News

New Fact Sheet Focuses on Johnson County Wages and Cost of Living The latest fact sheet from UCS highlights wages in Johnson County and how much workers need to bring home to maintain an adequate standard of living. A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and other essential expenses required to live a modest but adequate life in a specific geographic area. Unlike the minimum wage, which is often set by law and may not always align with actual living costs, a living wage is typically calculated based ...

Human Service Fund Grant Program Secures Resources to Address Community Needs Since 1981, UCS has administered the Human Service Fund (HSF), helping the County and cities address critical health and human service needs. The HSF is a competitive process that awards operating grants to nonprofit agencies for programs that meet the needs of Johnson County residents who live with income at or near the federal poverty level. In 2023, programs receiving HSF grants served more than 58,000 Johnson County residents in-need through direct services, including medical and dental appointments, mental health supports, nights of safe housing, counseling and case management, ...

Johnson County's Eviction Mediation Pilot: A Promising Approach to Mitigating Evictions and Homelessness Evictions are court cases filed to remove a tenant household from rented housing, usually due to nonpayment of rent. Evictions have high stakes for tenants, landlords, and the community. Landlords lose income and many Kansans lose housing, sometimes leading to people entering cycles of homelessness. Once an eviction judgment is entered, Sheriff’s deputies are sent to physically remove or bar tenants from returning to the property. Additionally, eviction judgments present a near absolute barrier to housing for many renters: In Kansas, evictions never come off a renter’s court record and ...

Fact Sheet: A Focus on Johnson County Residents with Disabilities People with disabilities represent an important part of the Johnson County community. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, more than 57,880 Johnson County residents have a disability, representing 9% of the total population. Seven percent of working-age adults aged 18-64 have a disability. Removing barriers through accommodations, assistive technology, and inclusive policies allows people with disabilities to fully participate in the community. The goal is inclusion and equal opportunity for all. Learn more from our latest fact sheet. Safety and Wallpaper: Meeting ...

What is the CoC? Rita Carr Director of Community Planning Here in Johnson County, there is a broad coalition of service providers, local government offices, faith groups, housing providers, and community members working on responses to homelessness. This coalition is called the Johnson County Continuum of Care on Homelessness. It was created over 20 years ago as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began requiring communities across the country to create Continuums of Care (CoCs) to submit consolidated applications for CoC funding, coordinate homeless services at the local level, track data locally and create responses based on the ...

UCS Celebrates the Contributions of Hispanics and Latinos in Johnson County During the past month, Johnson County communities have been celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month which honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans. Johnson County is home to 52,575 Hispanic or Latino residents, representing 8.5% of the county’s population. More than 2 in 3 of those residents identify as Mexican, with Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other national identities also represented in the Hispanic and Latino populations. The median household income of Hispanic residents is $76,534, compared to an overall median household income of $98,523 across all Johnson ...

A Profile of Johnson County’s Older Adults More than 93,000 seniors call Johnson County home, representing 15.3% of the population who are age 65 and older. One in four seniors live alone, a trend that is more common in the United States than in many other countries, according to Pew Research Center. Among other challenges, the cost burden of housing affects 23% of homeowners and a striking 64% of renters. Our latest fact sheet emphasizes the need for support networks, housing options, and community services to enhance the health and well-being of older adults in our community. Editorial: Livable Communities ...

The Role of Child Care in Financial Stability For women in the workforce who have young children in their household, child care is not only important but is a critical element for workforce participation and long-term financial stability. When child care is affordable and accessible, it can support parents’ and guardians’ ability to work and provide lifelong benefits to children. But childcare costs stand out as one of the biggest barriers to financial stability for women in the workforce. Learn more in the video below: Family Friendly Workplaces Summit – Registration Open Society for Human Resource Management of Johnson County ...

Listen In: New Episode of “JoCo’s One Small Step” In this episode, we'll hear from Tom and Jon. Tom considers himself an "Eisenhower Republican," and was heavily influenced by the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement during his youth. Jon, who grew up with a more conservative mindset, has recently been re-evaluating his political beliefs after a major life event and isn't sure he fits into one political party. Listen in to their conversation. This episode is presented by United Community Services of Johnson County with support from Resurrection, A United Methodist Church. One Small Step is a podcast framework ...

UCS Seeks Its Next Executive Director United Community Services of Johnson County has retained OMNI HRM to assist in the search for their next Executive Director. This role has overall strategic and operation responsibility for UCS’ staff, programs, initiatives, and execution of mission. The ideal candidate will embrace the mission, vision and values of UCS and work to propel the organization forward. Referrals are welcome for this key role. For more information, please click this link: https://tinyurl.com/ucsexecdirsearch Perspectives on Homelessness: Megan Foreman Megan Foreman brings a public health background to her role as Johnson County, KS Government's newly-created housing coordinator position, ...