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Group focuses on getting social services out faster

The plan in the mid county region takes a two-pronged approach: create a "one-stop" shop for help and network agencies to avoid duplication.

By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published January 6, 2008

Members of a volunteer committee are searching for ways to improve the efficiency of the county's social services system so people can get back on their feet more quickly.

The group, FOCUS, is a subcommittee of the Juvenile Welfare Board's Mid-County Community Council.

FOCUS members were inspired by the problems that exist with the delivery of help for the needy.

The sometimes complex and burdensome means of dispensing social services is something Pinellas Park city planner Debra Rose encounters regularly. Rose, who is in charge of the city's Angel Fund, says trying to get callers help can be both frustrating and absurd.

The caller may need a relatively small amount of money, say $300, to keep the electricity running. If the fund is flush, there are seldom any problems. But if the fund is short, or the caller has already received help, something else must be done.

No social agency can give that much, but there are agencies that can give $30. So Rose has to send the caller to 10 other agencies until the caller amasses the $300.

"A lot of calls we get are from people who have just gotten out of the hospital," Rose said.

The caller may be homeless because of time spent in the hospital. The caller may not have a car, or phone, or be feeling well.

"Just getting them to appointments is difficult," Rose said. "There's not a lot of (social service) infrastructure in mid county."

That means help is spread out and the needy person, rather than having time to find a job, rides a bus from one place to another simply to get basic help to survive. With no job, the cycle starts over.

Once someone falls off the edge, it's hard enough to get back and almost insurmountable with a system that seems to work against recovery. "Sometimes from where we're sitting, trying to put all these things together, things start looking a little bit absurd," Rose said.

It's a problem the FOCUS committee would like to solve.

FOCUS is in its infancy and is still recruiting members, volunteers, knowledge and ideas.

The initial overture was made to churches in the ZIP codes covered by the Mid-County Community Council, which is roughly 18.7 square miles from the St. Petersburg city limits northward to a portion of Clearwater between the gulf and Interstate 275.

Although FOCUS is not limiting membership to churches, they seemed a good place to start, said Ray Neri, FOCUS chairman, because they're already helping people, they're tuned into their neighborhoods and they have space available.

Most of the response came from the five ZIP codes that have some of the worst problems in the mid county area. The youths who live in those ZIP codes - 33781, 33773, 33714, 33709 and 33782 - account for about 53 percent of the juvenile offenders in the mid county area.

After three or four monthly meetings, FOCUS members seem to be concentrating on a two-pronged approach to the problem. One is to have a "one-stop" shop for help. The other is to network churches and other groups within neighborhoods to concentrate resources and avoid duplication of services.

Such a network might also enable a better use of limited resources. As things stand now, someone who wants to play the system can, for example, go to a food bank one day, another the next, and so on.

Right now, there's no way to track these people and find out if they truly need help or if they are just taking advantage of a fragmented system.

Neri said the ultimate goal is to establish a system that can be extended to all of mid county and into the rest of Pinellas. Members of the North County Community Council have already asked about FOCUS' progress, he said.

Fast facts

If you're interested

For more information about the Juvenile Welfare Board, the Community Councils or FOCUS, call the JWB, 547-5600. For information on FOCUS, call Ray Neri, 527-5352. Or attend Monday's meeting. It's 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Southeast County Connection Center, Lealman Park, 3875 54th Ave. N in the unincorporated Lealman area.

Community councils

The JWB has three community councils, one for each section of the county. The councils are composed of lay, professional, and youth representatives who meet to discuss issues unique to their community and how they might affect those issues. They also give ideas to the JWB and its staff and do special projects. FOCUS, which stands for Family Oriented Concept Unified to Serve, is one of those projects.

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 20:18:11]