Tuesday, June 12, 2007

 

ODJFS Offers A Wealth of Data

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services regularly reports detailed information about Ohio Works First, Title-IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, Disability Assistance, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Child Care programs as part of their Public Assistance Monthly Statistics. The information is worth reviewing from time to time to get a sense of what is happening at the state and county level from a variety of perspectives.

One of the things you can track is TANF caseloads and spending at the state level. For example, the March 2007 OWF combined caseload is 7% smaller than a year earlier and that TANF spending in March, 2007 was 6.5 percent less than a year earlier. In the first three months of 2007 the caseload shrunk by 1,200 assistance groups and TANF spending has dropped every month through March.

It’s not just state level data that’s available. There is also a wealth of county level data available. For example Auglaize, Putnam, and Van Wert counties report in March, 2007 that they had zero adults on Ohio Works First, while Adams, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Washington, Wyandot, counties each reported having less than 10 adults on Ohio Works First.

Two of these counties, Adams and Huron counties, had estimated unemployment rates in January, 2007 of 10.3 and 10.4 percent – well above the state average of 6.2 percent. The incredibly detailed Public Children Services Association 2007 Fact Book reported that in 2004 nearly 3 out of every 10 residents of Adams County lived below 100% of poverty and that the percentage of people living in poverty has increased 63% since the beginning of the decade. The story is the same for Huron County where 1 out of every 10 residents had incomes below 100% of the poverty level and where poverty has increased by 45% since 2000. This obviously begs the question whether or not these counties are reaching those families living in poverty who aren’t able to obtain employment and likely require assistance meeting their basic needs.

Yesterday Community Solutions co-released a report with the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies on poverty in Ohio. The authors of the report stated that poverty was at the highest recorded rate since the early 1970s and that child poverty has increased dramatically since 2000 in Ohio. Later this summer the U.S. Census Bureau will release updated poverty statistics for the country, and Ohio.

I am hoping to spend some time this summer looking at Public Assistance Monthly Statistics data. I am interested in looking at the number of number of children who are living in extreme poverty and comparing that with the number of children who are receiving some type of cash assistance. I want to look at county penetration rates for Medicaid and Food Stamps and compare that with poverty rates, unemployment rates and other related data.

Of course it doesn't do much good to just moan and groan about the bad news without talking as well about how we might improve the lives of Ohioans who are struggling to just get by. I'm interested in thinking about ways to make sure Ohioans who are eligible for assistance get the assistance they need (the Benefit Bank!) or promoting the creation of a state earned income tax credit that would put more money into the hands of low-wage working Ohioans who've seen their state and local tax burden increase over the past several years. I would be interested in hearing your ideas as well, send them to jcorlett@communitysolutions.com

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