Section 12.3.1

12.3.1 - Programs That Turned Away Clients

Agencies were asked if clients had been turned away within the past year and, if so, how many and for what reasons. Agencies were asked to use either their records or their best estimates to supply this information. Tables 12.3.1 and 12.3.2 show the results.

Table 12.3.1

PROGRAMS THAT TURNED AWAY CLIENTS

	Pantry Programs	Kitchen Programs	Shelter Programs
Did the program turn away clients during the year 2000?
Yes	32.1%	15.1%	59.9%
No	67.9%	84.9%	40.1%
TOTAL	100%	100%	100%
SAMPLE SIZE (N)	12,468	2,853	2,131
Average number of clients turned away in year 2000 among those that turned away at least one client	48	81	132
Median number of clients turned away in year 2000 among those that turned away at least one client	15	20	48
SAMPLE SIZE (N) - Programs providing a valid number of clients who were turned away	2,565	232	664
Reasons for turning away clients¹
Lack of food resources	29.2%	39.3%	17.7%
Services needed not provided by the program	28.0%	18.5%	49.4%
Clients were ineligible or could not prove eligibility	43.6%	16.6%	38.8%
Clients abused program/came too often	51.0%	14.3%	27.4%
Clients exhibited drug, alcohol, or behavior problem	26.0%	59.3%	56.8%
Clients lived outside service area	42.7%	4.9%	8.4%
Clients had no proper identification	29.2%	7.9%	10.3%
Client's income exceeded the guidelines	21.2%	3.0%	4.0%
Other	7.7%	8.0%	37.3%
SAMPLE SIZE (N)	3,787	366	1,069

Source
This table was constructed based on usable responses to Questions 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the agency survey.

Notes
All usable responses were weighted as described in Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix volume to represent all emergency food programs of the A2H network. The sample sizes (N) also include missing data.

For programs that turned away clients, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 6.6% for pantry programs, 16.9% for kitchen programs, and 15.8% for shelter programs.

For reasons for turning away clients, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 2.6% for pantry programs, 9.1% for kitchen programs, and 2.0% for shelter programs.

1. Multiple responses were accepted.

As Table 12.3.1 shows, 32.1% of the pantries, 15.1% of the kitchens, and 59.9% of the shelters responded that they turned away clients during the year 2000. Reasons for turning away clients follow:

Among programs turning away clients, 29.2% of the pantries, 39.3% of the kitchens, and 17.7% of the shelters turned away clients at least once due to lack of food resources.
Among programs turning away clients, 28.0% of the pantries, 18.5% of the kitchens, and 49.4% of the shelters turned away clients at least once because the services needed were not provided by the program.
Among programs turning away clients, 43.6% of the pantries, 16.6% of the kitchens, and 38.8% of the shelters turned away clients at least once because the clients were ineligible or could not prove eligibility.
Among programs turning away clients, 51.0% of the pantries, 14.3% of the kitchens, and 27.4% of the shelters turned away clients at least once because the clients abused the program or because they came too often.