DeKalb County Human Services Initiative

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DeKalb County Human Services Initiative

• DeKalb County Quality of Life
• A Report to the Community
•  
• August 8, 2007

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DeKalb County Human Services Initiative

• Welcome and Introduction
• Overview of Project
• Where We Go From Here

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DeKalb County Human Services Initiative Team

• Kishwaukee United Way
• DeKalb County Community Foundation
• City of DeKalb - Community Development
• DeKalb County Community Mental Health Board
• DeKalb County Community Services Department

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DeKalb County Human Services Initiative
Goal Statement The goal of this initiative is
to consistently and measurably improve the
quality of life for people in DeKalb County and
to encourage innovative solutions to our
communities human service needs.  
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Project Components

• PHASE 1
• Develop Quality of Life Indicators and
  Assessment
• - Measurable
• - Update annually
• - Based on United Ways State of Caring Index
• Host Focus Group to begin identifying key issues
  affecting human services
• - December 7, 2006
• - Approximately 60 Participants

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Project Components

• Phase 2 - Needs Assessment
• Phase 3 - Strategic Planning

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DeKalb County Quality of LifeA Report to the
Community

• Dr. Robert Gleeson, Director
• Center for Governmental Studies
• Sherrie Taylor, Research Associate II
• Lina Rombalsky, Research Associate I
•  

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The Changing Context of DeKalb County

• 1. Continued Economic Restructuring
• Private sector trends
• Public sector trends
• Income effects
• Rise in poverty

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The Changing Context of DeKalb County

• 2. Growth and Diversity of Population
• Up 10 since just 2000
• Less diverse than region and state
• Growing Hispanic population
• Younger than average
• Slow growth in elderly population

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The Changing Context of DeKalb County

• 3. Growing Social and Economic Integration
  Eastward
• Where County residents work
• DeKalb County 38.8
• Kane County 19.1
• DuPage County 11.2
• Cook County 10.2
• Winnebago County 3.5

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The Changing Context of DeKalb County

• Where workers in the County live
• DeKalb County 50.9
• Cook County 7.0
• Kane County 5.3
• LaSalle County 4.8
• Ogle County 4.5

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The Changing Context of DeKalb County

• Slow transition from
• independent network of communities to
  specializing corridor within the larger metro
  region. Specializing in
• warehousing logistics
• retail services
• education services
• health care services

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The First Step Toward Benchmarking the Quality of
Life

• Used the United Ways national template
• Adjusted it for data available regarding DeKalb
  County
• Measured the County over time
• Compared DeKalb to other counties

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The First Step Toward Benchmarking the Quality of
Life

• Initial Results
• Demographics and the Economy
• more negative than positive
• K-12 Public Education
• mostly positive, but mostly unchanged
• The Natural Environment
• more negative than positive

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The First Step Toward Benchmarking the Quality of
Life

• Initial Results
• Civic Engagement
• more positive than negative
• Public Safety
• stable, with warning signs
• Public Health
• stable, but high rates of risky behaviors

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Overview Three Phases