Human Services Facts
- Since 1976, the MAG human services committees have collaborated with a number of key stakeholders, such as state and county agencies, municipalities, community-based organizations and funders of human services within the MAG region to identify strategies to address human services priorities at the regional level. Older adults, homeless individuals, and survivors of domestic violence are populations served through collaborative efforts across the region.
- Poverty is an issue that has no boundaries. It affects individuals and families in all age groups. In 2013, 16.7 percent of people in this region were in poverty. Of children under 18 for whom poverty status is determined, 23.9 percent were below the poverty level, compared with 7.6 percent of people aged 65 years and older.
- According to the US Census Bureau 2013 American Community Survey estimates, 43.5 percent of households in poverty receive food stamps. Of all households in Arizona that receive food stamps, 59.4 percent have children under the age of 18.
- Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another (National Network to End Domestic Violence). One in every four women and one in seven men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime and it is one of the most chronically underreported crimes.
- The MAG Protocol Evaluation Project is assessing the protocols used by the criminal justice system in addressing domestic violence crimes. In 2011, the project developed the region’s first misdemeanor domestic violence protocol model. The model is used across Arizona.
Human Services Committees
- The MAG Human Services Community Initiatives Committee advises the MAG Regional Council on human services-related issues and develops a regional response to human services issues. It is supported by the MAG Human Services Technical Committee.
- The MAG Continuum of Care Board is the decision-making body for the Continuum of Care. The Board addresses regional issues relating to homelessness and prepares and submits an application for homeless assistance funding to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- The MAG Continuum of Care Regional Committee on Homelessness represents a collaborative develops the Regional Plan to End Homelessness and prepares a consolidated application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support homeless assistance programs.
- The MAG Regional Domestic Violence Council develops and implements strategies to reduce the incidence of and trauma associated with domestic violence, including the Regional Plan to End Domestic Violence.
- The AdHoc Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Transportation Committee develops a priority listing for federal transit funding for capital, operating expenses, and mobility management projects to meet the specific needs of older adults and individuals with disabilities.
- Securing transportation for a portion of the population with limited mobility due to age or disability is a regional concern.
- It is projected that by 2020, the 65 and older population in this region will increase by 13.5 percent. Of this number, approximately 43 percent will be 75 years or older.
- In Maricopa County, 10.3 percent of the population had at least one disability. This figure increases threefold for older adults.
- The MAG Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan is a strategy that outlines activities to address the gaps of transportation for the vulnerable population.
The MAG Regional Domestic Violence program area develops and implements strategies to reduce the incidence of and trauma associated with domestic violence, including the Regional Plan to End Domestic Violence. Areas of focus include working with survivors, law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim advocates to enhance the way the region arrests and prosecutes domestic violence offenders.
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In 2020's annual Point-In-Time Count of homelessness in the Maricopa region, 7,419 homeless persons were identified. Of this population, 3,767 were unsheltered and 3,642 were sheltered in Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing, or Safe Haven shelters.
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The number of housing units from 2016 to 2017 increased by 6% from 2016 to 2017. Of this change, the largest increase occurred in Permanent Supportive Housing and the largest decrease occurred in Transitional Housing.
There is a deficit of over 116,000 units for households at or below extremely low income (ELI) in Maricopa County (according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's report on the “Shortage of Affordable Homes” in March of 2017).
On average, Arizona workers must work for 58 hours on minimum wage ($10/hour) to afford rent (according to the Arizona Republic in June of 2017).
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