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| Montcalm County Information: You can visit www.montcalm.org for all kinds of information about Montcalm County including government, recreation, economy and planning, maps, and community resources/services. Specifically, for local data and reports, you should visit the "Economy and Planning" menu tab. County Unemployment Rate: Available online at Michigan Department of Economic Labor and Growth using hyperlink. 1. Select Area Type "County." 2. Select Areas "Montcalm". Press "Continue." 3. Select Years you want and 4. Select time period you want. Press "Continue." 5. Select seasonally or not seasonally adjusted (whichever you want). 6. Select Data Series "Jobless Rate." Select Display Type "View Data Table." Press "View Data Table". Census- Fact Finder: Use this website to do quick fact sheets using the "Fast Access to Information" section to get American Community Survey 3 year estimates (newest 2005-2009), 2000 Census Data, or other census information. Economic, housing, demographic, and social data is available. The general census website is www.census.gov . 2010 Census Data is available. **NEW** The Basic Economic Security Tables for Michigan 2010: While Michigan families continue to suffer under double-digit unemployment and heightened attacks on key public supports, a new report details just how much it takes for Michigan workers to make ends meet and build some savings for emergencies and retirement. The Basic Economic Security Tables for Michigan, produced by Wider Opportunities for Women in partnership with the Michigan League for Human Services, finds that families must earn far more than the minimum wage and the minimal incomes offered by low-wage jobs in the state to just meet their basic needs. If below links expire, information is available on www.milhs.org website. (posted 6/2/11) *See full report
*Wages for Michigan, 83 counties and the city of Detroit
*Executive summary
*Press release
*See Detroit Free Press coverage
West Michigan Strategic Alliance- West Michigan Vital Signs: The 2010 West Michigan Vital Signs is produced by the West Michigan Strategic Alliance (WMSA) and its partners. Montcalm County is a member of this regional group. The regional indicators described in the report are used to measure trends in economic prosperity, environmental integrity and social justice. These indicators are designed to help people understand the bigger picture. In addition to tracking trends and comparing our region’s data to statewide and national data, the 2010 West Michigan Vital Signs introduces benchmarking data that compare West Michigan with 26 peer regions around the U.S. Current and prior reports are available online at hyperlink. Michigan League for Human Services: In addition to the Kids Count and other data projects, the MILHS releases regular reports on economic security related data sets (including human services provision trends/spending and poverty)- some with county level data. One good document not available on-line is the Economic Self-Sufficiency report (last done in 2007). They also provide legislative summaries, state budget analysis, and other updates that can be used for advocacy. Visit their website for more information and/or become a member to ensure you get these reports sent to you (some are available on-line, some are sent to members). Food Security Data: Feeding America undertook the Map the Meal Gap 2011 project, with the generous support of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and The Nielsen Company, to learn more about the face of hunger at the local community level. Go to the interactive map on link below and start learning more about the residents struggling with hunger and the food banks that serve them; you can move the cursor on the interactive map to bring up county-level data. Executive Report is also available at this site. http://www.feedingamerica.org/our-network/the-studies/map-the-gap.aspx. In order to address the problem of hunger, we must first understand it. Feeding America undertook the Map the Meal Gap project to learn more about the face of hunger at the local community level. By understanding the population in need, communities can better identify strategies for reaching the people who most need food assistance. Although we seek to meet the needs of food insecure individuals and families, it is not always easy to identify the need for food within each of our communities. Traditionally, Feeding America has used state and national level USDA food insecurity data to estimate the need (e.g. “50 million Americans are at risk of hunger”), but food banks are rooted in their local communities and need better information at the ground level in order to be responsive to their unique local conditions. Until now, the number of people falling below the federal poverty threshold has been the indicator most typically used for identifying the need for food at the local level because it is one of the few indicators available at the county level. However, national food insecurity data reveal that about 45% of those struggling with hunger actually have incomes above the federal poverty level and 53% of poor households are food secure. Thus, measuring need based on local poverty rates alone provides an incomplete illustration of the potential need for food assistance within our communities. (posted 3/29/11) “Guide to Data in Your Backyard”: The Michigan League for Human Services has just posted a new tool that we hope will be helpful to those looking for county-level information on a host of subjects. We’re calling it the Michigan League for Human Services Guide to Data in Your Back Yard which can be accessed from their homepage at www.milhs.org. The map-based tool allows a user to find information on a range of subjects in one place. Those include: Kids Count rankings, Basic county information, Food assistance caseloads, Medicaid caseloads, Unemployment trends, Social services spending. To use, go to the blue map, hover your computer mouse over a county and click if it’s the county you want. It will take you to a series of links. Those links will give you county Kids Count profile and Kids Count background sheets, the county profile of Tax Dollars at Work, the latest Economic Security bulletin that tracks economic trends by county, and the Department of Human Services latest county-by-county report on caseloads. (Since we’ve released the Kids Count report, which contains 2007 child poverty data, the 2008 poverty data has become available for 29 large Michigan counties.) Economic Security Bulletin (ESB): A quarterly bulletin reporting employment, unemployment, public assistance, and wage statistics for Michigan and counties (has county-level info) put out by Michigan League for Human Services. To find the ESB publication, go to the MILHS website at www.milhs.org, then "Our Work" then "Work and Wages" then "Econ. Security Bulletin." Current and archived ESB documents are located there. 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness: With impetus from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's 10 year plan to end homelessness initiative, this document- developed by the Ionia/Montcalm Continuum of Care in 2006- outlines a description of and action priorities needed to end homelessness in our two county area. It is basically a strategic plan; while there is some community data, it is outdated; the document is currently being revisited and updated. The Continuum does do a "Point in Time" homelessness survey annually and are generally a good source for garnering homelessness data. For more information, contact Continuum of Care coordinator Leigha Christensen at (616) 527-5229. Forecaster: Put together by United Way (of America), "Forecaster" provides a interactive way to see how the educational level of the community affects health, financial stability, and community involvement. Educational levels can be mainpulated and then see effects of your changes. Many indicators provided at the county level. Just enter the state and county information that you want to see. Timelapse of County by County Unemployment Rate Nationwide: Really cool and makes an impact. Visually shows with color how counties across the nation have been impacted by unemployment from 2007- November 2009. Make sure you position the scroll bar on the right so you can see the timeline move along the bottom and the map change when you click "play." Center for Michigan Scorecard (April 15, 2010). Released on the Center's web site, the Michigan Scorecard rates 30 key benchmarks of Michigan’s economy, quality of life, and education and government systems. It’s an update to the Center's first such scorecard released in 2008. Each Scorecard benchmark in the report earns either a "good," "average," or "poor" rating based on comparisons to other states. In one click, readers can download a spreadsheet showing where Michigan ranks nationally for each measure in the Scorecard. This year's scorecard downgrades four key measures: K-12 investment, high school completion, research and development, and environmental quality. | |
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