While much has been written about the economic rebound taking place along the Front Range of Colorado, considerably less ink has been spent telling the story of the rural counties around the state that have not yet experienced an economic turnaround.
As an elected official in Ouray County, I have seen firsthand the struggles faced by rural communities. During the recent recession, we lost 9 percent of our population and 35 percent of our property tax revenues.
County commissioners from across the nation are gathering in Ouray County this week to discuss the challenges facing rural counties and share best practices for addressing them in creative, efficient and effective ways. The three-day Rural Action Caucus Symposium will provide a forum for officials to share success stories from rural counties across the nation in addressing the following issues, among others.
Almost 70 percent of this country’s poorest counties are in rural areas, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in four rural kids is currently living in poverty. Research has shown that the earlier in life that poverty is experienced, the more profound its negative effects will be on health, social connectedness, and economic status across one’s lifespan. County governments are the front-line providers of critical services that fight poverty, such as education and job training, childcare, housing, transportation, mental health, substance abuse and more.
Here in Ouray County, one study indicated that childhood poverty increased 70 percent between 2008 and 2012. The impacts of the last recession hit families and children the hardest, but this is not always reflected in the available federal data and information. While federal reports show our county’s unemployment rate has come down from a high of 10 percent during the recession to 5.5 percent currently, almost 40 percent of our school kids still qualify for free or reduced lunch programs — suggesting that the rate of unemployment (and under-employment) for working parents is much higher than the federal data would suggest.
Drugs are another problem. Rural areas are seeing a surge in heroin use. Part of this is attributable to increased drug trafficking from Mexico. Law enforcement officials seized almost 2,000 kilograms of heroin along the Mexican border in 2012 — a more than 300 percent increase over 2008. Colorado also has the nation’s highest rate of prescription drug overdose, and in rural counties prescription pain killers are prescribed at very high rates — likely contributing to the increasing rate in prescription drug and heroin addiction. Rural counties are working to reduce substance abuse in their communities, but citizens must travel long distances to access substance abuse and treatment facilities and mental health care services.
County elected officials from rural areas are dedicated to strengthening their communities and providing quality services through creative, scalable, cost-efficient best practices that recognize their unique locations, diverse cultures and non-profit partnerships.
Lynn Padgett is a two-term Ouray County commissioner and current chair of the National Association of Counties’ Rural Action Caucus.
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