News

A Message from United Community Services of Johnson County and a Link to COVID-19 Information for Local Agencies and Residents Like many of our partners throughout the community, UCS is monitoring the COVID-19 health crisis and adjusting our work environment and meeting schedules accordingly to ensure the health and safety of staff and guests. Until further notice, UCS staff is working remotely. Our office hours (8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday) have not changed, but our office location is not open to the public. We are reachable by email and phone. UCS staff can be reached through our office ...

Understanding and Overcoming Historical Racial Divides Understanding what impacts the health and well-being of our community has been the focus of UCS for its more than 50-year history. Since 2017, UCS has convened the Johnson County Health Equity Network and worked collaboratively across sectors to address the social determinants of health: non-health factors that impact a person's well-being, such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences. Discrimination based on race has impacted the overall wellness of our community in significant ways. The Johnson County Museum contains exhibits that detail the ways in which racism was codified in history through policies and ...

Poverty in Johnson County Municipalities UCS has published a new fact sheet detailing the poverty rates for each of Johnson County's 19 cities and seven townships, based on the most recent five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. While poverty rates vary by community and age group, every municipality is home to residents who experience poverty. These households do not have enough income to meet the cost of living, which may limit their ability to acquire basic needs such as safe housing, health care service, and reliable transportation. Read the full fact sheet on our website. UCS ...

Poverty and Income in the Kansas City Region Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that the greater Kansas City region has experienced a steady decrease in overall levels of poverty since 2014. Nearly 1 in 10 residents live in households with income below the federal poverty level (FPL). Additionally, 1 in 4 residents (464,857 people) was low-income, which is defined as income less than two times the federal poverty level in 2018. Communities that have historically had the highest levels of poverty, including Wyandotte County, KS and Cass County, MO, have seen the greatest reductions in poverty. The ...

UCS Public Policy Forum - Public Policy & Healthy Communities Last month's Kansas Public Policy Forum, presented by UCS and United Way of Greater Kansas City with support from the REACH Healthcare Foundation, brought together state legislators, local elected officials, county and city staff, health and human service agencies, health foundation grant makers, community advocates, educators, and residents to discuss the upcoming 2020 legislative sessions and issues impacting the well-being of residents. The forum featured a conversation with Secretary Laura Howard of the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and the Kansas Department for Aging & Disability Services (KDADS) ...

UCS Annual Meeting - We Are All Connected Who is your stretcher bearer? Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker, Reverend Adam Hamilton, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, posed this question at last week's UCS Annual Meeting as he discussed the increasing social isolation we are feeling around the country and the world. Rev. Hamilton shared why we all need to have people in our lives we can connect with, especially in times of need. He asked us to think of who is there for us and who are we there for to be their "stretcher bearer". We Are All Connected was ...

Kansas Public Policy Forum - Registration Deadline this Friday Join us for UCS' annual Kansas Public Policy Forum on Tuesday, November 26th, 10:00 a.m.- Noon, as we prepare for the 2020 Kansas Legislative Session. This year's theme is Public Policy & Healthy Communities.  We will discuss with our local and state policymakers the work being done in our community and state around key health and human service issues.  Secretary Laura Howard of the Kansas Department for Children and Families and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services is the featured speaker.  We will look at the upcoming session with ...

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN HOMELESSNESS Each year, Johnson County's Continuum of Care on Homelessness (KS-505 CoC) counts persons who are experiencing homelessness and collects information about them to help us understand not only who is experiencing homelessness in our community but also the complex and interacting factors that contribute to their housing history. In past years, annual reports have noted that racial and ethnic minorities in the community are over-represented in the annual Point in Time Count (PIT) of homelessness.  They represent higher proportions of the total count than they do the general population or the population experiencing poverty ...

UCS IS BUILDING THE NARRATIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITH LOCAL FACES AND FACTS UCS has launched an awareness campaign on Facebook and Twitter to lift the voices of volunteers and community members who shine a light on the issues that impact the health and well-being of our community. The goal is to bring to life UCS' data and research, tell the story of us as a community and how health and human service investments are key to Johnson County's vitality and sustainability. One focus of the "build the narrative" campaign is the work of the UCS facilitated Johnson County Health Equity Network and its ...

HUD releases 2019 CoC Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), KS-505 publishes updated competition timeline The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its FY2019 CoC NOFA on July 3rd - a national competitive funding opportunity for Continuums of Care (CoC) working to end homelessness.  To view the FY2019 CoC NOFA, see HUD's website here. UCS acts as Johnson County's CoC lead agency (KS-505) and submits the application annually on behalf of local members in order to qualify for grant awards funding permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, homeless data management services and CoC planning. In May, KS-505 opened the application process locally ...