COMPASS of Larimer County

04/02/2012

Hmmm, I'm not sure I'm liking the "new" Facebook! And it doesn't look like I can add links to all the interesting things I find on the internet. If you aren't already doing so, now would be a good time to follow COMPASS on Twitter () where I *will* be linking to interesting articles and reports.

03/27/2012

I'm a bit worried that after Friday I won't be able to link to some of the great resources I discover. In previewing the new FB look I didn't see a way to add links. I guess we'll see come Monday!

03/23/2012

The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute released its 2012 Working in Colorado report yesterday which describes how Colorado had 5,000 fewer jobs at the end of 2011 than it did 11 years ago. What makes the matter even worse is that the state has seen an increase in population during that time of nearly 780,000.

And like the rest of the country, Colorado is also seeing a widening of the income gap where the rich got considerably richer over the last 10 years, while the middle class saw very little gain and the poor became even poorer. In fact, the median household income in Colorado was lower at the end of the decade than the beginning even though we are working harder and producing more.

Sadly, more than 25% of Coloradans earn less than double the federal poverty level, an amount considered my many to be the minimum needed to provide for basic needs. And quite alarmingly, Colorado saw the 2nd fastest growth in child poverty in the entire country over the past decade.

With respect to health care, premiums increased nearly 100% over the last decade, even as Coloradans are being asked to foot a higher percentage of premium and out-of-pocket costs.

If you are interested in what's happening in Colorado, this is a good place to start.

03/23/2012

Here's some interesting info from the pages that were updated on COMPASS this week:

1. In 2006 Congress enacted stricter bankruptcy laws making it more difficult for individuals to declare bankruptcy. From 2002 to 2005, bankruptcies in Larimer County increased 90% before dropping 72% in 2006. Unfortunately, other than the first year (2006), the law doesn't seem to have worked because bankruptcies have increased 184% since 2006. There were 1,787 bankruptcy filings in Larimer County in 2011, the 2nd highest number in the last 10 years. (Bankruptcy & Foreclosure)

2. Housing is considered affordable if less than 30% of your income is spent on housing needs. Between 2006 and 2010, an estimated 31% of homeowners (not including renters) paid 30% or more of their income for housing. But even more interesting is the percentage of homeowners paying more than 30% of their income for housing even when they don't have a mortgage! Of the estimated 19,000 homeowners in the county without a mortgage, more than 11% of them pay 30% or more for housing and of those 11%, nearly 45% are paying 50% or more of their income for housing. (Home Ownership/Affordable Housing)

3. Providing enough water for all who wish to live in an arid climate can be a challenge. Our utility departments do a good job of managing this often scarce resource. In 2011, those served by the City of Fort Collins consumed 7.6 billions gallons of water, or 141 gallons per person per day. In Loveland, 3.7 billion gallons of water was consumed, or 149 gallons per person per day. Nationally, the average is somewhere between 80 and 100 gallons per person per day.

As you might already know, much of this water is being used for agriculture. But quite a bit is also being used to water lawns and other residential landscaping. (Water Consumption)

Other pages that were updated include Adoptions, Alternative Sentencing, Birth Defects, Domestic Violence, Marriage-Divorce Rates, and Unemployment Rate.

03/20/2012

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
--Nelson Mandela

03/20/2012

Colin Powell and his wife understand the importance of graduating from high school and have started a nonprofit organization, called America's Promise Alliance. Their signature initiative is Grad Nation and its stated goal is to increase the national high school graduation rate to 90% by 2020. That's only 8 years away but several states are making great progress already.

Ten years ago, the graduation rate in Colorado was 82%. Last year (2011) it had dropped to 74%. Here in Larimer County, the Estes Park schools reached the 90% goal 4 out of the last 10 years, Poudre has done it twice in the last 10 years and Thompson has done it once.

So it can be done!

I'm linking to the Grad Nation report and you can find graduation rate information on the COMPASS website as well. If you are looking for volunteer opportunities, working with one of the local schools would be a terrific way to make a difference in your community.

03/19/2012

I've been busy working on a variety of updates for COMPASS. Within the next few days there will be new information available on the website on adoptions, bankruptcies and foreclosures, domestic violence, home ownership, marriage/divorce rates, unemployment rates, and water consumption.

There are a couple of interesting nuggets in this data, so check back later in the week!

03/13/2012

Just received an email from Lew Wymisner at Larimer County's Workforce Center with the January 2012 unemployment rate. It was 6.9%, which is much, much better than a year ago when it was 8.0%.

We're heading in the right direction, so let's hope high gasoline prices don't derail it!

03/13/2012

Did you see this article in today's Coloradoan warning that student loan interest rates could double on July 1st? Stafford loans would go from 3.4% to 6.8% per year or an additional $5,000 over 10 years if the maximum of $23,000 were borrowed.

Getting a college education is becoming outrageously expensive and soon only the privileged few will be able to afford it.

I find that so very sad.

WASHINGTON - College would get costlier for millions of low- and middle-income student loan recipients starting next fall - including 7,675 at CSU - unless Congress intervenes.

03/09/2012

Now for the bad news.

The Surgeon General released a report this week on to***co prevention in youth and young adults. I was surprised to read that 25% of high school seniors smoke. Unfortunately, it is likely 80% of them will continue smoking, and of those who do, approximately half will die 13 years earlier than their non-smoking peers.

These are national figures and I've tried to collect as many county-level measures as possible. It's too bad there aren't a lot of good local sources for this data.

But if the national trend holds true here in Larimer County, then more than 800 high school seniors are smokers. And oddly enough, Colorado has one of the highest rates of young people between 12 and 17 (6.7%) who smoke ci**rs!

03/09/2012

UPDATE ON CONCENTRATED POVERTY: I need to update the numbers I provided on Feb. 24th on concentrated poverty in Larimer County since I discovered an error.

Here's what I found -- in 2000 there were 355 children living in neighborhoods where 30% or more of the residents lived below the federal poverty level. By 2010 (actually the 2006-2010 5-year estimated average), that number jumped to 1,147, representing a 223% increase. During this same time period, there was a 5.6% increase in the number of children under 18 living in Larimer County.

When extending those numbers a bit, there were an additional 789 children living in neighborhoods where between 20% and 29.9% of residents lived below the federal poverty level, a 110% increase since 2000. It seems quite likely that these neighborhoods are a few accidents, illnesses, or job losses away from becoming concentrated poverty neighborhoods.

Either way you look at it, the number of children living in concentrated poverty is too high, so it's good to know United Way of Larimer County is making a concerted effort to work on this problem.