Social Services cases grow dramatically

The number of north country residents seeking assistance through Social Services programs continues to climb, evidence that a regional economic rebound could be a long time coming, officials say.

Christopher R. Rediehs, St. Lawrence County Social Services commissioner, said the rate of growth for some programs like the Home Energy Assistance Program has slowed, but the number of people receiving medical assistance and food stamps has increased dramatically.

"The increase we had from January 2009 to January 2010 was 24 percent," Mr. Rediehs said. "The current number of individuals on food stamps is 13,659, up from 10,979 last January."

The number of people on such medical assistance programs as Medicaid and Family Health Plus rapidly is approaching 20,000, he said. Mr. Rediehs said there were 17,765 cases in January 2009. Last month, there were 19,042.

"This is extraordinary," he said. "Medicaid is usually a last resort for people."

In Lewis County, one in eight households is receiving food stamps, Social Services Commissioner Stacy L. Alvord said.

"There has been a steady increase of first-time applicants for HEAP, public health insurance and food stamps over the last three years," she said Friday in an e-mail message. "The vast majority are working families."

She said 1,452 households received food stamps last year, up from 1,154 in 2008 and 969 in 2007. Medicaid cases grew from 1,567 in 2007 to 1,830 in 2009.

Jefferson County Social Services Commissioner Laura C. Cerow also said assistance caseloads have risen steadily in the past three years. Medical assistance cases grew from 7,000 in 2001 to 11,263 in 2009, she said.

"I'd say they're still trending upward, although we all know that January in the north country is not the best month for employment opportunities," Ms. Cerow said.

She said part of the reason behind the increase is the economy, but state and federal officials also have pushed to make assistance programs more accessible through Web sites like www.mybenefits.ny.gov.

"Family Health Plus and Medicaid eligibility has gotten a little looser in terms of the documentation we need, and those programs were already increasing at a pretty fast rate prior to the economic decline," Ms. Cerow said. "If any of those programs can keep people from being public assistance recipients, then we're going to encourage enrollment in those programs."