WAILUKU - The most important family problems facing Maui County residents are the economy, the high cost of living, bills and the prices of goods and services, a Maui County Council committee heard last week - to no one's surprise.
SMS, a research and marketing firm based in Honolulu, laid out the results of a human needs assessment survey Wednesday to members of the County Council's Public Services Committee. The telephone survey was done from Nov. 11 to Dec. 22, 2008, with interviews of 859 households in Maui County.
Although the survey results were completed and submitted to Maui Economic Opportunity Inc. in February 2009, it was unclear why the study was being presented to council members 18 months and two budget-deliberation cycles later.
Some council members said they doubted the study would have impacted their recent budgetary decision-making, especially with the county facing multimillion-dollar shortfalls and an emphasis by both the council and the administration of Mayor Charmaine Tavares on funding essential services such as food banks, meals for shut-ins, utility bill assistance and public transportation. Although grants to nonprofit agencies have been cut in recent years, Maui County still provides roughly $40 million annually to human service agencies.
Council Member Jo Anne Johnson was critical of the study.
"It's typical," she said. "There wasn't enough really useful information (in the study). What they gathered didn't really tell us anything. It was about people's perceptions.
"What if their ideas are wrong? How do you allocate funding based on that?" she asked.
Johnson said the county should have more fact-based studies, like audits, to measure effectiveness, not just what people want based on a survey.
Johnson said council members were told the study cost $50,000, which was a county grant to MEO to oversee the survey.
Council Member Gladys Baisa, former head of MEO, said the study was "too old."
"It needs to be good, current information," she said. "All human services contracts should be based on need assessments and most are . . . I think we should have ongoing needs assessments for the county."
Committee members deferred action on the study.
About 45 percent of survey respondents pointed to "pocketbook issues," such as struggling to make ends meet, as the most pressing overall problem facing the county's families, the study showed. And 21 percent each said traffic and unemployment were the next greatest problems facing county residents.
Another 19 percent said they were worried about low wages or possibly losing their jobs. Almost 10 percent were upset over the lack of affordable housing and the cost of housing rent and mortgages.
Just 15 percent of respondents said they were "doing OK" and did not have any major problems.
Nearly 60 percent said they felt that more help was needed for alcohol and drug abuse, while 17 percent reported ever having a problem with these issues in their own household, and 10 percent sought treatment themselves.
Child and domestic abuse are considered "hot button" issues and although 8 percent reported ever having a problem in this area, the majority of people felt it was well worth spending taxpayer dollars on to prevent and treat.
The most people, at 42 percent, reported using health and wellness services provided by the county or its privately supported nonprofits.
One-fourth of respondents said they used county youth services, such as after-school programs, 16 percent needed job training and 17 percent received help with early-childhood education.
Although only 2 percent of respondents said they used programs aimed at preventing homelessness, 60 percent said the county doesn't do enough to help prevent homelessness.
And, finally, 62 percent of respondents "drew a blank" when asked if strengthening families was a priority. The study's authors concluded that the term is too ill defined. People just didn't know what it meant exactly, or what programs "fit that bill," they said.
MEO was charged by the county Department of Housing and Human Concerns to commission and oversee the needs assessment. The survey was designed to identify what needs are felt by county households and to measure the extent to which households use existing programs and services aimed at addressing human service needs such as child abuse, addiction and homelessness. The survey also looked at residents' satisfaction with the level and quality of existing programs and services.
A copy of the study can be viewed online by going to the county Department of Housing and Human Concerns' website at www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=117 and clicking "MEO 2008 Final Report" at the bottom of the page.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
