In January, the La Crosse County Human Services Department began to analyze the increased demand for services due to the recession.  Each section examined data on increased caseloads they have seen in recent months.  Outlined below is a quick snapshot of the trends.  In the coming months, it will be vital for the Department to continue to analyze the demand for services compared with the available resources and service capacity.  With all of the programs, it is difficult to say that these changes are solely based on the impact of the recession, but it is believed that the current economy is a contributing factor in the demand for human services.

In Mental Health Recovery Services, there has not been a sufficient data collection system to do a comprehensive analysis of changing trends in the number of referrals.   However, the growth in crisis contacts grew by approximately 14%, from 3700 in 2008 to 4200 in 2009.  And the section experienced a significant increase of over 37% in Inpatient and Residential Expenses from approximately $1.16 million in 2008 to over $1.6 million in 2009. 

In Economic Support, the data does not provide a clear picture since the decline in worker caseload beginning in July 2009 is largely due to the State taking over administration of Food Share, Badger Care Core and Family Planning Waiver cases for adults without dependent children.  However, the total caseload of Economic Support cases including families, there is an increase of 150 cases from January to December 2009.  The number of cases involving elderly and disabled clients has increased by 271 over the same time period. 

Other caseload statistics for La Crosse County Economic Support show:

January 2009  Food Share  4,093 cases and  9,056 recipients; benefits=$817,539

January 2010  Food Share  4,598 cases and 10,970 recipients; benefits=$1,167,123

While the W2 program grew from:  30 cases in Jan 2009 to 54 cases in Dec 2009

Child Care cases have gone down from 618 families receiving child care assistance in January 2009 to 598 families receiving child care assistance in December 2009.  In general, the lower number of families receiving child care assistance reflects the increase in the unemployed.

For the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Western Wisconsin, serves the counties of La Crosse, Vernon, Monroe and Jackson.  Since this regional service grew over the past two years, accurate annual comparisons are difficult.  However, the data of Referral Volume for only La Crosse County indicates a growth of 129 referrals per month on average for the year, and up over 200 per month for the last 1/3 of 2009 compared to 2008.  Those numbers are quite indicative of an increased need in the community for additional resources, assumed at least in part due to the recession.

In Family & Children’s, the most significant impact of the recession has been seen in the hiring process in which positions that pay $10.50 an hour are seeing professionals apply who have been laid off.

Overall trends in Family & Children services reveal the following:

·         Juvenile Justice – delinquencies and referrals had dropped 24% in 2009 as compared with 2008.  However, sexual assault offenses by juveniles increased significantly, causing concern for the number of youth placed out of the home.  Youth with mental health concerns have also increased.

·         Referrals to Child Protective Services have increased over the past year due to a combination of issues with parents – mental health, AODA, sexual abuse, and cognitive ability.  Also, for the first two months of 2010, child Protective Services has been filing a record number of CHIPS petitions.

From this brief analysis of data, it is evident that the need for many types of human services is increasing.  It is believed that this increased demand is at least in part related to the economic issues our community and state are facing. 

Gerald Huber, Human Services Director

Thank you, Steve Doyle and Steve O'Malley