The County Human Services and Education Landscape
Author
Julia Cortina
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Executive Summary
Regardless of population size, geography and available resources, counties are deeply invested in our residents’ health and well-being. Every day, we provide services that help vulnerable individuals and families thrive, functioning as an integral part of the federal, state and local partnership in human service delivery. Whether keeping families sheltered when they face homelessness, providing nutrition support to infants and toddlers, operating job training programs, or protecting children from abuse and neglect, counties provide services that break cycles of poverty and help our residents thrive. The role of counties varies widely from state to state, but human services and education expenditures are among the largest parts of county budgets: every year, counties invest $62.8 billion in federal, state and local resources and employ 259,000 human services workers to provide safety net services for millions of residents. Additionally, counties spend $103 billion annually on elementary, secondary and post-secondary education.
While many federal human services and education programs are delivered as a partnership between the federal government and the states, certain states further delegate the administration of key safety net programs to county governments. However, county administration differs by program and can include a range of responsibilities, such as contributing administrative dollars, making eligibility determinations, delivering services or contracting with providers, determining how to spend program funds, contributing to Maintenance of Effort (MOE) and non-federal share requirements, collecting data to meet program requirements, enrolling program participants and more. This resource provides a breakdown of the county, state and federal partnership key human services and education programs.
MethodologyThis report’s assessment of the county role in program administration stems from a wide array of sources such as state plan submissions, state statute, federal reports, agency websites and direct feedback from county government officials. In some instances, we rely on inferences or estimations based on the best available data. Feedback and suggestions can be directed to Julia Cortina, Associate Legislative Director, Human Services and Education at jcortina@naco.org. |
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Leading Your County's Digital Transformation
Tuesday, August 26, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
The digital era is upon us, and it has many leaders challenged by the digital transformation in front of them. NACo CIO Rita Reynolds and Dr. Tim Rahschulte, the chief architects of NACo’s AI Leadership Academy training program, are hosting this webinar to share insights and ideas on how some leaders are harnessing the power of digital products, services and processes to do more with less.
Rita and Tim will demystify the digital era by looking to the past and providing insights into the future – that is, in many ways, predictable. Join this webinar to explore the key elements of digital transformation and learn practical strategies to prepare for the digital future. To be sure, this digital future is not all about technology. The digital era is also about meeting customer expectations, employee accommodations and leveraging models to operate the business of government. We will explore together the importance of building a digital-ready organization and the need for skilling employees to meet new demands of new work.
This webinar is brought to you by NACo EDGE, establishing people, purchasing, and performance cost-saving solutions that can be applied to counties nationwide. EDGE is owned by NACo, advised by county leaders and 100% focused on solutions for U.S. Counties. Learn more about NACo EDGE here.
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