Residents Press Rice County on 'Broken' Social Services System

One by one they walked to the podium, were granted 120 seconds to address the room, and .

“I rely on benefits from the county of Rice. … I was also told I’d have to wait in line,” Northfield resident Jim Broad told the Rice County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

“We don’t have any money. We don’t have any food,” Meosha Dinwiddie, of Northfield, said of her family.

"People struggling with illness need consistent and reliable treatment,” said former Rice County Commissioner Jessica Peterson White.

In total, 18 people addressed the commissioners about the county’s struggle to provide food and health benefits to residents.

They were teachers, clergy, applicants, friends and advocates.

Above all, they said they were people.

“A road is a road. A human being is a human being. Roads don’t go hungry.”

 
Identifying a problem

For months, residents have turned to organizations like the and Growing Up Healthy, two area nonprofits working with low-income families, with growing concern over an apparent backlog with the Rice County Social Services department.

They reported that calls and messages to the county are going unanswered. They said they were asked to file paperwork that they’d already completed. And, above all, some say they went up to five months without food or health-care benefits because of stretched-too-thin social workers.

“As we look over our current system, it’s obvious it’s not working well,” said Keith Homstad, a retired Northfield pastor.

Mark Shaw, the county’s social services director, said on Tuesday that guidelines call for up to a 30-day waiting period for food benefits and 45 days for health-care benefits.

“We’ve seen sizeable growth (in requests),” he said. “It’s not always an easy process.”

According to Rice County records, food support cases have increased from 997 in December 2007 to 1,654 (3,500 recipients) in February 2012. For health care, cases increased from 916 in December 2007 to 3,925 (6,623 recipients) in November 2011, and family cash program cases increased from 72 in December 2007 to 310 (879 recipients) in November 2011.

Overall, the department’s caseload more than tripled from 2,117 cases four years ago to nearly 6,500 in 2012, according to county records.

In short, Shaw said the county social services department can’t keep up with the pace of new requests and renewals of existing cases. He said his department has implemented new systems and is updating others to better address workflow.

“What’s critical is how we respond to the needs of people with the resources we have,” said Jim Blaha, executive director of the CAC, which helps families with food and shelter.

For March, Shaw has brought in temporary staff to help get caught up. Each Saturday, 10 contracted financial workers have been brought in to process cases. Those workers are in addition to four temporary staffers brought on to help address mail processing, two full-time permanent financial workers and four Minnesota Department of Human Services staff to provide temporary assistance with case processing, he said.

Though, admittedly, Shaw said it’s a “short-term solution,” as new case requests don’t appear to be decreasing as many county residents continue to struggle.

According to the 2010 Census, 10.4 percent of Rice County residents lived in poverty, just shy of the state number. 

With lingering effects from the recession, more than 500,000 Minnesotans receive food benefits. It should be higher, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which says only 65 percent of eligible Minnesotans receive food assistance, meaning there’s even a greater need than what’s being presented to social services departments in the state’s 87 counties.

Commissioner Galen Malecha, who brought Rice County’s issue before the board after scathing reports in media outlets like MinnPost and the Faribault Daily News, said the situation needs to change.

“We have kids not getting fed, seniors not getting their medication. We have adults with mental health issues not getting their medication,” Malecha, who represents Dundas and all but two Northfield precincts on the county board, told Northfield Patch last week. “We can get caught up. That’s just a Band-Aid. What are we going to do after that?

“The thought of kids not getting meals—it makes me sick.”

‘Badge of honor’

A lot of blame for the social services backlog is pointed toward Rice County’s favorable per capita property tax. Out of 87 Minnesota counties in 2011, Rice County was the lowest at $295. For years, Rice County has remained at or near the bottom for property taxes. For many commissioners, it’s been a badge of honor.

But at what cost, Malecha wondered.

“It’s great (to have a low property tax), but the trickle down effect is that you shorthand the sheriff’s department, the road system. You shorthand every department,” he said.

Other commissioners were quick to say money wouldn’t solve the social services backlog.

“Property taxes are not the answer,” Commissioner Milt Plaisance said on Tuesday. “We put money into (social services). We put people in. I don’t really know the answer. It’s sad. … I feel that it’s going to get worse.”

Commissioner Jake Gillen agreed, saying that social services already costs Rice County an “enormous amount of money.”

“Is it needed, or isn’t it needed—I don’t know,” he said.

In 2011, Rice County spent $9,766,156 on Social Services, according to county auditor/treasurer Fran Windschitl. That was a decrease of more than $600,000 compared to 2010.

And while it was noted at the meeting that all departments have experienced budget reductions, Malecha said there is no comparison.

“A road is a road. A human being is a human being. Roads don’t go hungry,” he said.

In 2010, 19 percent of the county’s budget went to social services, according to county data. That was down from 25 percent in 2008, though in actual dollars, about 3.6 percent was spent more in 2010 compared to 2008.

Year

Social Services Expenditures

Percent of County Budget

24

But it all comes down to dollars, some of Tuesday’s speakers said.

Northfielder resident Sara Doyle said research shows that for every $1 of food support given that between $1.74 and $1.84 goes back into the local economy. 

When Doyle was on food assistance, she spent $125 a month in groceries, or a benefit of as much as $230 to the local economy, she said. When she recently lost her assistance, Doyle cut back on groceries, reducing her contribution to the local economy.

“We, as a community, certainly cannot afford to reduce any kind of spending power,” she told commissioners.

According to the LINK Center, a joint-effort of Growing Up Healthy and the to connect residents with resources, every $5 in food support benefits generates $9.20 in total community spending.

“The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP—formerly known as Food Stamps) brings federal dollars into communities in the form of benefits that are redeemed by SNAP participants at local stores. These benefits ripple throughout the economies of the community, state, and nation. Nationwide, it is estimated that 30 percent of eligible people do not participate in the SNAP, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. This translates to between 550 and 600 individuals in Rice County. If we were able to connect one-third of those eligible individuals to SNAP benefits, it would result in more than half a million dollars of increased community spending.”

Janet Lewis Muth, executive director of Growing Up Healthy, told commissioners that bringing federal dollars to Rice County is reason enough to get the benefits to those who request them.

“It’s silly for us not to take advantage of (that).”

What's next?

County Administrator Gary Weiers applauded the efforts of the social services department, but said it is incapable of getting caught up and staying caught up.

“There has been a great deal of work done,” he said. “I feel our staff has done the best it can do under the circumstances.”

Weiers said Tuesday’s meeting provided a push for the board and staff to “chart a course for long-term viability,” but deciding what to do and how to do it will take time.

Peterson White, the former Rice County commissioner, said it’s imperative to find a plan that isn't just about temporary relief.

“Hungry children can’t learn," she said. “Please invest in long-term solutions that will make our county strong, healthier and more prosperous.”

One option on the table involves Rice County as one of 12 southeastern Minnesota counties considering a collaboration to deliver human service programs and other government services more effectively.

Regardless of the solution, Shaw, the social services department head, said something needs to be done.

“I think we need to have further discussion about not only getting the work done today, but into the future,” he said.

You can find more articles from this ongoing series, “Dispatches: The Changing Amerian Dream” from across the country at The Huffington Post.

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