Human Services

Children & Economic Support Grants

Statewide Outcome(s):

Children & Economic Support Grants supports the following statewide outcome(s).

Strong and stable families and communities

Minnesotans have the education and skills needed to achieve their goals.

Context:

Poverty imposes substantial barriers on the health and development of individuals and families. The Minnesota Department of Human Services administers nearly 200 grants annually to more than 100 grantee organizations to help people in poverty meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter, and attain the skills, knowledge and motivation to become more self-reliant. Without these funds, more people would be hungry and homeless.

Children & Economic Support Grants provide funding for housing, food, poverty reduction, and financial education services for low-income families and individuals. Examples of strategies are listed below.

·         Supportive and transitional housing services to address the needs of homeless individuals and families by helping them find safe and stable housing. More than 12,000 people received temporary shelter and services in 2011, and more than 3,500 people who experienced long-term homelessness received services.

·         Emergency services funding for organizations that provide emergency shelter and essential services to homeless adults, children and youth; served over 200,000 individuals and families in 2011.

·         Funding for food banks, food shelves and on-site meal programs.

·         Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach and nutrition education.

·         Programs administered by Community Action Agencies that help low-income people become more economically secure. These agencies served over 280,000 Minnesotans with help to gain employment and supports in 2011.

The largest portion of this budget area is federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In FY 2011, the SNAP program provided help with food for an average of 469,904 persons per month receiving an average monthly payment of $119. Outreach and nutrition education are conducted under this activity.

Funding sources include state grants and federal grants from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as private foundations.

Strategies:

People living in poverty frequently face numerous barriers and have complex needs. Children and Economic Support Grants employs strategies targeting both short-term crisis stabilization efforts and long-term strategies to help people leave poverty and sustain economic security for themselves and their families into the future, including:

·         Providing basic food, housing and other supports to the most at-risk adults and children;

·         Providing funding, training, and technical assistance to counties and tribes for services to reduce barriers for long-term homeless adults, youth and families; and

·         Helping the most at-risk adults and children attain the skills, knowledge, and motivations that will result in their becoming more economically secure.

Outreach and nutrition education efforts under SNAP help keep more people fed and healthy, and increases nutrition assistance participation.

Results:

There are many programs to help people with their food needs, such as emergency food help, SNAP and Minnesota Food Assistance. Measures below show increased participation in the SNAP program to help keep people fed and healthy.

Grants for long-term homeless youth, adults, and families assist people in finding and maintaining housing and increasing their self-sufficiency. (For more information on housing programs, see:

http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/id_002548)

Performance Measures	Previous	Current	Trend
SNAP Participation Rate for All People in Poverty1	51%	56%	Improving
SNAP Participation Rate for Seniors in Poverty1	32%	37%	Improving
Percent of Long-Term Homeless Enrolled in Services and Permanent Housing2	70%	71%	Stable
Percent of Long-Term Homeless Enrolled in Services with No Income2	20%	10%	Improving

Performance Measures Notes:

1.   Data on SNAP participation is for the years 2009 (Previous) and 2010 (Current).
The participation rate for all people in poverty comes from the Food Support Access Index (FSAI). SNAP participation rate for seniors in poverty is available at: http://dashboard.dhs.state.mn.us/measure01-6.aspx. Note: At the end of calendar year 2011, 44.7 percent of seniors in poverty were accessing SNAP.

2.   Data on long-term homeless services is for the years 2010 (Previous) and 2011 (Current), from the “Summary Long-Term Homeless Supportive Service Grants Annual Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Report.” Income information is collected periodically while receiving services and when exiting from services.