Loudoun County residents fear that local social services are tainted by fraud and abuse, but 75 percent still believe the county should continue to fund those programs, a new survey shows. The Loudoun County Community Assessment, done by the University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research, showed broad support for youth programs, food pantries, and transportation programs, in particular.
Andy Johnston, executive director of the nonprofit community services networking group Loudoun Cares, said county officials and nonprofit workers have been trying for more than 10 years to have such an assessment done.
“It’s the first true study that we’ve had at this level of detail,” Johnston said. “It’s good just to have that baseline data that they talk about so we can see where we are down the road.”
The report was commissioned by the Loudoun Department of Family Services on behalf of the county and private nonprofit groups that run the social programs to assess what help is currently available for people in need of child care, transportation, food or rent.
Researchers at the university received nearly 1,000 responses to a variety of surveys issued to county residents and human services agencies.
According to the report, eight in 10 Loudoun County respondents care enough about health and human services that they don’t mind some of their tax dollars being spent on them.
But the survey also showed that two-thirds of the respondents are supportive, but skeptical. Some are concerned that people may remain on the county’s aid programs too long. Others wrote that too many resources are being spent on illegal immigrants.
“In some ways, the report affirms what we already believed,” said Tom Maynard, director of Loudoun County’s department of substance abuse and developmental programs. “And it points out some issues that we need to improve on.”
While there is always room for improvement, most people don’t want to rely on human services permanently, Maynard said. The goal is always to get people back to a level of function where they are self-supportive.
