2010 needs survery summary
DESCRIPTION
2010 Community Assessment FindingsTRANSCRIPT
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN C MMUNITY ACTION AGENCY Arthur C. Fenrick, Executive Director
185 E Main Street, Suite 200Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Richard Accoe, ChairMike Franks, Vice Chair
Willie Mitchell, TreasurerMarletta Seats, Secretary
Phone: (800) 334-7670Fax: (269) 925-9271E-mail: [email protected] site: www.smcaa.com
Helping People. Changing Lives .
2010
Community Needs Assessment
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency (SMCAA) has been providing services to low-
income families in Southwest Michigan for over 30 years. The current portfolio of services
includes Emergency Assistance (including shelter), individual and asset development,
weatherization and housing development.
Emergency Assistance for low-income families and individuals includes: emergency and
commodity food, utility, rent/mortgage, and other miscellaneous assistance, and emergency
shelter in Van Buren and Cass Counties. Through Community Development programs,
SMCAA helps individuals and families find and secure housing using a variety of tools
including: serving as lead agency for housing and homeless services in Cass, and Van Buren
Counties; Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI) housing coordinator provides LINKS to
Homeownership counseling; and administering the Individual Development Account and
Family Self-Sufficiency programs. The Weatherization and Housing Development program
provides Weatherization, Energy Education, Home-owner and Rental Rehabilitation, and
emergency repairs for homes of low-income residents. This is done as the third-party
administrator for the City of Niles, and Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties MSHDA
Housing Resource Fund Grants.
Attachment 1 is the fiscal year 2010 service overview for SMCAA. It details the numbers
served and also provides client demographic information.
SMCAA serves Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties through the aforementioned
programs. According to the most current census data (the 2000 Census) the population of
our service area was 285,591. The population is made up of 158,224 or 55% from Berrien
County, 51,104 or 18% from Cass County, and 76,263 or 27% from Van Buren County.
Attachments 2 – 4 provide more detailed demographic information.
SURVEY
Instrument
The Community Needs Assessment was conducted from January to July 2010. The paper
survey instrument ( Attachment 5) was distributed to clients of all SMCAA programs
throughout our service area. Respondents were instructed to complete and return the form
to be entered into a drawing for a chance to receive a gift card. Drawings were held to
select one gift card recipient from each County in our service area. A total of 432 surveys
were collected: 213, or 49% from Berrien County; 66, or 15%, from Cass County: 153 or
35% from Van Buren County.
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 2
Limitations
As with any survey, study or assessment, there are limitations that must be identified and
considered. The SMCAA Community Needs Survey limitations include “no answer”, no
Spanish version, the surveys were only distributed at SMCAA offices, and limited assistance
with completing the survey.
First, there was a high percentage--(in some cases almost 30%), of respondents that
answered only the demographic questions. Therefore, for the purposes of this report
percentages were calculated using the number that responded to the question not the total
number of surveys collected.
Also, our service area includes a concentration of Spanish speaking residents. The
Southwest Michigan First website, www.southwestmichiganfirst.com, estimates there are
approximately 38,000 individuals of Hispanic origin in the Kalamazoo region. The
Kalamazoo region includes Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph,
and Van Buren Counties. Berrien is not included. This estimate represents approximately
5% of the population identified in the 2000 Census. While this doesn’t seem very high, the
estimate doesn’t account for the non-resident aliens and seasonal workers that live and
work in Southwest Michigan. Although there is a strong Spanish presence, a Spanish
version of survey isn’t yet available.
Another limitation is surveys were distributed only at SMCAA offices. Therefore, survey
respondents were limited to those who received referrals or services onsite.
Finally, although clients were offered assistance in completing the survey few requested
help.
Use
The survey report is shared with SMCAA’s Board of Directors, staff, the Bureau of Community
Action and Economic Opportunity (BCAEO), funders and community partners.
SMCAA uses the data to identify areas of opportunity.
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 3
ANALYSIS
Question 1 asked respondents to identify all of the needs they were experiencing. The
following chart illustrates the responses.
Chart 1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Vision Healthcare
Job Transportation
Employment
Dental Healthcare
Counseling
Housing Repairs
Food
Medical Healthcare
Utilities
Hospice
Prescriptions
Clothing
Disability Assistance
Housing
No Answer
Housing Loans
Elder Care
Education
Legal Services
Senior Services
Mental Healthcare
Income Tax Preparation
Childcare
Medical Transportation
Domestic Violence Services
Needs
Van Buren
Cass
Berrien
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 4
As the preceding graph shows, the needs identified most frequently by respondents include
utilities, medical healthcare, food, housing repairs, dental healthcare, vision healthcare and
prescriptions. In Berrien County, the most frequently identified needs were housing repairs
and food. Utilities and healthcare (medical, dental and vision) were chosen with almost the
same frequency.
In Cass County, dental and vision healthcare were the needs most frequently identified by
respondents. Medical healthcare and food were identified with the second highest
frequency, while home repairs, prescriptions and utilities were third highest.
In Van Buren County, dental healthcare was first with vision and medical healthcare second.
Food, utilities and housing repairs were third.
Barriers to Services
Respondents were also asked to identify any barriers their family had experienced when
seeking assistance for their basic needs (Attachment 2, question 3). Of the barriers listed
(can’t afford fees; don’t qualify; no transportation; don’t know where to go; pride; service not
available; no childcare; prior bad experience; service hours; and health concern) there were
several surprises during our analysis.
First, our service area is primarily rural and transportation is frequently cited by service
providers as a significant barrier. Surprisingly, 44% or 189 reported no problem accessing
services because of transportation. Although 31% or 85 reported transportation being
“somewhat of a problem” (19%) or “a significant problem” (12%), that number was lower
than expected.
Another surprise was 47% or 205 reported having to “Work During Service Hours” was “not
a problem”. Only 12% or 52 reported it as either a “big” problem or “somewhat” of a
problem. SMCAA staff and colleagues regularly explore the benefit of offering extended
service hours to accommodate clients who work.
Chart 2
0 50 100 150
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
Work Conflict with Service Hours
A Big Problem
Somewhat Of A
Problem
Not A Problem
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 5
0
20
40
60
80
Berrien Cass Van Buren
Not Eligible for Services
Not A Problem
Somewhat Of A
Problem
A Big Problem
It isn’t a surprise that not everyone
needing assistance qualifies. In
Berrien County 20% or 27 reported it
to be a “big problem” while in Cass
16% or 7 and Van Buren 24% or 22
reported the same. In all three
counties 35% or 152 reported it as
either a “big” problem or “somewhat”
of a problem.
Chart 3
Another concern regularly discussed is
whether people in need know where to
go for assistance. 37% or 106 of
respondents reported that not knowing
where to go for assistance was
“somewhat of a problem” while 13% or
38 reported it was a “big” problem.
This
Chart 4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Berrien Cass Van Buren
Don't Know Where to Go?
Not A Problem
Somewhat Of A
Problem
A Big Problem
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 6
Health Care
A follow-up question asked respondents to identify any barriers they had experienced related
to accessing health care. Surprisingly, 36% or 144 of respondents reported no barriers.
However, cost (28%) and no insurance (28%) when taken together were identified by 226 or
56% as the biggest barriers to health care. Chart 5 reflects the responses broken down by
county.
Chart 5
In addition to identifying barriers to healthcare, respondents were asked if they had received
dental care in the last 12 months. 55% or 208 reported they had not received dental care
and Chart 6 graphically shows that a lack of insurance and costs were the most significant
reasons in all three counties.
Chart 6
Barriers to Employment & Transportation
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
No Barriers Cost No Insurance No
Transportation
No Doctor in
My Area
No Childcare No Answer
Barriers to Health Care
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
0
20
40
60
80
100
No Insurance Cost My Choice Fear No
Transportation
No Childcare No Answer
No Dental Care Reason
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 7
In question 11, respondents were asked to identify their employment status. Of the 432
respondents, 38% or 140 reported being employed either full or part-time (20% full-time
18% part-time). 68 or 18% reported being retired and another 131 or 35% reported being
unemployed and searching. Only 9% of respondents reported “being unemployed” and “not
searching”.
Question 12 asked respondents to identify any barriers to employment. Physical disability
(21%), pay to low to support (13%), and no jobs in the field (13%) were the cited as barriers
to employment. However, 32% or 138 reported no barriers to employment. Chart 7 shows
the breakdown by county.
Chart 7
The majority of respondents, 79% reported having reliable transportation. Of the 21%
reporting not having reliable transportation, a greater percentage of respondents were from
Cass and Van Buren Counties. In Cass County, 26% or 14 of the 54 respondents from
reported not having reliable transportation, whereas 24% or 31 or the 127 respondents in
Van Buren County reported the same. These numbers are higher than the 18% of Berrien
County respondents reporting not having access to reliable transportation.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Employment Barriers
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 8
Chart 8 shows the price of gas was identified as a significant barrier.
Chart 8
Housing
Question 17 asked respondents to identify the type of housing they were living in and the
responses are outlined in Chart 9. An important point may not be immediately apparent in
the chart. Family and Friends was listed by only 6% of respondents. However, 65% or 15 of
the 23 respondents reporting this were from Van Buren County.
Chart 9
Respondents were asked to identify the major housing concerns from the list provided in
question 18. The concerns identified most frequently were high utilities and houses in need
of major repair.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
No Barriers No Car/Can' t
Afford Car
No Public
Transportation
Price of Gas No Private
Transportation
No Routes Near
Home
No Routes Near
Work
No Answer
Reliable Transportation Barriers
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
0
20
40
60
80
100
Rental Unit Home You Own Home With
Mortgage
With Family/Friends Shelter Homeless No Answer
Residence Type
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 9
Housing quality was explored in question 19 where respondents were asked to rate the
condition of homes in their community using a Leikert scale where 1 is the worst and 10 is
the best. The results show that 41% rated their housing quality at a 4 – 5. 18% rated the
housing quality poorly at 3 or below while 41% rated housing quality as acceptable to
excellent (from 6 to 10).
Banked vs. Unbanked
Respondents were asked if they had a bank account or not. Chart 10 illustrates that in
Berrien County almost 3 times as many clients have a bank account, while in Cass it is 2
times. In Van Buren County the number that have a bank account are only slightly more
than those who don’t.
Chart 10
When responding to the question, only a small percentage (8%) acknowledged using a check
cashing service. The numbers are broken out by county in Chart 11.
Chart 11
0 50 100 150 200
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
Have Bank Account
No
Yes
0 50 100 150 200
Berrien
Cass
Van Buren
Use Check Cashing Service
No
Yes
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 10
Demographic Data
Race
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
Black/African American 89 11 24 124
White/Caucasian 96 44 91 231
Asian 0 0 0 0
Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial 1 2 1 4
American Indian 1 0 2 3
Alaska Native/Pacific Islander 0 0 0 0
No Answer 26 9 36 71
Marital Status
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
Single 76 16 48 140
Married 51 17 36 104
Divorced 38 20 25 83
Widowed 20 3 7 30
Separated 13 4 15 32
No Answer 18 6 22 46
Age
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
Under 20 1 1 1 3
20-24 4 2 9 15
25-39 63 14 61 138
40-59 70 32 39 141
60-64 16 3 8 27
65-79 27 8 10 45
Over 80 9 1 2 12
No Answer 25 7 26 58
Gender
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
Male 45 15 24 84
Female 148 45 103 296
No Answer 23 8 28 59
SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 11
Household Income
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
No income 4 2 7 13
Less than 10,000 65 17 49 131
10,001 – 20,000 62 27 36 125
20,001 – 30,000 32 4 16 52
30,001 - 40,000 6 2 5 13
40,001 - 50,000 7 2 5 14
50,001 - 60,000 5 1 0 6
60,001 - 70,000 1 0 0 1
Above 70,000 2 0 0 2
No Answer 29 11 35 75
Number in Household
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
1 57 13 23 93
2 46 15 29 90
3 37 6 34 77
4 28 12 25 65
5 10 8 10 28
6 8 3 7 18
7 4 1 0 5
8 or more 0 2 1 3
No Answer 23 6 24 53
Education Level (Of those 25 and over)
Berrien Cass
Van
Buren TOTAL
Some Grade School 4 1 5 10
Completed Grade School 7 0 4 11
Some High School 24 6 25 55
Completed High School 58 18 50 126
Some Technical School 7 3 12 22
Completed Tech School 8 1 4 13
Some College 62 26 25 113
Associate Degree 14 4 6 24
Bachelor Degree 13 1 4 18
Master’s Degree 1 0 0 1
Doctorate Degree 0 0 0 0
No Answer 14 6 18 38