Demand for Johnson County’s financial assistance program continues to grow

The Johnson County Health and Human Services building (right) is connected by a skywalk over E. Benton Street in Iowa City to the Johnson County Administration Building. (The Gazette)

The program provides money to help qualifying Johnson County residents pay for things like rent, transportation, prescriptions and funeral expenses.
The county is on track to spend $1.5 million this fiscal year, despite a budget of $1 million.
The social services director says the county either needs to change rules to make fewer people eligible for assistance, or it needs to hire additional staff.

IOWA CITY — Johnson County’s general assistance program, which provides short-term financial help to residents who qualify, has seen a sharp increase in demand this year, putting strain on the program’s budget and its employees.

Lynette Jacoby, the county’s social services director, said the general assistance program has seen record numbers each month during fiscal year 2023, which started on July 1 and runs through June 30, 2023.

The county is on track to spend about $1.5 million on general assistance in fiscal 2023, which exceeds the $1 million budgeted, Jacoby said in her quarterly update to the board of supervisors on Wednesday.

She attributed the increase to a change in rules that made more residents eligible for assistance, and the end of state and federal pandemic assistance programs.

Jacoby also said staff have struggled to keep up with increased demand.

“Given the huge demand for service, we've really exceeded our ability to continue as we're operating,” Jacoby said.

The general assistance program, required of counties by state law, is administered through Johnson County’s Social Services Department. This program is different from the one-time direct assistance checks funded by pandemic relief dollars.

Financial assistance is available to address various needs of Johnson County residents, including rent, utilities, transportation, prescriptions, provisions, pet food and funeral expenses. The county makes the payment on behalf of the eligible resident or household.

From July 1 through Nov. 29, a total of 556 households have received assistance totaling $588,108. Each household has received about $682 in assistance per application, Jacoby said.

On Iowa Politics

Newsletter Signup

Legislative & Politics News Delivered to your inbox each weekday

Please wait...

Thank you for joining us!

You will begin to receive our Daily On Iowa Politics updates. Add erin.murphy@thegazette.com to your contacts.

In previous fiscal years, the number of households who received assistance and the total amount of assistance provided include:

Fiscal 2019: 576 households with total assistance of $395,748
Fiscal 2020: 517 households with total assistance of $351,130
Fiscal 2021: 304 households with total assistance of $173,640
Fiscal 2022: 745 households with total assistance of $885,555

Jacoby said some of the lowest months of assistance were in the middle of the pandemic in fiscal 2021 “because there were so many other safety nets in place,” including federal stimulus, child tax credit, unemployment, emergency rent assistance and other benefits.

Johnson County general assistance monthly data of households receiving assistance. (Johnson County)

“As that support safety net went away, then you can see our general assistance program increased,” Jacoby said. “We also increased our guidelines at that time too.”

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in August 2021 to expand eligibility to reach more residents in need. Households can receive assistance if their net income was at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the previous 30 days. This means for a household of one, the annual income needs to be $27,180 or less to be eligible.

The application also no longer requires residents to disclose citizenship status.

Jacoby said the program has seen a “snowball effect” as more people access it and hear about it. She said residents might hear about the program from social service providers or from friends and family.

The increased demand has also meant longer wait times. Appointments to meet with general assistance staff are scheduling at least a week out, Jacoby said.

“We have a lot of folks calling us in crisis because they've received an eviction notice and so it's not very comforting for them to know that they can't get in for a week or two,” Jacoby said.

In an effort to respond to the challenges, Jacoby said the Social Services Department has a few changes in mind to respond to the increased demand, including no longer requiring face-to-face meetings after the initial visit.

There also has been discussion about using two existing staff members to help with general assistance intake or clerical duties.

In the long-term, Jacoby said, the county needs to look at hiring additional staff or it should begin scaling back the eligibility sooner than anticipated.

The county is currently going through budget planning for fiscal 2024 and is hearing requests from county departments ahead of budget decisions. Supervisor Rod Sullivan said he wants to see options the county can consider for the program moving forward.

“I just think the level of service has been so good. I hate the idea of cutting back on that,” Sullivan said.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com