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Commissioner: homelessness and shelter use rose while Medicaid caseloads held steady
Summary
Commissioner Lacey Trumbuller told the Orange County Human Services Committee on May 20 that homelessness counts and hotel placements rose in March, while managed Medicaid caseloads remained close to last year’s levels; she outlined rental supplement and fuel fund options for residents facing utility and rent crises.
Commissioner Lacey Trumbuller presented the Social Services and Mental Health monthly report to the Orange County Human Services Committee on May 20, reporting increases in shelter use and hotel placements and largely stable managed Medicaid caseloads.
Trumbuller said temporary assistance was provided to 1,542 cases in February and 1,519 cases in March. She reported 19,080 SNAP cases in February and a slight increase in March that represents nearly 1,200 more recipients than March of the prior year. Trumbuller said there were 818 HEAP payments in February and 916 in March, and that the HEAP heating season ended May 9; the county’s Keep Cooling Benefit remains open but is much smaller than the heating program.
Shelter averages rose slightly, Trumbuller said: in February the county averaged 19.1 families and 47.1 singles in emergency housing shelters; in March those averages were 20.1 families and 47.6 singles. Hotel and motel placements increased from 41 families and 57 singles in February to 135 families and 167 singles in March, she said. Trumbuller said the department has executed two family‑centered case‑management contracts and has two more in process to provide mental health, vocational and housing support to help families move to stable housing.
Trumbuller said the Housing Resource Center moved 202 individuals to permanent housing in February and 203 in March, with an average year‑to‑date rate of about 20.7 moves per month. Project Life averaged about 11 families in February and 12.4 in March; the county is refurbishing one additional room to bring capacity to 14 there.
On homelessness totals, Trumbuller reported 848 individuals experiencing homelessness received services in February and a smaller number in March; she said the county is serving more people “but there's also more people who are experiencing this.”
Trumbuller also reported managed Medicaid and recipient counts: 20,694 managed‑care cases in February and roughly 20,641 in March, which equated to 22,771 and 22,719 individual recipients in February and March, respectively. She said the county is seeing a slow downward trend in total cases following the unwinding process.
On child welfare and foster care, Trumbuller said the department provided out‑of‑home placement to 165 children in February and 156 in March, noting those numbers represent a decrease from last year and are record‑low placements. She told the committee Orange County is exceeding state and national permanency goals: county re‑entry to care within 12 months is between 0 and 1.3 percent, compared with a 7.3 percent state average and a 5.6 percent national average.
Committee members asked about programs for seniors facing rising rent. Trumbuller said residents may be eligible for the county rental supplement program and a rental arrears program and noted the county added funds to the supplement last year. On utility assistance, Trumbuller said the county’s private fuel fund operates while funds remain available; she told the committee, “I think there was 58,000, I believe, the last time I checked,” and offered to obtain a current balance.
The report included child protective services, adult protective services and special investigations unit activity; Trumbuller said her staff continue to monitor caseloads and adapt services as demand changes.
