About the LDSS Annual Profile Report

The Local Department of Social Services (LDSS) Annual Profile Report provides a snapshot of each of Virginia’s 120 local departments of social services.

The report shares local information about:

Agency characteristics, such as agency size, region, level of technology support and board structure
Clients and households receiving public assistance and family services
Benefit program applications received and processed
Local agency spending on benefits, services and administration
Staffing levels and vacant positions

This information helps give a clearer picture of how services are delivered across Virginia.

Community and Local Data

The report also describes the area served by each local agency. This may be a county or city. The report includes community data such as:

Population estimates
Unemployment rates
People living in poverty
ALICE households (families earning above poverty but still struggling to afford basic needs)
Teen and non-marital birth rates
People without health insurance

Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center, the Virginia Employment Commission, United Way and the Virginia Department of Health.

How the Report Works

The LDSS Annual Profile Report uses Power BI, a cloud-based tool that turns data into interactive charts, maps and tables.

Using this tool helps make the information easier to explore and understand.

Key benefits include:

Data connects directly to trusted data systems, which helps reduce manual entry errors
Reports update as new data becomes available
Multiple years of data can be viewed in the same report

Each chart and table also includes notes that explain the data and how it was collected.

Who Developed the Report

The LDSS Annual Profile Report was developed by the Virginia Department of Social Services Office of Research and Planning in partnership with the Data Warehouse team.

Their work helps make data easier to access and use for learning, planning and decision-making.