San Jose Mercury News
June 15, 2004

Mayor Gonzales finds $300,000 in compassion

PROPOSAL FOR FULL CITY CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM DESERVES OK
Mercury News Editorial

This cut would have hurt. The children of San Jose are the prime beneficiaries of the Santa Clara County Children's Health Initiative. So if the city of San Jose had been forced to approve a $300,000 cut to its $2 million contribution to the program, as originally proposed, the city's children would have absorbed the pain.

But Mayor Ron Gonzales' staff on Monday afternoon located another $300,000 from the city's tobacco settlement money to avoid the cut. The San Jose City Council should approve the mayor's recommendation that the city make its full $2 million contribution to the program.

The Children's Health Initiative, which receives funding from public and private sources, is an amazing success story, providing insurance coverage for 29,000 children in its first two years.

The initiative's outreach program, funded in large part by the city's $300,000 contribution, helps families wade through the volume of paperwork required to sign their children up for state and federal health insurance programs. The original concept for the unique program came from Working Partnerships USA, an advocacy group for the county's working poor, and the group People Acting in Community Together.

All told, the initiative brought $24.4 million in new state and federal money into the county over the past two years, according to a study by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. But it provides far more to San Jose families in the process. A voice of compassion. Someone to trust. A reminder to moms and dads of the value of preventive medicine and regular checkups.

That's a prescription well worth the investment.