There is a lot of wealth in Albemarle County but it is not distributed equally, especially as the cost of living increases.
“We do have 16,000 households that are identified as asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed,” said Mary McIntyre, the Rio District representative on the Department of Social Services Advisory Board.
“And this is important for us to remember that they are working but yet they are not earning enough to support their families,” McIntyre continued.
McIntyre presented the annual report for FY2023 to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday. The theme this year is “Impacts” and McIntyre said that refers to the assistance that helps many people in the community get by.
“When you look at the number of people in Albemarle County that receive some kind of services from the department, you probably do know someone who receives services from the department whether you know it or not,” McIntyre said. “In fact, all of the people who come through DSS as clients impact you in some way. They are your neighbors. They are driving on the roads next to you. They are shopping in the stores with you. They are playing in the parks with your children.”
One of the services is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which helps families, individuals, and households buy food. The number of recipients jumped nearly 44 percent over five years from 9,664 in fiscal year 2019 to 13,668 in FY23.
“We do have more people needing assistance in the community and we are able to provide that in various ways,” McIntyre said.
The number of referrals to Child Protective Services has also increased from 913in FY19 to 1,228 in FY23. McIntyre said the department is currently able to handle the increased workload with existing staff but more resources may be needed if the trend continues. One thing staff does is validate cases. There were 336 validated in FY19 and 483 in FY23.
Other services include assistance with energy issues including home heating and purchase of fans or air conditioning. Much of that funding is a pass-through from the federal government and it runs out each year.
There’s also work to help connect people with employment.
“The DSS helps people find and get living wage jobs,” McIntyre said. “We provide job leads daily to people seeking job. In our career center, of the 846 people that visited the career center, 427 were first time visitors.”
A major barrier to people entering the workforce is a lack of child care. McIntire said Albemarle does not have enough providers which has driven up the cost. Albemarle has a subsidy program but many day care centers won’t accept it.
In the question and answer period, Supervisor Ned Gallaway asked about a metric related to care for elderly residents.
“In the presentation, it was mentioned the 591 seniors receiving services to remain living independently,” Gallaway said. “Do we think we’re missing people?”
Kaki Dimock, Albemarle’s Chief of Human Services, said it is very likely that there are people who aren’t getting the services they need in part because they may not know the services exist or that they are eligible for them.
Needs for eldercare are nuanced but the system may not be.
“There are folks who are in a setting where they are getting more services than they need at the moment,” Dimock said. “The ideal setting or the continuum is that you get the services you need. You don’t go immediately from one to ten but sometimes our system is not set up for that sort of nuanced, progressive sort of care-giving.”
The presentation also covered housing issues and I’ll be following up on that in another edition of the newsletter. (review the report)
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