A city and county-wide community needs assessment survey was conducted by Audubon Area Community Services. According to the most recent AACS survey, which was taken between July 1, 2018 and March 1, 2019, findings show that residents in the local area have higher poverty rates and less access to mental health care providers than average and that more than half of children across the seven counties (59 percent) qualify for free and reduced lunch at their respective schools.
The purpose of this survey is to create a profile of the needs and resources of a given community or target population. Findings from this survey will allow AACS to continue delivering much-needed services to seven different counties in the area.
Findings also show that 61 percent of the population has a household income of less than $10,000. More than 18 percent of the service area population live at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and 26.42 percent of children in the service area live at or below the FPL, above the statewide average of 24.71 percent.
Of the 1,940 surveys AACS received, 858 were from those living in Daviess County.
The survey also revealed that the greatest needs facing the low income of Daviess County included living wage jobs, lack of dentists who accept Medicaid, homeless families lacking income and assets building, lack of non-traditional and safe/affordable childcare and substance abuse and mental illness.
The top three community needs that needed improvement included advocacy on behalf of those with low income, scheduling and coordinating quarterly community partner/provider services meetings to discuss services and trends and development of community education programs with youth.
According to AACS Chief Operations Officer Brandon Harley, some community needs assessments are focused around health issues, while AACS’s focuses more on the social determinant of success and self-sufficiency across the communities.
“We go out into the communities we serve and sit down with citizens. We ask them, ‘What does poverty look like to you?’ and ‘How can we create more opportunities for success?’” Harley said.
While Daviess County is at a historic 4 percent unemployment rate, Harley said the community-wide concern of living wages shows that the unemployment rate is a bit deceiving.
“It doesn’t take into account how many are seeking employment or how many are receiving unemployment benefits,” Harley said. “Since the 2008 recession, a lot have either used all their unemployment benefits or haven’t gotten new jobs. The unemployment rate doesn’t paint a true picture of what’s going on.”
Part of the reason for low income, especially low household income, across Daviess County and the surrounding areas comes from a transition in the job market, Harley believes.
“Back in the day, in Hancock County, industrial opportunities were big. Now we’re seeing massive layoffs in industrial jobs,” he said. “Coal mining jobs have plummeted. We’re in a service-driven employer market now. Different types of jobs are popular that may not have the same wages as industrial jobs. Folks were receiving higher wages at a lower cost of living.”
Harley says a lot of people in Daviess County are working part-time jobs, or multiple jobs, to make ends meet.
“Our fundamental goal is to eradicate poverty and push for self-sufficiency, “ he said. “The people who took this survey are the people who need jobs and are getting benefits and utilizing help services, like food banks. We want to use these answers internally when we look at grants or programs we need to pursue and we want to know what that will look like long-term.”
