Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Needs Assessment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Local Management Board presents FY2013 community needs assessment; identifies poverty and access to care as top priorities
Summary
The Local Management Board and consultant Shattuck & Associates presented the countywide FY2013 community needs assessment to the Board of County Commissioners, highlighting increased child- and family-level economic need, gaps in behavioral-health access, summer nutrition and after-school transportation.
The Local Management Board presented the findings of Saint Mary’s County’s fiscal year 2013 community needs assessment to commissioners Aug. 27, concluding the study with recommendations to focus limited local-management resources on families living in poverty and improved access to behavioral and medical care.
The study — produced for the county by consultant Shattuck & Associates and led locally by the LMB chair Ella Mae Russell and youth coordinator Kelsey Bush — compiled existing public-data indicators, a stakeholder survey and community resource mapping. The LMB’s required state framework asked the county to evaluate child-well‑being result areas across health, education and family/community environment.
Why it matters: County officials said the results demonstrate shifting need: more households are relying on public assistance and food programs, homelessness and housing instability have broadened beyond the Lexington Park area, and gaps persist in behavioral-health access, after‑school transportation and summer nutrition for children. The report will guide the LMB’s strategic priorities and local funding decisions.
Key findings cited in the presentation
- Food assistance and medical coverage: Staff cited 6,926 family households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamps) and 7,485 families on medical assistance (figures presented by Department of Social Services staff during the meeting).
- Homelessness and school-identified instability: The school system identified roughly 191 students as homeless in the previous school year; a January point-in-time count identified 132 homeless households with at least one adult and one child in the county.
- Top priorities from stakeholder survey (125 respondents): Access to care (behavioral and medical) ranked highest; stability (children living in poverty), school success, out-of-school enrichment and school readiness followed.
- Identified service gaps: Stakeholders flagged limited funding (and cuts), shortage of specialty behavioral-health providers, lack of home‑visiting services for preschool‑age children and their families, need for mobile crisis response, constrained after‑school transportation limiting access to tutoring or enrichment programs, and insufficient summer nutrition coverage.
Action and next steps
The Local Management Board adopted “children living in poverty” as a focal area for its near-term work. Commissioners and LMB members discussed partnering with existing community organizations (for example, United Way and local providers) rather than creating duplicate programs; staff suggested the LMB could convene partners and identify targeted investments where the LMB’s resources can best support existing efforts.
Speakers at the presentation included county staff and partner representatives, and the commissioners thanked the LMB for producing a data-driven assessment to inform county priorities.
