Boone County is unfortunately a place marked by housing segregation, educational disparities, and high rates of youth involvement with the juvenile justice system. Such problems hinder many families from moving up and out of poverty. Here, children born into families living in poverty are likely to grow into adults with the same struggles. Meanwhile, chronic inequities endure between the county’s Black and white residents. Through its Mobility Action Plan, Boone County strives to address these barriers to upward mobility and shift the trajectory for people of color in the community.

Boone County has strong cross-sector partnerships to build upon that for several years have focused on addressing the community’s inequities. The Cradle to Career Alliance, a local nonprofit educational organization, is coleading the project with the county. And since 2015, organizations across the community have had an ongoing conversation about bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion. These dialogues led the county to name systemic racism and discuss it as the primary contributing factor to the chronic disparities Boone County experiences.

Through Boone County’s involvement in the Upward Mobility Cohort, nearly 40 community members have already participated in a “data walk” using the Urban Institute’s mobility metrics supplemented by local data. The posters in the data walk, which featured data by Urban’s mobility metrics domains, revealed trends and cast a spotlight on where racial inequities exist in the community. Those insights in turn allowed participants to identify and prioritize the areas where they want to improve outcomes for community members.

Partner Highlight

Boone County is collaborating with several organizations to develop its Mobility Action Plan. Among them are the following:

• Central Missouri Community Action
• Minority Men’s Network & Educational Foundation
• University of Missouri Health Care
• Worley Street Roundtable