CHAPTER 3. SERVICE RECIPIENTS
During 2007, an estimated 21,185,989 people received services supported, at least partially, by the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program. [18] This chapter discusses the number of adults and children who benefited from services funded by the SSBG program, by State and by service.
State agencies used various methods to count recipients of SSBG-funded services. Some States reported all individuals who received a specific service in the State, regardless of the proportion of funding by the SSBG program. Other States reported a proportion of total clients based on specific criteria, such as eligibility, clients of certain agencies, or programs that received SSBG funding. Despite this variation, State counts of service recipients were not adjusted, and all State recipient data were included in this report.
Recipients by State
Pennsylvania reported the largest number of people (3,895,296) who benefited from SSBG-funded services, while California was second with 3,677,416 recipients. Four other States—Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois—each reported serving more than 1,000,000 recipients and two other States—North Carolina and Ohio—each reported serving more than 500,000 recipients. Pennsylvania reported 18.4% of all recipients of SSBG-funded services, California reported 17.4% of all recipients of SSBG-funded services, Connecticut reported 12.9% of all recipients of SSBG-funded services, and the six States that each served more than 1 million recipients comprised 69.2% of all recipients of SSBG-funded services. (See figure 3–1.)
| Figure 3–1 Percentage of SSBG Recipients by State, 2007 | |
|---|---|
| State | Percentage of SSBG |
| Pennsylvania | 18.4% |
| California | 17.4% |
| Connecticut | 12.9% |
| Texas | 8.6% |
| New Jersey | 6.7% |
| Illinois | 5.2% |
| 45 Additional States | 30.8% |
| Note: Appendix F, table F–5, contains supporting data for this figure. | |
Recipients by Service
In 2007, the largest number of recipients of SSBG-funded services was reported for information and referral services. In 16 States, 4,631,079 children and adults received information and referral services funded, at least partially, by the SSBG program.
Four other SSBG-funded services—child day care services, case management services, child protective services, and special services for individuals with disabilities—benefited more than one million people each. (See figure 3–2.)
| Figure 3–2 Recipients by Service, 2007 (in thousands) | ||
|---|---|---|
| State | Service Recipients | Number of States |
| Information and Referral | 4,631 | 16 |
| Day Care—Children | 4,155 | 39 |
| Case Management | 3,116 | 29 |
| Protective Services—Children | 2,063 | 39 |
| Special Services—Disabled | 1,358 | 26 |
| Prevention and Intervention | 910 | 32 |
| Family Planning Services | 718 | 13 |
| Foster Care Services—Children | 543 | 38 |
| Protective Services—Adults | 539 | 34 |
| Other Services | 504 | 23 |
| Health-Related Services | 369 | 14 |
| Housing Services | 293 | 11 |
| Home-Based Services | 231 | 34 |
| Adoption Services | 224 | 25 |
| Substance Abuse Services | 214 | 13 |
| Transportation | 203 | 20 |
| Counseling Services | 186 | 24 |
| Legal Services | 163 | 15 |
| Special Services—Youth at Risk | 150 | 15 |
| Education and Training Services | 140 | 17 |
| Congregate Meals | 100 | 13 |
| Home-Delivered Meals | 93 | 18 |
| Foster Care Services—Adults | 63 | 12 |
| Day Care—Adults | 57 | 21 |
| Independent/Transitional Living | 40 | 16 |
| Employment Services | 39 | 11 |
| Residential Treatment | 38 | 21 |
| Recreation Services | 31 | 7 |
| Pregnancy and Parenting | 19 | 9 |
| Note: Appendix F, table F–6, contains supporting data for this figure. | ||
Age of Recipients
During 2007, 10,691,927 clients (50%) were children and 10,494,062 clients (50%) were adults. In three States—Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming—SSBG-funded services were provided entirely to children. Additionally, children accounted for more than 90% of the recipients in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Hawaii and Tennessee. The States that served the most children were California (2,983,737), Pennsylvania (1,606,766), and Texas (915,369).
Many SSBG-supported services are designated specifically for children. These services include child day care services, child foster care services, child protective services, adoption services, and special services for youth at risk. States also reported some other services which were provided to a large proportion of children, including pregnancy and parenting services (74%), health-related services (69%), prevention and intervention services (59%), counseling services (53%), and housing services (53%).
In addition to reporting adults and children separately, States reported the number of adults in two age categories—59 years and younger, and 60 years and older. Forty States submitted data for recipients in these categories. [19] The analyses of recipient data by age include only these States.
New Jersey reported the largest number of recipients age 60 years and older (540,770). In Mississippi, 89% of adults who received services supported by SSBG funds were in the age category 60 years and older. More than 60% of adult clients in Colorado, Kansas, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin were in the age category of 60 years and older.
The service which was provided to the largest number of adults age 60 years and older was recreation services (86% of adults), followed by home-delivered meals (84%), and congregate meals (61%). More than half of the adult recipients of education and training services, transportation services, and home-based services were in the age category 60 years and older.
Appendix F, tables F–5 and F–6, provide supporting data for this chapter.
[18] Most States submitted duplicate counts of recipients, and an individual may have received more than one SSBG-supported service. Thus, the numbers reflected in each of the service categories are not mutually exclusive.
[19] These States were: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.