According to the U.S. Census bureau 5,451 people or 13.9 percent of the population in Orleans County lives in poverty. The median income is $46,220.00.
In Genesee County 5,992 people live in poverty or 10.6 percent of the population. The median income is $49,133.00
In Monroe County 92,057 people live in poverty or 13.1 percent of the population and the median income is $51,799.00
In Erie County 118,825 people live in poverty or 13.5 percent of the population. The median income is $48,427.00.
In Niagara County 25,504 people live in poverty or 12.1 percent. The median income is $45,545.00
In Wyoming County 4,252 people live in poverty or 11.4 percent of the population. The median income is $48,472.00.
From the data, it is clear that GCASA serves the poorest county in the region where people have the least ability to pay for services. It seems unfortunate that GCASA has had to curtail services to people in this county because of a lack of deficit financing from County and State government where people need the help the most because of their inability to pay for the services that they often desperately need.
It is interesting to note that Orleans County has higher poverty rates that the larger counties like Erie and Monroe even with their large populations of urban poor in their large cities.
GCASA for the last several years has been able to subsidize its service delivery in deficit plagued Orleans Counties with the surpluses it generated from its operations in Genesee County, but with the advent of another provider in Genesee County skimming off clients who can pay and leaving people needing a sliding fee scale with GCASA, the surpluses in Genesee have been eliminated and now both county treatment service programs are running deficits requiring the agency to cut services.
And so it goes...................
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