LONG ISLAND COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

HEMPSTEAD: Commissioners of Nassau and Suffolk County Departments of Social Services Address Long Island Council of Churches

Gregory Blass, Commissioner of Social Services for Suffolk County, and John Imhof, Commissioner of Social Services for Nassau County, were the featured speakers at the Long Island Council of Churches’ 2010 Annual Meeting on May 6th at First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown. The topic was “The Plight of the Working Poor on Long Island.” Both commissioners were asked to describe how their Departments of Social Services are trying to help, what limitations they have to deal with, and what they would suggest that congregations and faith-based organizations do to minister to victims of the current economic crisis.

“The bad economy is destabilizing and destroying families,” Mr. Imhof said. He noted the greatly increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse, said that his agency has seen a 300% increase in domestic violence since the economic crisis began, and that food stamp applications increased more than 30% just in the last year. “The domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse issues arise from job losses and resulting inability to pay for basic needs,” he explained, adding that Child Protective Services are responding to greatly increased numbers that tell a sad story of family breakdown.

Mr. Imhof said that the County is overwhelmed by the greatly increased numbers of applications for Medicaid and essential social services. Like the Long Island Council of Churches, his agency also sees people who have to choose between feeding their families and paying the rent, or between feeding their families and buying their child’s prescriptions. “Although we hear that the economy is improving, we don’t see it,” he added, “and the slowest indicator to recover is employment.”

Gregory Blass, the Commissioner of Suffolk County’s Department of Social Services, said that what surprised him most when he became Commissioner was the strings attached to every funding stream. “It’s shocking how many people are turned away because the funds are so severely restricted, and how insensitive government can be.”

Mr. Blass’s agency passed the 10,000 mark for monthly child protective services incidents. “Families are under terrible stress and they are disintegrating because of the terrible economy and high unemployment. Ten percent of the entire Suffolk population is on Medicaid and another 4% are in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).”

Mr. Imhof noted that the Departments of Social Services constantly receive changes in regulations, which make applying for benefits more complicated and requires additional work for their staff, but the agencies are not given funding to pay for the extra work or hire additional staff to keep up with the increased demand. For example, applicants can now apply for food stamps online or by mail, but the state does not fund the additional staffing to handle the 2,000 new applications that have come in online or by mail.

When asked how the Departments of Social Services could more effectively help the poor, both Commissioners noted that they have instituted evening hours so people who work during the day can apply for benefits. DSS in both counties are doing outreach, sending people out to the parkways where they find the homeless living in the woods. Many of these homeless people are veterans who are eligible for assistance but don’t know they are, the Commissioners noted. Mr. Blass said that Suffolk DSS also is sending people out to local soup kitchens to do outreach and connect these people to the services they need.

“Applicants who bring someone with them to help them wend their way through the bureaucratic maze are far more likely to be successful in accessing public assistance,” Mr. Blass explained. “There are so many required documents, and advocates can help applicants assemble what they need. The ones who come alone usually cannot negotiate the maze themselves, so they get discouraged and they give up. When that happens, we lose them for good.”

Both Commissioners agreed that having advocates who understand the system is one of the best things faith communities can do to help the poor. Nassau DSS offers training to “deputize” advocates and train them in how to navigate the system so they can advocate for people applying for public assistance, and Suffolk has similar training.

When asked how the faith based communities can work with the Departments of Social Services better to serve the poor, both Commissioners said that advocacy is absolutely critical. “We could not do our jobs without the faith community’s advocacy,” Mr. Blass stated emphatically. When the Federal Emergency Management Agency cut Suffolk County’s Emergency Food & Shelter Program funding by $1M this year, it was the faith community’s concerted advocacy that resulted in restoring approximately 50% of that funding. “I cannot overemphasize the importance of faith-based organizations in advocating for social justice. We could not be successful without the help of faith communities,” Mr. Blass said.

The Commissioners also urged those in attendance to share with the people they help information on where to call for assistance:

• For the Nassau Department of Social Services, call 516-227-7474 for customer service, or call Mr. Imhof’s office at 516-227-7403.
• For DSS Suffolk, the number for the Commissioner's Response Unit (phone bank with readily available info) is 631-854-9935 and the number for the Emergency Services Unit (for assistance 4:30 PM to 8:30 AM) is 631-854-9100.