What does this measure?

The percentage of all public assistance applications that are approved. County governments (except in New York City) approve or deny applications for public assistance.

Why is this important?

This is an indication of local government's response to applications for assistance. Counties use uniform eligibility guidelines, but can establish their own procedures, requirements and practices for evaluating applications. In addition, the needs of the population and the sheer volume of applications for assistance will impact on the approval rate.

How is the Greater Capital Region performing?

In 2007, 35% of public assistance applications in the region were approved. This was 6 percentage points lower than the approval rate for the state (not including New York City). The Greater Capital Region's approval rate has been consistently below the state rate. Both the region and the state's approval rate declined since 2000, by 4 and 7 percentage points respectively. Saratoga had the lowest approval rate at 14% in 2007 and Albany had the highest at 44% the same year. Approval rates statewide ranged from 14% to 81% in 2007.

Notes about the data

Data for New York City were not available, not were national data in a comparable form. Not all applications that were not approved were denied; some applications are withdrawn, about 10% statewide in 2007.