Community Profile

Jefferson County Community Partnership

An Overview of the Jefferson County:
Jefferson County was born on December 8, 1818, with the formation of Herculaneum, a town of 200 people. With the abundance of natural resources and the introduction of railroad service, the county grew enormously and rapidly through the next century. Jefferson County now covers nearly 660 square miles, is located immediately south of St. Louis County and is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Almost two-thirds of the county is classified as rural, but the population of the county has rapidly increased (a 350% increase between 1950 and 1990). As of 2000, the population of Jefferson County was 198,099, which is a 15.6% increase from 1990¹. Jefferson County is contrary to the diverse cultural make-up in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Ninety-eight percent of the population is Caucasian.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 27.9 % of the population is persons under the age of eighteen². There are eleven school districts in Jefferson County. Twenty-two percent of students in the county were enrolled in free / reduced lunches³ . Nine percent of the school-aged children living in the county were classified as living in poverty. Almost 15 % of children live in single parent families. In 1999, approximately 12 % of the children were receiving food stamps and 15.5 % were enrolled in Medicaid.

Jefferson County has displayed many of the economic characteristics one might expect of a county at the edge of a large metropolitan region. Employment opportunities within the county continue to thrive; however, 66 % of Jefferson County residents leave the county to work.

Recent trends indicate the unemployment rate is declining; still it remains higher than the regional average. Agricultural services, mining, and wholesale trade remain historically insignificant segments of the economy with regard to their percentage of the county’s employment base. The manufacturing sector, which contributed to the highest percentage of jobs three decades ago, has declined steadily. Retail trade and services have increased to represent nearly half of the county’s employment base.

Due to the rural and expansive nature of Jefferson County, several “pockets of poverty” are located throughout the area. This presents a serious barrier to service delivery for low-income or at-risk families in the community. The isolated nature of the county, as well as the lack of a public transportation system, has created obstructions to employment and educational opportunities for families striving to be healthy and successful.

History & Overview of JCCP:
The Jefferson County Community Partnership, formerly known as the Jefferson County Community Assistance Network (JCCAN), was formed in 1994 with the purpose of creating partnerships between civic organizations, churches, businesses and government agencies.

In 1995, with Governor Mel Carnahan’s establishment of Caring Communities, JCCAN changed its’ name to Jefferson County Community Partnership and adopted the following six core results as its’ guiding principles:

• Parents Working
• Children Safe in Their Families and Families Safe in Their Communities
• Young Children Ready to Enter School
• Children and Families that are Healthy
• Children and Youth Succeeding in School
• Youth Ready to Enter the Work Force and Become Productive Citizens

The mission of the Jefferson County Community Partnership is to improve the quality of life in Jefferson County by studying the strengths and needs of the County, sharing the findings, and facilitating the development of solutions.

The Jefferson County Community Partnership Board of Directors represents many sectors of the community. The Board is comprised of local representatives of the state agencies directly involved with Caring Communities, as well as representatives from the following sectors of Jefferson County: churches, schools, charitable organizations, civic groups, business, state & county elected officials, residents and service recipients. Jefferson County Community Partnership is funded in part through Caring Communities. These flexible dollars leverage additional funding through grants, other state funds and local resources. In addition, many resources in the form of materials, access to facilities and volunteer hours are contributed as a result of Caring Communities’ presence.

In 1998 Caring Communities sites were established in De Soto. Since that time, additional sites have been and are currently under development in the rest of Jefferson County. To date, the established site teams along with the planning team consisting of JCCP Board and staff have developed plans with a priority of addressing the core results of Children Ready to Enter School, Children Succeeding in School and Parents Working. These results were chosen via results-based planning sessions at the local and county level and were selected as a result of local input, data indicating the need at the local level and the willingness of community partners to work to improve these results.

The following report highlights programs of JCCP that have impacted Children Ready to Enter School, Children Succeeding in School, and Parents Working. As illustrated in the report, kindergarten readiness scores have improved greatly at the Vineland Site in De Soto. The strides made in school preparedness have resulted from the collaboration of many community partners. Despite the fact that Reading MAP test scores have not improved in both 3rd and 7th grade students, improvements in school attendance, grades and parent involvement have occurred in De Soto. As a result of mentoring through the faith-based initiative and connections to resources via Workforce Development, several low-income families have moved to self-sufficiency. The Caring Communities Initiative has brought many community partners together for the first time. The small amount of Caring Communities flexible funds/resources and an opportunity through the Danforth Foundation (available as a result of Caring Communities status) and Americorps*Vista have leveraged local funds and just as importantly, community resources in the form of materials and volunteer hours to address the issue of school readiness, school success and employment for low-income families.

We wish to thank our many community partners for their continued support: De Soto School District, Jefferson County Catholic Community Services, Jefferson College, Division of Family Services, Jefferson County Health Department, Parents As Teachers, Jefferson County Division of Workforce Development, Office of Job Training, Jefferson Memorial Hospital, the Jefferson County Business Community, local churches, local food pantries, the Danforth Foundation, and Jefferson County childcare providers. Without their commitment to improving outcomes for Jefferson County, progress would not be possible.

^{1 Data Source: Jefferson County Department of Land Use, Development, and Code Enforcement; U.S. Census Bureau}

^{2 US Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/}

^{3 Casey (Annie E.) Foundation, Kids Count, 2000.}