical
times of need.
* In 2005 California received about $56 million in federal Community
Services Block Grant funding
* Of the total 4,706,130 persons in California who are at or below the
federal poverty level, the Community Services and Development
Department says it served in 2005 47% of that population or 2,184,602
people.l
* The Department also administer's - through a network of both public
and private agencies including many community action agencies, the
federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that provides
critical funding and assistance to hundreds of thousands of
Californians with low
incomes.
To locate a community action
agency in your
area, or to find out more about the programs offered, including LIHEAP,
go to the Community Services and Development website at www.csd.ca.gov.
Throne Long Time Advocate for People with Low Incomes
Since 1985, Throne has served as executive director of the Redwood
Community Action Agency, a private non-profit organization that
provides a wide range of services to low and moderate income residents
of Humboldt County. Throne is a member of Humboldt County task forces
on economic development and disaster assistance. He also serves on the
boards for the California Community Economic Development Association,
the Community Action Economic Development Enterprise, Humboldt County
Workforce Investment Board, the Executive Committee of the
California-Nevada Community Action Partnership based in Sacramento,
which is a statewide
association of community action and other agencies, and the National Community Action Foundation based in
Washington DC, a non-profit advocacy organization.
“My commitment to public
service began more
than forty years ago as a charter member of the Peace Corps,” said
Throne. “I am proud to continue that commitment under Governor
Schwarzenegger’s leadership, especially since he intimately understands
the value of empowering communities in need.”
Lloyd Throne, a resident of Eureka, earned a
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Colorado University.
Through Peace Corps training, he earned an honorary doctorate from
University of Medellin, Columbia. Throne also attended the University
of Missouri Graduate School of Community Development and the IBM
Community Executive Program. This position requires Senate confirmation
and the compensation is $123,255.
CDCAN News
Reports and Alerts
These CDCAN Reports are
partially funded by a small grant from the USC UCEDD, Grant #90DD0540
from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. The opinions
expressed or content in these reports do not necessarily reflect the
views or opinions of the USC UCEDD.
The California
Disability Community
Action Network is a
non-partisan link to tens of thousands of Californians in every
community, including people of color, people of every type of
disability, including people with physical disabilities, people with
developmental and
other disabilities, people with traumatic brain and other injures,
people with mental health needs, seniors, people with MS, Alzheimer's
and others, and all of their families, community organizations and
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MANY THANKS to Training Toward Self Reliance, UCP, California NAELA,
Californians for Disability Rights, Inc (CDR), CHANCE Inc, Parents
Helping Parents, Arriba,
Strategies Toward Empowering
People, Parents Helping Parents, Asian American parents groups,
Resources for Independent Living and many other Independent Living
Centers, several regional centers, People First chapters, IHSS workers,
other self advocacy and family support groups, developmental center
families, and hundreds of
individuals. Thanks also to partnerships and the good people with the
State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and also the Department of
Health Services, the Department of Developmental Services, Department
of Social Services and the CA Health and Human Services Agency and
other agencies, and the State Legislature and staff, the Legislative
Analyst Office. Good people who do good things can make a difference
together.