Community Plan Overview

Our Vision

We envision Somerset County as a community in which the entire family feels safe, supported

and involved; youth are active and involved; adults excel in the work force; and people from all

socioeconomic levels contribute to the community.

Our Mission

Our mission is to promote a safe, healthy, and stable environment for all Somerset County

children and families by achieving a comprehensive system of education, health, and human

services through public and private interagency collaboration.

Our Role

 Develop family-focused, community-based services for children, youth and families that

are culturally relevant.

 Serve as the catalyst for interagency collaboration and cooperation.

 Plan, coordinate, and evaluate programs and services that benefit children, youth and

families to improve child and family outcomes.

 Organize community initiatives to eliminate fragmented and duplicated services.

 Mobilize data and resources available to support children, youths, and families in their

communities.

 Develop and enhance communication linkage between and among agencies,

organizations, and both public and private citizens that serve children, youths, and

families through partnership building.

 Provide a point-of -entry service to the public on the availability and status of services for

children, youths, and families.

Priority Results & Indicators

 Families Are Safe and Economically Stable: Child Poverty

 Healthy Children: Substance Use

Strategic Goals

 Reduce the Impact of Incarceration on Children, Youth, and Communities

 Improve Outcomes for Disconnected Youths

 Reduce Childhood Hunger

Our Programs

 Active Parenting: Free, regular parenting classes in Princess Anne and at the Somerset

County Detention Center and Eastern Correctional Institution to support family change in

a class setting.

 Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents: A collective impact-based network of

evidence-based strategies to address the unique needs of children of incarcerated parents,

their parents and caregivers through mediation, re-entry coordination, homeless

prevention, service navigation, law enforcement supports, and literacy education.

 Sustainable Somerset: A collective impact-based program designed to reduce the impact

of childhood hunger in for families in the community, through a series of smart cooking,

child nutrition, community education and outreach, and sustainable small gardening

projects.

 Somerset CARES (Collaborative Addiction Recovery Empowerment Strategies): A

comprehensive two-generation approach to substance use prevention, intervention,

community outreach that uses the innovative Alternative Peer Group design to support
 adolescents in their recovery and their parents, and to conduct community outreach and

education.

Methodology

To provide both objective and subjective data on the needs and strengths of Somerset

County children and families, as well as the challenges they face, a multi-pronged evaluation

strategy was employed by the SCLMB through its 2016 Needs Assessment and Community

Planning process. First, three focus groups were held with community stakeholders. Second,

eight interviews were conducted with community leaders or “key informants.” Third, secondary

data offered both through the Governor’s Office for Children as well as other data sources on

each of the Indicators that measure progress in Maryland’s eight Results for Child Well-Being

were collected, reported, and analyzed.

A parallel process evaluated data on the Children’s Cabinet four strategic goals, part of

Governor Hogan’s effort to restore Maryland’s economy with a focus on improving human

capital. Those four strategic goals demand a collaborative effort among all child and family

serving agencies on both the state and local levels. The four strategic goals are: Reduce the

Impact of Parental Incarceration on Children, Families, and Communities; Improve Outcomes

for Disconnected Youth; Reduce Childhood Hunger; and Reduce Youth Homelessness.

Additionally, an economic impact analysis was conducted by BEACON at Salisbury

University of the strategic goals and the influence of those social challenges on children and

youth in Somerset County. The study shows a total negative economic impact of $796 million.

Deployment of an equal amount of resources for economic and workforce development

opportunities would support 10,769 jobs and generate more than $15 million in local tax

revenue.
 Based on the available data and analysis through its 2016 Needs Assessment and

Community planning processes, along with a 2018 Results-Based Accountability strategic

planning workshop, the Board prioritized the child well-being Result Areas of: Families are Safe

and Economically Stable, Indicator of Child Poverty; Healthy Children, Indicator of Substance

Use; and Youth have Opportunities for Employment or Career Readiness, Indicator of Youth

Employment. The board developed its proposed FY19 programs based on an overall collective

impact strategy to fills gaps in service in Somerset County and to support the expansion of

existing partnerships and programs.

Areas of Strength

 Since 2009, Somerset County has made significant strides in connecting children to

health insurance.

 Between 2008 and 2013, Somerset County recorded a 46.2 child death rate per 100,000

while the state rate was 60.8. Not only was the county rate lower than the state as a whole

but also was the fifth lowest jurisdiction in the state, comparing favorably with other

small jurisdiction statewide.

 The percentage of kindergarteners rated by their teachers as being overall “fully ready”

for school rose from 81% in 2010 to 90% in 2014. During these same five years, a higher

percentage of Somerset students were assessed as “fully ready” than all students across

the state in all years but 2013. Somerset youngsters continued to outperform incoming

kindergarteners across the state under new, more rigorous testing procedures introduced

in 2014-1015.

 For students in Grades 3-8, Somerset students compared well with students across the

state in Reading and Math. On the other hand, the one-year snapshot of results from the
 new statewide testing method, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and

Careers, indicates that Somerset students did not compare as favorably.

 An increasing percentage of Somerset’s teenage students are completing both college and

career/technology programs in high school.

 From 2008 through 2012, Somerset County’s rate of violent crime per 1,000 persons was

significantly lower than the state rate.

Areas of Concern

 Between 2009 and 2013, Somerset’s rate of birth to teens exceeded the state rate each

year but one and exceeded the Eastern Shore regional rate in three of those years. In

2013, Somerset had the highest rate of births to teens among all state counties.

 While just a snapshot, the one-year data presented on obesity and students’ feelings about

their body weight indicate that Somerset County students have a much higher percentages

of measured obesity and higher concern about their weight than students across the state.

 Somerset County youth evidenced a higher percentage of substance use than students

across Maryland in every reported category of the Maryland Youth Risk Behavioral

Survey. Of particular concern is the use of drugs such as cocaine, heroin,

methamphetamines, Ecstacy, prescription medication, and alcohol.

 Somerset’s high school students did slightly less well than students statewide in High

School Assessment Tests in biology, English, and algebra and fell well below state

averages in passing percentage in the new PARCC tests.

 The percentages of disabled Somerset County students who test at or above proficient in

the three subject areas of math, reading, and science, are significantly below the state

averages.
 The rate of bullying incidents reported in public schools has been higher in the county

than is found statewide in each of the past five years for which data are available.

 While Somerset County showed a steady and significant decrease in its one-year dropout

rate from 2009 to 2015, the newly implemented cohort dropout rate indicates that county

students drop out at significantly higher rates than their peers across the state.

 Data indicate that about 19% of the county’s young adults have less than a high school

education; this compares with about 13% statewide. On the other hand, about 44% of

Somerset youth have a high school degree or equivalent while that figure is only 29%

across the state.

 The percentage of young people between the ages of 16-24 in Somerset County who

participate in the labor force is significantly below state percentages; in fact, in some

years between 2010 and 2014, the county percentage was almost half. .

 Somerset has a significantly higher rate of indicated and unsubstantiated findings of child

maltreatment than is found in comparison with state data. On the other hand, between

2011 and 2013, the county rate has decreased almost 37%.

 The county has a consistently higher percentage of child food insecurity than is found

across the state and shows an increasing trend.

 Somerset not only evidences a higher rate of out-of-home child placements but also

shows an increasing trend while the statewide trend is down.

 Between 2009 and 2013, the county showed an increasing percentage of public school

students who were considered homeless. County percentages are notably higher than state

percentages.
  The percentages of children who lived in poverty in Somerset County was significantly

higher than the state percentages in the years between 2009 and 2013 and increased each

year over that same period of time.

Suggested Strategies

 Increase knowledge of and access to existing resources, especially addiction programs for

youth.

 Engagement with youth needs to begin at an early age (2 to 3 years old). Too many are

“pushed to the streets.”

 Parent education offerings that are “engaging.”

 Reconnect children with incarcerated parents.

 Increase economic opportunity through job development.

 Career education for young people and county adults that match employment

opportunities in the region.

 Family-friendly transportation in the region, especially from Somerset County to

Salisbury.

 Affordable child care. This was especially important in connection with GED

opportunities that were often out of reach for young parents.

 Change of agency culture to be more strengths-based.

 Improved housing options.

 Economic development to provide jobs for adults and youth, especially those without a

college degree.

 Strong support for full development of the coming Vocational/Technical High School.

Open programs to adults who want to train or re-train.

  Involve community more fully – families and organizations alike – in the lives of youth.

Provide guidance and role models.

 Encourage full utilization of existing programs for youth.

 Continue funding for prevention programs.

 Increase diversity in community leadership.

Resources

 2016 Community Needs Assessment

 2016 Analysis of Governor’s Strategic Goals and Priority Populations

 2017 Economic Analysis of Strategic Goals and Priority Populations

 2018 Results-Based Accountability Strategic Planning