Current Realities:

• In 2005, 18 percent of people were in poverty. Twenty-six percent of related children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 10 percent of people 65 years old and over. Sixteen percent of all families and 39 percent of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level.   {2005 American Community Survey (ACS)}
• As a community we are nearly five years younger than the average for our state which puts pressure on providing early childhood, family support and health services for young children and their families.
• The influx of thousands of military personnel and their families as a result of BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) changes will increase demand for early childhood system services.
• Family structures are becoming more complex. Families made up 69 percent of the households in Cumberland County. This figure includes both married-couple families (46 percent) and other families (23 percent). Nonfamily households made up 31 percent of all households in Cumberland County. { 2005 American Community Survey (ACS)}The rise of the single-parent household has long been documented, but increasingly, grandparents who raise their grandchildren are emerging as a "new" type of family. There are 2,809 grandparents raising grandchildren. Of those, 74% of the children are under 5.
• With the current state of world affairs troop deployment continues to be a reality in our community and the effects of deployment on children have become a concern for many. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children of deployed members of the military experience a broad range of reactions to the stress of family deployment. Their reactions may include anger, sadness, fear, confusion, and feelings of abandonment, loss, anxiety, and depression. These reactions can lead to significant problems such as school absenteeism and failure, social isolation, family emotional abuse and violence, psychosomatic medical complaints, and depression.