UIC News Release
April 8, 2009

SUBURBS NEED TO COORDINATE SOCIAL SERVICES: STUDY

Chicago's suburbs cannot meet their populations' growing need for
social services like food pantries, emergency assistance, health care
and homeless shelters through the current decentralized system,
according to a new report by researchers at the University of Illinois
at Chicago.

A national trend toward rising poverty in the suburbs may be
exacerbated in the Chicago area by the city's gentrification,
demolition of public housing, and movement of new immigrants to certain
suburbs, the report states.

The researchers recommend improved coordination on several levels:
across the public and private sectors, with the township governments
serving as hubs; among providers within each county to conduct joint
projects; and across the six-country region to track needs and
resources.

They also recommend that the state offer flexible aid to low-income
townships.

"There is no government responsible for delivering or coordinating
social services outside Chicago," said Rebecca Hendrick, associate
professor of public administration and co-author of the report.

"Nonprofits and townships do most of the work in the suburbs. This is a
complex web that also includes the county for health care," she said.
"Compared to the city of Chicago and the counties, little has been
known about the human services being delivered by other local
governments in the region."

Townships are required by state law to provide general assistance, or
aid to indigent adults, but not necessarily any social services,
Hendrick said. She noted that social services delivered by townships
and municipalities are targeted toward the elderly, who tend to vote
regularly.

"A decentralized system can be responsive to local needs, but also can
cause uneven access to services," Hendrick said.

Hendrick and co-author Karen Mossberger, professor of public
administration, predict that the need for human services will continue
to grow as the population ages. They noted that their study might
understate current conditions because most survey responses were
gathered before the economy worsened in late 2008.

Among their findings:

-The number of poor living in the suburbs has been increasing since
1990, nearly two decades before the current recession.

-Without home rule, townships have strict limits on maximum tax rates
and levy increases. Most levies have been voted down since 1990,
indicating a lack of political will to raise revenues.

-Forty percent of municipal governments said they should not be
involved in social service delivery.

-Most local governments contract with nonprofits or other governments
to provide social services.

-Sixteen percent of suburbs said they have recently taken steps to
reduce or eliminate services.

- Townships that tax and spend more for services tend to have either a
wealthier tax base or a higher poverty level.

-Not all high-poverty townships offer services.

-Many rural townships do not provide services and have little
experience even with the mandated general assistance.

The study was funded by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust. The
report is available at www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci/index.htm.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research
funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students,
12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public
medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities
Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with
community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of
programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around
the world.

- UIC -

NOTE: Please refer to the institution as the University of Illinois at
Chicago on first reference and UIC on second reference.
"University of Illinois" and "U. of I." are often assumed to refer to
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