RURAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS

Health Economics and Policy,

Extension Community Development: Building Strong, Vibrant Communities

Extension community development (CD) became part of the work of the Cooperative Extension Service in the mid-1950s, but the seeds of the CD program were planted with the release of the Country Life Commission in 1909. This article traces a brief history of Extension CD, along with the current priorities of this program area. Key issues that the Extension system and the CD program must address in the years ahead are discussed, as well

The Role Of Community Wide Input In Defining Economic Development Strategies And Plans: A Case Study Of An Agrarian Community

This case study describes the process by which a county-based Extension Educator used a survey process to help focus and facilitate local stakeholders who were concerned about economic development challenges. A small committee's involvement in the survey design created a forum and focus for the committee to think carefully and thoughtfully about potential options and strategies, rather than simply making the global statement that economic development is a priority. Although the survey design did not meet the highest standards of scientific scrutiny, it is argued that the results (a) were intuitively on target (b) provide more information than would have otherwise been the case (c) stimulate discussions and community dialogues that will lead to a greater chance for consensus and buy-in and (d) generate a community decision making process that is ultimately better informed, more transparent and thoughtful

Governing Land Investments: Do Governments Have Legal Support Gaps?

In the wave of efforts to encourage and support more “responsible” land investments, one aspect has been largely overlooked: are governments equipped with the legal and technical support needed to effectively negotiate and conclude investment contracts that lead to responsible outcomes? CCSI researched how host governments access legal support in the planning, negotiation, and monitoring of land investments, with a view to better understanding where legal support gaps for governments exist, and how these can be addressed by governments themselves, as well as by donors, support providers and investors. By scrutinizing “legal support gaps,” CCSI sought to identify possible weak links in global and national efforts to achieve more responsible land investments, as well as opportunities to encourage better practice. For example, legal support holds the potential – albeit not yet regularly realized – to be an entry point for incorporating international best practice and guidelines into negotiations and at other stages of the investment. The research also took stock of how governments are negotiating and concluding land investments in practice, to determine where additional legal support could potentially improve outcomes for governments. This work is part of a series of projects and activities, supported by UKaid from the Department for International Development, looking at legal support gaps in the context of land investments

Mechanisms for Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent in the Negotiation of Investment Contracts

Investor-state contracts are regularly used in low-and middle-income countries to grant concessions for land-based investments, such as agricultural or forestry projects. These contracts are rarely negotiated in the presence of, or with meaningful input from, the people who risk being adversely affected by the project. This has serious implications for requirements for meaningful consultation, and, where applicable, free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), and is particularly important in situations in which investor-state contracts grant the investor rights to lands or resources over which the community has legitimate claims. The paper explores how consultation and FPIC processes can be integrated into investor-state contract negotiations, taking into account the practicalities of contract negotiations, to better safeguard the land rights and human rights of members of project-affected communities. Based on a review of relevant international law standards and guidance documents, as well as a close analysis of typical investor-state negotiations and of consultation and consent processes in other contexts, the paper provides various options that may be appropriate, depending on the local context and the community’s resources and decision-making structures

Educational Quality and County Government Services: Rural Nebraskans\u27 Perceived Impacts of Recent and Proposed Legislation

Many changes have been occurring in rural Nebraska in the area of local finances. Recent school finance legislation has changed the formula that distributes state aid to schools (LB 806) and also imposed new property tax levy limits on school districts (LB 1114). Discussions have also arisen about consolidating county offices and services. Given all these changes, how do rural Nebraskans feel about these issues? How do they feel the new school finance legislation has affected the quality of education in their local school district? Do they support the consolidation of certain county government offices and services with a neighboring county? How do they feel the consolidation of these offices and services will impact the quality of the services they provide? This report details results of 3,036 responses to the 1999 Nebraska Rural Poll, the fourth annual effort to take the pulse of rural Nebraskans. Respondents were asked a series of questions about local finance issues including: their perceptions of the impacts of the new school finance legislation, whether or not they support the consolidation of various county offices and services, and how they feel consolidation would impact the offices’ ability to carry out their functions. Comparisons are made among different subgroups of the respondents, e.g., comparisons by community size, region, income, occupation, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • Forty-three percent of rural Nebraskans believe the quality of education in their local school district has not changed as a result of the changes to the school aid formula. Thirty-four percent believe the quality of education has either greatly decreased or decreased somewhat as a result of these changes, and twenty-three percent believe the quality of education has increased. • Over one-half of rural Nebraskans believe the property tax levy limits have not changed the quality of education in their local school district. Thirty-three percent believe these limits have caused the quality of education to decline, and nine percent believe they have caused the quality to increase. • Respondents with higher educational levels were more likely than those with less education to believe the levy limits had caused the quality of education in their school district to decrease. Forty-six percent of the respondents with a graduate degree believed the levy limits had caused the quality of education to decline in their local school district, but less than one-third of those who had not attended college shared this opinion. • Although the pattern was not entirely consistent, there was some tendency for the following groups to be the most concerned about the quality of education being affected by changes in the school aid formula as well as property tax levy limits: those who have children at home; those who are married; and those age 30 to 49. • Most rural Nebraskans oppose the consolidation of county offices and services. Over onehalf of the respondents opposed the consolidation of six of the eight offices or services listed. The remaining two offices had over forty percent opposing their consolidation. • Most rural Nebraskans believe the consolidation of various county offices with a neighboring county would negatively affect their ability to carry out their functions if they were located in the neighboring county. Over one-half of the respondents believed the consolidations would have a negative impact for seven of the eight offices or services listed. • The two offices and services receiving the most support for consolidation are the county weed superintendent and county jail. Thirty-nine percent supported the consolidation of the county weed superintendent office and thirty-six percent supported the consolidation of the county jail. Support for consolidating the six remaining offices ranged from 21% to 30%. • The offices or services receiving the most opposition toward consolidation are the county sheriff, county treasurer, and county clerk. The proportions opposing the consolidation of each of these offices were 67%, 63% and 61%, respectively. Additionally, at least two-thirds of the respondents believed these offices would lose some of their ability to carry out their functions if they were consolidated and located in a neighboring county. • The groups most likely to oppose consolidation - regardless of the specific office or service under consideration - included the following: those living in communities with less than 500 people, women, those age 65 and older, persons with incomes less than $20,000, the widowed respondents, and those whose education had not gone beyond the high school level

Leaving the Good Life: Predicting Migration Intentions of Rural Nebraskans

Much has been written about the population turnaround in the nonmetropolitan United States in the 1990\u27s. While only 45% of the nonmetropolitan counties experienced population growth during the 1980\u27s, it was estimated that nearly 74% of the these counties grew between 1990 and 1994 (Johnson, 1996). However, over one-half of Nebraska’s nonmetropolitan counties have continued to experience population declines between 1990 and 1997 (Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC). The question then remains, “Why are people moving from nonmetropolitan counties in Nebraska?” This paper attempts to answer that question by analyzing the migration intentions of nonmetropolitan Nebraskans

PREDICTING COMMUNITY SATISFACTION AMONG RURAL RESIDENTS: AN INTEGRATIVE MODEL

Community satisfaction has often been linked to the level of satisfaction with a community’s infrastructure, job opportunities and social support networks. Yet, most empirical analyses of community satisfaction have focused on only one aspect of the available theory to predict community satisfaction. In this paper, we integrate multiple models to analyze community satisfaction of almost 4,000 rural Nebraskans. The integrated model indicates that social ties may have a greater role in predicting community satisfaction than had been previously thought

Living in Rural Nebraska: Quality of Life and Financial Well-Being

Nebraska’s economy growth has slowed this past year, and recent reports show that some of Nebraska’s counties are the poorest in the nation. How have these changes affected rural Nebraskans? How do rural Nebraskans perceive their quality of life? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation? How have they responded to the higher cost of living? Are they able to meet their financial goals? This report details 3,199 responses to the 2001 Nebraska Rural Poll, the sixth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their general well-being, their satisfaction with specific aspects of well-being, and how they are responding to the higher cost of living. Trends for the well-being questions are examined by comparing data from the five previous polls to this year’s results. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, i.e., comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • Rural Nebraskans are more negative about their current situation than they were last year. This year, 32 percent state they are better off than they were five years ago; however, this compares to 40 percent in 2000. This is the lowest percentage reported during a six-year period. Nineteen percent of the respondents say they are worse off than five years ago, while 16 percent felt this way last year. The percent responding that their situation remained about the same increased from 44 percent last year to 49 percent in 2001. • When asked about the future, fewer respondents assert they will be better off ten years from now, as compared to last year’s results. This year, 34 percent state they will be better off ten years from now, compared to 38 percent last year. The proportion responding they will be worse off increased from 18 percent to 21 percent. The proportion saying they will be about the same in ten years remained steady at 45 percent. • Farmers and ranchers are less optimistic than persons with other occupations about their current situation. Only 24 percent of the farmers and ranchers state they are better off compared to five years ago. In comparison, 50 percent of those with professional occupations say they are better off. • Manual laborers are more likely to believe that people are powerless to control their own lives. Just over one-half (51%) of the manual laborers either strongly agree or agree with the statement that “...people are powerless to control their own lives.” In contrast, only 21 percent of persons with professional occupations agree with the statement. • Respondents report being most satisfied with their family, their marriage, and their religion/spirituality. The items receiving the highest proportion of “very dissatisfied” responses include financial security during retirement, current income level and job opportunities. • Manual laborers are more likely than those with other occupations to express dissatisfaction with their job opportunities. Sixty percent of the manual laborers are dissatisfied with their job opportunities, compared to only 32 percent of the farmers and ranchers. • At least one-third of rural Nebraskans have experienced the following economic hardships during the past year: using savings to meet household expenses, delaying a family vacation because of a lack of money, and being unable to contribute any money toward retirement because the money was needed for everyday household expenses. Twenty percent of rural Nebraskans have taken another job to help meet household expenses during the past year. Seventeen percent couldn’t pay the full amount of their utility bills, 15 percent were unable to afford needed medical care, and seven percent were unable to purchase needed food. • The groups most likely to have experienced many of the hardships listed include: younger respondents, persons living in the North Central region of the state, respondents with lower income levels, females, persons with lower educational levels, the divorced or separated respondents, and the laborers. • Sixty-two percent of rural Nebraskans believe their household income has not kept up with the increased cost of living. Eighteen percent believe it has increased at the same rate as the cost of living, eight percent feel their income has increased faster than the cost of living, and 12 percent are not sure. • Just over one-half of rural Nebraskans say they have just enough to make ends meet at the end of each month. Fifty-two percent say they have just enough to make ends meet, 35 percent end up with money left over at the end of the month, and 13 percent say there is not enough money to make ends meet. • The vast majority of rural Nebraskans say they always had enough food to eat during the past year. Ninety-two percent said they always had enough food, seven percent said there were a few times when they didn’t have enough to eat, and one percent said there were many times when they didn’t have enough to eat. • Younger respondents were more likely than older respondents to say there were a few times when they didn’t have enough to eat last year. Twenty percent of the persons between the ages of 19 and 29 said there were a few times when they didn’t have enough to eat, compared to only three percent of the persons age 65 and older