Human Services
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then click on "Go!" button to explore the varied activities of the
Human Services programs of the Five County Association of Governments.
HUMAN SERVICES
 The primary purpose of Human Service
programs is to maximize the effectiveness of resources being expended
in the Five County area through direct services, comprehensive
planning, proper resource management, resource development and
program evaluation. We address needs by providing direct
services and collaborating with a network of human service
agencies. We partner with individuals, families, and
community groups to assist consumers in becoming more self
sufficient. Five County AOG Human Services hosts the local
Community Action Agency serving Southwest Utah. Our goal is
to work toward mitigating the causes and conditions of poverty in the
region through a variety of means including Support Services Case
Management, employment support, education, shelter/housing support,
transportation, accessing affordable health care and emergency
assistance which includes emergency food.
The Five County Human Services Council has the responsibility for
making policy recommendations to the Steering Committee of the Five
County Association of Governments on all matters pertaining to Human
Services in Southwest Utah. This council is a tripartite board, made up
of one third elected public officials, one third low income
representatives, and the remainder from the private sector. The
Director of Human Services and the agency receptionist provide staff
support to the tripartite Council.
HUMAN SERVICES ACTIVITIES FY 2007 -
2008
Human Services staff wrote and prepared State applications, compliance
documents, and budgets. Staff administered programming, prepared
and submitted required reports for the Community Service Block Grant
Program (CSBG).
- 14,347 persons from 6,465 low
income families in the five county area received and participated in
Community Service Block Grant programming during the AOG�s FY 08.
- Local Community Service Block Grant
subcontractors provided 48,157 meals and 16,592 nights of emergency
shelter to 1,032 persons from 788 families, leveraging the CSBG
funding. This represents a 4% decrease in meals and a 4% decrease
in shelter nights provided as well.
- Our Five County Emergency Food Network
provided 24,244 emergency food box allocations, which is an 11.5%
increase over the same period last year. The increase reflects economic
challenges families have faced with higher fuel, food and housing costs.
- We provided over 3,500 bus
pass rides ( an 8% increase) to 230 low income households (a 49%
increase from last year) served by Suntran and Cedar Area
Transportation Service (CATS) passengers in support of meeting transit
needs to places of employment, support services, health care access,
and activities of daily living. At least 47% were persons
with disabilities, which represents a 9% increase.
- Sub-contracted CSBG literacy programs
served 719 low income persons lacking skills in reading, math, English
as a Second Language, or who needed Adult Basic Education course work
to pass GED testing. Sub-contracted literacy programs were
located in Iron and Washington Counties, but served persons from all
five counties. 48% of participants were Caucasian (decreasing 4%
from last year) and 44% were Hispanic (which is a 4% increase
over last year).
18
teen parents enabling them to attend and advance in high school
while 27 infants were provided 5,048 hours of care in an on-site
nursery. Young Parents also increased skills in parenting and self
sufficiency. Sixteen of those teen parents achieved regular
school attendance and advanced academically.
- Maintained data collection and formal
ROMA (Results Oriented Management and Accountability) compliance
procedures with direct programming and awareness of ROMA compliance
issues with Human Service Council and sub-contractors, and direct AOG
programming. Complied with all Community Service Block Grant work
plans addressing at least one of the following required National Goals:
# 1 Low-income
people become more self-sufficient.
# 2 The
conditions in which low-income people live are improved.
#
3 Low-income people own a stake in their community.
#
4 Partnerships among supporters and providers of
service to low-income people are achieved.
#
5 Agencies increase their capacity to achieve results.
# 6
Low-income people, especially vulnerable
populations, achieve their potential by strengthening family and their
supportive systems.
- Continued to train all support workers,
many of which are volunteer with providers to improve and adapt in
using additional codes, to help track program information and
assist in measuring outcomes.
- Provided bi-monthly newsletters (8,120
copies) to area pantries for distribution to individuals receiving
regional emergency food boxes detailing consumer tips for wise use of
limited resources, health and nutrition information, and recipe
suggestions for use of food box items.
- Provided staff support to the Five
County Human Services Council and the allocation process of both 1)
Community Service Block Grant funding and 2)Social Service Block Grant
funding in our region.
- Staff provided technical assistance and
program monitoring to 11 Community Service Block Grant sub-contractors
and six Social Service Block Grant providers in our regional area.
Human
Services staff administered the local discretionary Social Service
Block Grant (SSBG) program for this region. Staff provided
oversight for the local application process. Provided technical
assistance to applicants as needed. Monitored programming and processed
payments to sub-contractors.
- 663 individuals from the five counties
received over 13,440 transportation rides provided from local
discretionary Social Service Block Grant funding. 113 of
the recipients were persons with disabilities. 603 were
senior citizens.
- Worked with individual County Care and
Shares and/or Food Network providers to prioritize local needs.
Incorporated prioritized needs in State Emergency Food Network (EFN)
application prepared for region.
- Advocated for local pantry needs in
budget requests and scope of work.
- Administered regional (EFN) funding,
providing appropriate documentation of expenditures to State.
- Assisted regional pantries to increase
capacity to provide services by co-sponsoring production of 9,600 cans
of pork and beans for distribution in emergency food boxes. 2)
Purchased floor in digital scales for our 2nd largest food
pantry, 3) Assisting with operations support covering items such
as rent costs and some utility charges, 4) Additional supports
helping to improve and update facilities by repairing floors and
painting, 5) Secured a trainer, fork lift charger, cargo container for
some distribution sites, 6) Supplied distribution sites with 7
computers, a printer, and internet connections enabling sites to
improve their management information systems and program operations.
- Planned, sponsored and provided three
Emergency Food and Food & Shelter meetings with pantry providers.
Worked
with Federal, State and County groups (Beaver, Garfield, and Kane) to
secure available state set aside funds as directed by local
organization recipient Emergency Food and Shelter Board (EFSB)
programming.
- Provided staff support to local EFSB
Board administering allocation process for all jurisdictions designated
in our region.
- Prepared individual
FY 07 EFSB applications for each of the five jurisdictions in our
region.
- Worked with EFSB providers helping 61
families with emergency rent/mortgage payment supplements so families
could either avoid eviction or obtain housing leveraging Emeergency
Food and Shelter Board resources.
- Staff worked with each of the 11
individual EFSB providers to assure program compliance issues
were met.
- AOG provided support as fiscal
conduit for all purchases throughout region.
- Staff successfully packaged and sent all
required documents for all four FY06 jurisdictions to EFSB National
Board and responded to changes made in program interpretation.
Assisted
in the procurement of 1,350,163 pounds of food for pantry use in
Emergency Food Boxes. 104,538 pounds were from the United
States Department of Agriculture, and 757,609 pounds of food were from
the Utah Food Bank.
- Regional food pantries were assisted by
local food drives from Boy Scouts
(110,476 pounds), Letter Carriers
(85,400), education groups, corporate sponsors, churches, and
community members donated 228,377 pounds of food.
- 63,763 pounds of food were purchased
locally for use in emergency food boxes.
- AOG staff collected statistical data
from each regional food pantry provider, prepared required reports, and
submitted them to State as required.
Other Human Services Unit Support included:
- Participated in and provided support for a variety of local and
regional community councils, including: Human Services Coordinating
Council of Washington Co.; Homeless Continuum of Care Coalition/Housing
First (Homeless Coordinating group); and the Southwest Regional
Interagency Council.
- Promoted the Utah Saves program as a way to increase
consumer fiscal awareness and promote self sufficiency.
- Served as member of Utah Community Action Partnership Association;
- Promoted participation in legislative process. Facilitated
regional discussions with Legislators from Southern Utah and attendees
at the Legislature on Democracy Day, where the Five County region
had the largest number of participating constituents.
- Provided technical and administrative support for Support
Services Case Management programming, transitioning the service from a
direct AOG program and integrating it with sub-contracted programming
in each of the five counties.
- Hosted and helped coordinate the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
(VITA) program, outreaching to low income consumers and linking them
with VITA sites to increase number and amounts of tax returns &
Earned Income Tax Credit�s reimbursements.
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