AGENCIES UNITE TO HELP PAY BILLS

A collaborative effort to streamline the application process for utility assistance is also helping pinpoint other needs of those who apply for help.

Under the umbrella of the Local Assistance Network, local agencies that help families pay delinquent utilities bills, including East Missouri Action Agency, American Red Cross and Salvation Army, in November began requiring individuals to begin the application process at EMAA.

That process includes an assessment that looks at the applicant's situation and what referrals might meet the person's needs.

"The need for utility assistance usually isn't the primary problem," said Kevin Sexton, community services representative for EMAA, which was chosen to handle the applications since it distributes utility assistance through the state's Energy Crisis Intervention Program and already had an in-depth assessment program set up.

People may not be able to pay their utilities because they have large medical bills they have paid instead, because their home isn't energy efficient and that's pushing up the cost of heating their home, or because they have made bad decisions when it comes to budgeting, he said.

Pinpointing where problems may lie and making referrals to programs that can help the applicant deal with those problems is a first step in helping the applicant avoid needing assistance in the future, Sexton said.

"Our mission at East Missouri Action Agency is to get to the crux of the problem, to find out why they are in the position of needing assistance in the first place and to help them move beyond these problems," he said.

Sexton keeps track of agencies offering assistance in different areas, but the Local Assistance Network is expanding this list even more. At a meeting held Wednesday to discuss the network, attended by representatives of the United Way, Community Caring Council, social service organizations and churches, talk focused on expanding the network and getting the word out about the benefits of cooperation.

"There are plenty of services out there," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the United Way and one of the organizers of the network. "But until you coordinate those services, you are not getting the most efficient use of resources."

The Local Assistance Network was created, Jernigan said, to use the community resources already available to meet the basic needs of individuals truly in need through the coordination of services.

While the goal is to be able to help people with needs of shelter, utilities, medical and transportation, the initial effort has concentrated on utility assistance, Jernigan said.

In the past, there was little collaboration between agencies providing utility assistance, making it difficult to determine who had received assistance from other agencies or whether an agency had funding available. The lack of collaboration often resulted in a duplication of services or frustration when people made multiple trips to various agencies only to learn the organization was out of funds until the next funding cycle.

Now that process has been streamlined by requiring individuals to begin the application process at EMAA. Once the application is completed, the individuals receive referrals to the agency best able to meet the request, said Sexton. Sometimes that is EMAA, but applicants who don't meet program qualifications are referred elsewhere, he said.

Sexton reported at the meeting that, so far this winter, state and federal money available through EMAA and the Department of Family Services has been adequate to cover utility assistance requests.

Sexton speculates that some people were requesting money from Salvation Army without seeking out other sources like EMAA.

Sexton said he is processing about 20 percent more applications than he did at this point last year and much of that increase is from people who have not been assessed by his agency before. Many of them didn't know his agency could help them with resources.

They don't know there are free flu shots available. That there are nutrition programs for families with children. That there are day care programs, substance abuse programs, employment programs, programs for juveniles.

Sexton said the group most likely to need services yet be unaware they are available is the elderly. "They tend not to ask for help when there is a lot available," he said.

Another group Sexton often sees are those who make bad budgeting decisions. They may make weekly payments to rent a television, but don't put back enough to pay the monthly utility bill, he said. Or they unwisely spend their food stamp allotment and end up needing the cash that should have gone toward utilities on food, he said.

The East Missouri Action Agency offers a six-hour life skills class that covers budgeting but it has not been well-attended, Sexton said. This may change since EMAA began strictly enforcing mandatory attendance in the class for those seeking utility assistance more than once, with exemptions made for the elderly and the disabled.

"Often, a step up is all people need to continue and become self-sufficient," Sexton said.