How many clients use West Hollywood’s social services?
The City of West Hollywood contracts with over 20 different non-profit agencies to provide social services. The City spends roughly $4.5 million a year on those services.
A recently published City report says that 10,125 clients received City-funded social services in the contract year ending September 2016. That’s a 9% increase over 2015, according to the report.
Clients by service category
The chart below shows the share of clients who received social services in each category. You can see the number of clients in each category by hovering over or touching that piece.
One-third of clients used HIV/AIDS services. Beyond that, 18% of clients got services for seniors and the disabled, 15% used City-funded health and mental health services, and 11% got help with food.
The mix of services delivered to clients changed between 2014 and 2016. The share of clients receiving HIV/AIDS services dropped from about half to a third. There were big increases in clients using nutrition, homeless, and youth services.
Clients by age
The share of clients over the age of 60 jumped from 30% in 2014 to 39% in 2016. That age group makes up a smaller part of the city’s population (20%), according to estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2011-2015). The number of youth clients also increased.
Clients by gender
According to the Census Bureau, 43% of the city’s population is female. The gender breakdown for social services moved closer to that number in 2016. In prior years, 25% to 29% of clients were female. Last year, the number rose to at least 35% and probably higher. Male clients continued to be the primary users of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and homeless services.
The number of transgender clients has increased over the last three years. There were about 150 in 2014, roughly 180 in 2015, and over 230 in 2016.
Clients by language
Among West Hollywood’s social services clients, 17% speak Russian at home. For comparison, an estimated 10% of the city’s population aged five and over speaks Russian at home, according to the Census Bureau.
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