Aid Staff Nearing 'Breaking Point'

Support Requests Swamp Manassas

The volatile economy has forced more people to seek support from the Manassas Family Services office, stretching its resources to the limit, department Director Ray Spicer said.

"We are working harder and longer to cover the increase in caseloads," Spicer said. "But I think we are reaching a breaking point in terms of the staff we have to handle the increased number of applications we are getting."

Last week, as Spicer presented his department's annual report to the Manassas City Council, he said he didn't know whether he would get more funding or staff members. As in localities across Virginia, Spicer said, the need for everything from food stamps to Medicaid is on the rise.

"All my colleagues across the state are saying the same thing," he said. "Everything related to benefit assistance is going up."

In fiscal 2008, Spicer said, the department received 1,605 new applications for food stamps, up more than 73 percent from the previous year. The program served 765 families last fiscal year and absorbed about $2.2 million from the department's roughly $26 million fiscal 2008 operating budget.

Spicer said more people are not only seeking food stamps but are also eligible for the expedited program, which requires his department to process applications in seven days instead of the standard 30.

"The state and federal mandates are staying the same, but the circumstances are changing so that more and more people are meeting the criteria to be screened for expedited food stamps," he said, noting that when people unexpectedly lose their job they can usually qualify to receive food stamps within a week.

The number of people seeking Medicaid in Manassas rose almost 70 percent from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008, with 6,456 people applying last year, according to city documents.

Spicer said the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and the Housing Choice Voucher programs that his department runs have also been serving more residents over the past year.

In 2008, TANF served an average of 141 families a month, up from 118 in 2007. The program, which is geared toward people with children, provided about $341 a month to each family last year, city documents say.

The housing program, which provides rental assistance to low-income families, served 319 families in 2008, up about 18 percent from the previous year.

Although most programs handled by Family Services had an influx of applications last year, one did not, Spicer said. The Comprehensive Services Act program, which provides assistance to at-risk youths, served 58 children in 2008, down more than 9 percent from the previous year.