General Assistance use in Westbrook surges during pandemic - pressherald.com

General Assistance Director Harrison Deah said requests for help have nearly doubled since the pandemic. Chance Viles / American Journal

The number of households tapping into Westbrook’s General Assistance program has increased 44% during the COVID pandemic.

Whether because of a loss of work or housing, 234 households now receive help from the city, up from a pre-pandemic 162, said General Assistance Director Harrison Deah. The number of requests have climbed and the clientele has changed as well, he said.

General Assistance is meant as a safety net when all other options have been exhausted or when other programs, such as the use of SNAP benefits, aren’t enough. The statewide program provides vouchers that cover expenses for rent, heat, food and electricity. Each municipality sets policies on who is eligible for the assistance.

“Things have really changed,” Deah said. “We have a lot more inquiries coming from people who have never used it before.”

Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, 89% of people using the program were New Mainers, he said. Now, almost half of the recipients are long-term residents, including young single adults.

That might be in part because fewer New Mainers are settling in the city or because New Mainers who previously received assistance found work and no longer need help. The program always experiences some “ebb and flow” with its demographics, Deah said.

Calls to the office seeking financial help more than doubled in the first six months of the pandemic, he estimates.

“In general we are seeing a lot more calls from people who are homeless. Most callers, it relates somehow to COVID,” Deah said.

Maybe they were couch surfing before and then weren’t welcome to do so during the pandemic, he said.

A count of the calls is not taken, he said, but he knows the number of calls has been recently falling, although “the volume is certainly higher than pre-COVID times,” he said.

Then there were calls from homeowners.

“People are hurting right now, and for the first time ever we’ve had people reach out to look for help with mortgages,” Deah said.

Not all callers end up receiving General Assistance, especially after finding out that in order to have help with mortgage payments, a lien must be issued on the property.

“There, we spend a lot of time connecting them to a lot of other resources. A lot of our work is a diversion to other things, which our data does not cover,” Deah said.

With two months to go in its budget cycle, Deah estimates his office will be over budget, even though at this time last year it planned for greater pandemic expenses.

“We budgeted $307,000 for housing and $20,000 for food,” Deah said. “We’ve spent $260,000 on housing and $30,000 on food (to date), with two full months to go.”

Based on current monthly expenditures, Deah said he anticipates the total housing and food costs will be $310,000 and $37,000, respectively.

Pre-COVID, total housing expenditure was $236,000, and food $25,000.

Despite going over budget, the office is obligated to continue spending due to the state rules around emergency circumstances and general assistance. The state reimburses 70% of all General Assistance expenses, and the city covers the rest.

The upcoming tourist season could further make things more difficult at the General Assistance office. Over the winter, some clients found housing in summer rentals, but those rents will increase during the season, he said.

Mayor Mike Foley has frequently cited the increase in General Assistance requests to underscore the pandemic’s economic impact on residents.

“General Assistance is a valuable safety net for members of our community and we do our best to support any legal safety nets possible,” Foley said. “Given the negative effects of the pandemic, residents are struggling even more to make ends meet, and we are doing our best to strike a balance here in the community to best support everyone.”

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