For the first time in a long time, the number of people on social assistance in Chatham-Kent is going down.
Director of Employment Valerie Colasanti says the caseload rose rapidly as soon as the recession hit in 2007 but that has started to change.
"The case load went up about 40% after that and we peaked in 2010 at about 3,500 cases," she says. "This month for the first time since 2008, our case load is just below 3,000."
She says those 3,000 cases represent about 6,000 people and while the number has started falling, it is still not back to pre-recession levels.
