Community Report

St. Francois County Community Partnership

At one point-in-time during the last ten years, St. Francois County was the fastest growing county in the state and the region. Out of 115 counties in the state (includes St. Louis City), St. Francois County is the sixteenth largest county. The county’s population is 55,790. The county is still growing.

St. Francois County is a largely rural area made up of several distinct and separate communities. The county and its population centers are located along U.S. Highway 67. This is a very busy highway that runs from St. Louis City to the Missouri and Arkansas state line.

The county has three large population centers and three smaller cities. The largest is Farmington with a population of 14,429, followed by a group of cities that share municipal boundaries; Park Hills/Desloge/Leadington with a combined population of 14,188 (9,224, 4,799, and 165 respectively). Bonne Terre follows them with a population of 4,282. The three smaller communities are Bismarck, 1,805, Leadwood, 1,265, and Iron Mountain Lake, 642.

St. Francois County is home to six international companies (e.g., Little Tikes Plays Systems and Mosler) and over 15 national companies. Until the mid-60’s, this area was the world’s leader in lead mining. All lead mining has stopped in this county and the mines are now tourist attractions, especially for underwater divers. The old mines are one of the hottest extreme sports spots in the country for diving.

Additionally, the county has two major state prisons (one due to open Spring 2001), two hospitals, one college, and a regional mental health facility. There is a small regional airport capable of handling small business jets. The county is in the parkland region with six major state parks and a national forest in the county or in surrounding counties. The county is within easy traveling distance to the City of St. Louis.

There are five school districts in the county; Bismarck, Central, Farmington, North County, and West County. Farmington and North County (Bonne Terre and Desloge) are the two largest school districts, 3,500 and 3,200 respectively. Central, West County, and Bismarck follow with 2,000, 1,000, and 750. Each of these school districts has its own unique needs, but they also share some of the same issues concerning children and families.

The county’s child population is 14,003 or 25.1% of the total population of St. Francois County. Using data from Kids Count, OSEDA, state agencies and data collected through local community surveys – the Partnership has discovered many areas of concern.

• The free and reduced lunch program has seen a constant increase over the last several years, rising to 43.4%; the state rate is 35.9%.
   
• The county has also had a continued increase in the total amount of families with school age children living in poverty, increasing from 17.3% to a high of 26.8% in last years Kids Count data, to 23% in this year’s data.
   
• The child abuse and neglect rate has been high over the last several years, reaching a peak of 19.9 in 1997, ranking St. Francois county 103 out of 115 counties in Missouri. This year the county is ranked 93 with a 35.9 rate for probable child abuse and neglect. The state rate is 24.4.
   
• The number of children with serious emotional disorders has increased from 184 in 1994 to 477 in 1999, an increase of 159% (child population increased by 4.8%).
   
• Percent of children living in single parent families is 18.6%*.
   
• Children receiving subsidized childcare have increased from 234 in 1994 to 562 in 1999.
   
• The county has a high percentage of adults 25 and older who have not completed high school. Based on school districts, the percentage ranges from 35.2 to 44.9, with an average of 39.7%.
   
• The current high school graduation rate is 79.1%.

Our local community surveys have identified five tops concerned of citizens in the county:

• Better Jobs/Benefits
• Parent Involvement
• Affordable Housing
• Public Transportation
• Improved Child Care

The areas unemployment rate is currently at 5.5%, a good number. However, a majority of these jobs are service related and pay at or just above minimum wage. I believe the main concern of better jobs/benefits is the lack of benefits. There are still many families, especially with children, that do not have any type of medical insurance.

Parent involvement has always been a concern in school especially above the elementary level. PTA/PTO and similar organizations have good participation until the children reach the middle and high school level. Increased involvement by parents is known to improve the success of children in school.

Affordable housing has long been an issue in St. Francois County. There are currently approx 400 families receiving HUD or state assistance for housing, with almost 500 on a waiting list. These numbers represent almost 20% of rented households in the county.

Public Transportation is a growing concern for people trying to maintain their employment and for basic social needs (shopping, doctor appointments). Maintaining a car (gas, maintenance, license, taxes, etc) and keeping the insurance current takes a good portion of the average annual wage in the county. SMTS’ service is limited and transportation to the workplace is almost nonexistent.

Improved childcare is a growing concern because of the number of people working in industry shift work and service oriented jobs that extend past the normal 8-5 workday. There are currently no childcare facilities that operation 24 hours and a few that offer evening hours. Most have to rely on family members to take care of their children. A solution that is limited with the number of both spouses working and the number of single parent families in the county.