By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.comCounty commissioners have agreed to immediately add three temporary staff members at the Rowan Department of Social Services to deal with thousands of new applications for help.
With the unemployment rate expected to climb, the number of applicants is expected to increase.
The agency has received more than 2,000 new applications for food assistance since July 1. And applications from women and children for Medicaid have also increased by more than 2,000.
Sandra Wilkes, Social Services director, told commissioners staffers have worked all day on Saturdays trying to handle the caseload, but the load is now “un-doable” with the current staff.
With increasing job losses, more people will go hungry and go without medical help, Wilkes said.
Wilkes warned the situation will likely get worse as more people lose their jobs, including the hundreds scheduled to be laid off from Freightliner in March.
She noted the economic stimulus package in Congress includes a provision that increases benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps) by 20 percent.
“More people will make applications,” she told commissioners.
During the first six months of the 2007-08 fiscal year, Social Services handled 7,300 cases. In the same period this fiscal year, the department has had 9,500 applications.
The county’s share of the salary is expected to be around $15,000. The remainder will be paid using state and federal funds.
Chairman Carl Ford urged people who have jobs to donate a bag of groceries to the Department of Social Services pantry.
He explained that getting processed for Food Stamps takes time. The pantry provides families with food to help until they get the stamps.
Ford said he plans to donate a bag of food, adding “I challenge all the commissioners and the county staff to buy a bag for the pantry.”
Later in the meeting, commissioners briefly discussed the current unemployment rate in the county.
Commissioner Chad Mitchell said he suspects the true jobless rate is much higher than the 9.3 percent announced by the state.
Mitchell noted the state drops people off the list. Although they are still unemployed, they no longer count as part of the monthly rate.
“The rate is much higher,” Mitchell said, pointing out that adults are now taking jobs that have typically been filled by teens.
Ford noted it is important to recruit new industries and new jobs, but he urged the Salisbury-Rowan Economic Development to also focus on keeping the jobs that are already here.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.