Who's Who: Dad's Work with Autism is "for My Son"

Name: Dave Johnson

Age: 56

Occupation: Vice president of finance at the California Autism Foundation

When did you first get involved with the California Autism Foundation (CAF)? My son, when he graduated from , started with the program [at CAF]. Nine months later it was having financial problems, so I went to work for them. I started with CAF in 2008; now I’m working part-time.

What is your background? I went to Berkeley and got a graduate degree. I worked for big companies for my first 10 years, then for the computer industry for 15 or 16 years. I made a commitment that, when I hit 50, I would do something good for the world. I decided I wanted to work for non-profits. I went to work for the Youth Leadership Institute in San Francisco. I started there six years ago, in June. I did budgeting, forecasting, all of their finances. They’re publicly funded.

Is that similar to CAF? Funding for CAF comes [almost] all from the state; the federal government passes it through the state – it’s 95+ percent state-funded. The rest is from the work program, which is about 5 percent, along with some private donations. I’ve been trying to get them stable, [amidst] budget cuts and their own financial problems.

When I started, the department of finance was 13 people; now there’s just me, part-time, and one other person. My goal was to cut the overhead. I’m now looking for other non-profits that need financial help. My goal is strictly working with non-profits, helping organizations where I believe in their mission.

Could you describe the five programs run by CAF? The first is ABC [A Better Chance] School, which is for autistic kids between the ages of 6 and 22, funded through the state and the school districts. For example, if a child comes from Albany, pays for part of his or her education.

When they hit 22, they age out. Then we have two programs — so there’s a program available for anyone who reaches 22. There’s the work program, where they work on packaging items [for companies that contract with CAF] and do other activities. There’s also a day program for other autistic adults. It’s a matter of functionality. There are a lot of people who just can’t focus.

What kinds of activities do the day programmers do? You always see them at ; they go to movies, go to parks, go to the Food Bank and help distribute foods; they do art and music. Think of day camp, year-round.

What are the other two CAF programs? We operate three group homes for autistic adults between 22 and 62. We have the most intensive level of care.

Where are the homes? One is in Pinole and two are in El Sobrante. They’re in high demand, but we lose money running group homes. The work program helps subsidize these houses. CAF had nine homes three years ago; to balance the budget, we had to close six of them. One home we had to close housed women, and the closest women’s home was in Antioch. There are no homes close by because it’s so expensive.

There are very few autistic women; for every eight autistic men, you’ll have one autistic woman. The reverse is true among employees working with the autistic population. We have 170 employees, and about 140 of them are women.

The fifth program, supported living, is where the state is doing the most cutting these days. I could have Dan in an apartment, and they would provide support. They go out to the store, shop, pay bills — they are much more independent. [First] Dan was in the day program; I wanted him to get into the work program. Supported living is the ultimate goal. Five years ago it was a great source of pride for the state. But when you make cuts, you cut where the money is being spent.

How bad were the cuts in this year’s California budget? We’re still figuring that out. They’re cutting a lot of administration. Since I’ve been at CAF, we’ve cut overhead by 50 percent. They’re capping administration at 15 percent. That’s not bad for us, but for organizations that didn’t cut overhead, it’s hard.

What I’m doing now is for my son. It’s very important to me that the organization survives.

Do you have other children? Yes, I have two other children, a daughter who’s 19, going to college and working for . I have another son who’s graduated from college and works for [a bank].

Is it hard to plan for vacations? Very difficult. But you’ve got to do it. We like to go up to Oregon, to the coast, for two or three days. Once a year we get away for five days.

What are your hobbies? I’m into biking, and I have  — I have two 1955 Chevys. I have a ’55 that was built in Oakland, almost to the day when I was born. I also have a ’65 Ford pick-up. We used to have Albany car shows. Dan loves [riding] around town in the old cars.

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