High rates of unemployment and rising poverty have led millions of Americans to turn to social service organizations for help finding work and providing for their families. Even though we typically associate rising need with urban centers, there is evidence that poverty also is rising rapidly in many suburban communities. As a result, local government and nonprofit service organizations in suburban areas are reporting historically high caseloads and demand for assistance. At the same time, funding for many assistance programs has been cut. Combined, these realities create many challenges for public and nonprofit service providers alike.

Click here for an initial research report entitled, Suburbs in Need, which explores how suburban nonprofit organizations are coping with rising need and falling revenues.

This report is the first step in a larger research project that I am completing to answer several important questions related to the provision of social services in suburban and metropolitan areas today:

• How has demand for services or assistance changed in recent months?  What kinds of obstacles do agencies face when trying to meet these changes in demand?

• How are nonprofit service organizations in suburban communities financing services for the poor and how is that changing in an environment where public and private funding are on the decline? Are service providers able to provide stable and consistent services to the poor?

• How are social service agencies managing in the current economic downturn? Have agencies developed new strategic plans or fundraising goals to cope with shifts in public and private revenue streams?  Are service providers identifying new partnerships, organizational forms, or organizational networks that will help them cope with instability?

Currently, I am collecting detailed information on the operations and fiscal health of social service organizations located outside metropolitan Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. With research support from the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution and the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, I will be interviewing these organizations monthly until the end of the year to trace the emerging challenges facing social service providers operating in suburban areas.

If you have been contacted by the study and have questions or if you are interested in the study's findings, please contact the study office by phone at 773-702-1155, or email me at sallard@uchicago.edu. Please click here to read the letter of invitation sent to service providers, or click on the links to the right for further information about my ongoing work in the areas of place, poverty and the contemporary safety net.

Scott W. Allard
Associate Professor
University of Chicago  
School of Social Service Administration
sallard@uchicago.edu