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SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDER AND FAITH BASED SURVEY RESULTS
The following analysis is based on 76 responses (39%) to the social service provider survey and 11 responses (19%) to the faith based survey.
- Following is a chart that displays the types of organizations that participated in the social service provider survey (respondents could respond more than once):
- A wide variety of services are provided by the agencies participating in the survey, ranging from Early Education and Care, Basic Needs, Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Services, Education, Transportation, and Youth Development, among many others.
- Annual budgets of responding social service agencies can be seen in the chart on the right.
- Thirty of the seventy-six agencies (39%) had special licensures or accreditation, most of which were national or state accreditation.
- Twenty-two of the agencies (29%) provide services that are required by law.
- The majority of the respondents (68%) said that they are not currently able to meet the demand for services that they provide. Of faith based respondents, 73% are unable to meet current requests for assistance.
- Fifty-one percent of the respondents said that they are currently maintaining waiting lists for their services, with waiting times ranging from days to years - depending on the type of service.
- In the past 6 to 12 months, agencies experienced the following changes:
|
Change in Budget
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Change in the Number of Staff
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Change in the number of Clients Served
|
|
|
Social Service
|
Faith Based
|
Social Service Only
|
Social Service
|
Faith Based
|
| Decrease |
33% |
45% |
24% |
9% |
|
| No Change |
43% |
45% |
50% |
39% |
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| Increase |
24% |
|
26% |
53% |
73% |
- In the next year or two, 49% of social service respondents expect that their capacity to provide services will increase, 28% expect that their capacity will remain the same, and 23% expect that their capacity will decrease. Of faith based respondents, 55% anticipate that capacity to provide services will remain the same while 27% felt capacity would decrease.
- Of those who expect that their capacity to provide services will change, many anticipated changes in state or federal funding sources, increased costs of providing services, programmatic changes, and increased demand for services.
- With the downturn in the economy, service providers anticipate an increase in the demand for services. Many providers rely heavily on philanthropic giving to support their programs, which may be difficult in the current economy. Flat funding does not allow organizations to respond to the growing demand for services, as the cost of providing services continues to increase.
- The majority of providers (85%) have experienced an increase in the demand for services in the past year. Fourteen percent did not see a change, and 1% saw a decrease in the demand for services.
- The services most frequently identified by clients are basic needs (30% of responses) with housing being the most common, mental health and substance abuse (15%) and workforce development (13%). Faith based providers identified basic needs as the need most often identified by clients.
- Basic needs services, by far, are also the services most likely to continue to be unmet for clients visiting service providers (37% of responses). Second is mental and substance abuse (10%) and third is child care (9%). Faith based providers identified housing as the need that continues to be unmet.
- Service providers indicated that immigrants (17% of responses), the homeless (17%), individuals from certain economic strata (e.g. working poor or low income), and single parents are the groups most likely to remain underserved. Faith based providers identified the homeless, single parents and immigrants as those continuing to be underserved.
- The majority of services providers are seeing a change in the ages of clients. Fifty percent of providers have seen an increase in the number of people ages 20-64, 30% have seen an increase in 13-19 year olds, 26% an increase in children age 0-12, and 16% an increase in clients over 65.
- The majority of respondents (54%) are seeing an increase in the number of Hispanic clients, 20% are seeing an increase in African-American, 19% an increase in Asians, and 17% an increase in whites.
- Sixty-two percent of the respondents are seeing an increase in the number of immigrants needing services. No respondent has seen a decrease.
- Of those providers seeing more immigrants, the vast majority responded that Hispanic is the most prevalent (75% of responses) with Mexican and Central American being the most common. Other nationalities mentioned, but not in significant numbers, include Asian, Russian, Middle Eastern and African.
- When asked about other changes in client demographics, 43% of the responses referenced a change in socioeconomic status (e.g. more working poor, more "middle class"). The second most frequent response was a change in the number of non-English-speakers (18%).
- The final survey question was open ended and asked providers to share any additional information about changes in community conditions that they have observed in the last year. The responses covered a wide range of issues, although broad themes were identifiable. The perception is that funding has either remained level or declined in the last year or so. At the same time, the cost of doing business continues to rise, both administrative costs and supply costs (e.g. medicines). There is a perception that funding is inadequate to meet the needs or demand for services, which is increasing. The rising cost of living in recent years combined with the recent economic downturn threatens those who have achieved self-sufficiency, albeit precarious. Lastly, some identified emerging issues for which there are no services or inadequate services (e.g. Hep C treatment for indigent, ex-offenders re-entering community, child on adult violence, increase in non-English speakers).
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