Richmond County 2023 Situation Analysis Report
ID
VCE-596-86NP (VCE-1175-86NP)
| Issue | % |
|---|---|
| Protecting water quality | 94% |
| Strengthening the local food system | 88% |
| Protecting Air Quality | 86% |
| Helping youth develop leadership, citizenship, and other life skills | 86% |
| Ensure safe, high quality foods | 82% |
| Ensuring safe food handling practice to prevent foodborne illness | 80% |
| Getting more adults involved in mentoring youth | 78% |
| Protecting freshwater resources | 76% |
| Controlling invasive pests | 76% |
| Teaching health relationship skills to teens | 74% |
| Teaching youth good money habits | 74% |
| Protecting the marine environment | 74% |
Introduction
Extension educational programming starts with an understanding of community needs. Local programming efforts should address high priority community needs. To help local units determine the priority issues and needs of their communities VCE facilitates a locally driven, in-depth situation analysis every five years.
In 2023, we started with a state level needs assessment survey. This survey will provide data on what Virginians view as high priority needs and issues in their communities. The data will inform program team planning as well as other state level programs. The findings from this effort will be shared with the system and program teams by late March.
In 2023, to collect unit level information, we adopted the state level survey and modified it to collect information regarding the unit where the respondent lived or worked. Our survey was intended to collect information from families who lived and or work in Westmoreland and Richmond Counties. This survey was shared on paper at public events and electronically through social media, email blasts and directed emails.
Other data from the unit profile and from VCE Data Commons will be used to shape future Extension programming.
Unit Profile: Notable Trends
Total Population: 8,902
Demographics
The demographic makeup of Richmond County is 60.25% White, 27.06% Black, 7.38% Hispanic, 4.85% two or more races, 0.42% American Indian, 0.04% Asian and 0.01% some other race.
Age
Richmond County has fewer school aged children and more people 60 years old and older than the rest of the state.
School age population is 14.52% or 1293 people. School age population in Virginia is 19.03%
Population 60 years old and up is 28.82% or 2566 people. Population 60 years old and up is 23%.
Agriculture and Forestry
According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, agriculture is a $16.8 million industry in Richmond County. There are 98 farms in Richmond County. 24% of those farms earn more than $100,000 in sales followed by 40% earning less than $2,500. Top crops by acres planted are soybeans, corn, wheat, forage and barley. Top crops by sales are grains. 45% of the farming population is in the 35-64 age range and 41% are 65 years old and older. 97% of the farming population is White. 14% are Hispanic.
Health Summary
Premature death (years lost before age 75 per 100k) was higher at 9300 for Richmond County when compared to the state at 6700.
People reporting poor or fair health is at 19% which is higher than the state at 12%
Adult obesity is high at 40% in Richmond County when compared to the state rate of 32%.
Richmond County is medically underserved. The ratio of primary care physicians to residents is 9070:1 when it is 1320:1 for the state.
78% of Richmond County residents are high school graduates compared to 91% in the state.
Children living in poverty is at 20% in Richmond County whereas it is 13% for the state.
Business and Employment
2,769 residents are employed.
The top 3 employers in Richmond County are local, state & federal government (36.4%), health care and social assistance (12.4%) and retail trade (10%).
Public Education
There is one school division in Richmond County with 1 preschool, 1 elementary/middle school and 1 high school. Total enrollment in the schools for 2023-2024 is 1374.
Community and Resident Perspectives
Results of data collected in the Richmond County survey sorted by highest level effort indicated. Table 2 lists all issues in the survey in ranked order from highest effort to lowest. There are 12 issues that make the top 10 for Richmond County. These 12 issues are highlighted in gold.
| Issue | High effort | Very high effort | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protecting water quality | 18 | 30 | 94.1% |
| Strengthening the local food system | 22 | 23 | 88.2% |
| Protecting air quality | 15 | 29 | 86.3% |
| Helping youth develop leadership, citizenship, and other life skills | 18 | 26 | 86.3% |
| Ensure safe, high quality foods | 21 | 21 | 82.4% |
| Ensuring safe food handling practice to prevent foodborne illness | 21 | 20 | 80.4% |
| Getting more adults involved in mentoring youth | 25 | 15 | 78.4% |
| Protecting freshwater resources (lakes, rivers, springs, wetlands) | 16 | 23 | 76.5% |
| Controlling invasive pests (plants, animals, insects) | 17 | 22 | 76.5% |
| Teaching health relationship skills to teens | 19 | 19 | 74.5% |
| Teaching youth good money habits | 17 | 21 | 74.5% |
| Protecting the marine environment | 18 | 20 | 74.5% |
| Preserving farm and forest land | 13 | 24 | 72.5% |
| Addressing hunger issues | 19 | 18 | 72.5% |
| Protecting the coastal environment | 15 | 22 | 72.5% |
| Reducing misuses and overuse of pesticides and fertilizers | 12 | 25 | 72.5% |
| Promoting agricultural, natural resources, and environmental literacy | 15 | 21 | 70.6% |
| Helping communities be better prepared for and respond to natural disasters | 21 | 14 | 68.6% |
| Conservation and utilization of forest resources | 19 | 16 | 68.6% |
| Managing natural habitats and ecosystems | 12 | 23 | 68.6% |
| Addressing poverty | 19 | 16 | 68.6% |
| Providing physical fitness education | 22 | 12 | 66.7% |
| Helping communities improve their quality of life | 20 | 14 | 66.7% |
| Building capacity for farm to school programming | 15 | 19 | 66.7% |
| Assisting farmers and forest landowners in production and profitability | 19 | 14 | 64.7% |
| Preventing suicide | 16 | 17 | 64.7% |
| Strengthening workforce readiness | 17 | 16 | 64.7% |
| Preventing youth violence | 12 | 21 | 64.7% |
| Preventing chronic disease | 17 | 15 | 62.7% |
| Addressing adult and youth mental health | 13 | 19 | 62.7% |
| Promoting economic development | 13 | 18 | 60.8% |
| Assisting forest landowners with sustainable management practices | 17 | 14 | 60.8% |
| Helping consumers make healthy food choices | 15 | 16 | 60.8% |
| Building health families | 18 | 13 | 60.8% |
| Teaching people to manage their money | 16 | 15 | 60.8% |
| Promoting scientific literacy among youth | 13 | 18 | 60.8% |
| Addressing before and after school challenges | 17 | 14 | 60.8% |
| Preserving foods for home use (canning, dehydrating, fermenting, freezing) | 15 | 15 | 58.8% |
| Composting, reducing, and recycling consumer goods | 17 | 13 | 58.8% |
| Strengthening parenting skills | 12 | 17 | 56.9% |
| Reducing obesity | 13 | 15 | 54.9% |
| Assisting local government and businesses with land use decisions | 16 | 12 | 54.9% |
| Supporting businesses which engage in agritourism | 14 | 14 | 54.9% |
| Facilitating civic engagement | 15 | 11 | 51.0% |
| Strengthening couple and/or marital relationships | 13 | 13 | 51.0% |
| Teaching people to protect themselves from identity theft, frauds, and scams | 6 | 20 | 51.0% |
| Promoting alternative agriculture | 16 | 10 | 51.0% |
| Helping Virginians' become more energy efficient in their homes, farm, and businesses | 14 | 11 | 49.0% |
| Promoting small business entrepreneurs | 11 | 14 | 49.0% |
| Addressing prescription drug abuse | 8 | 16 | 47.1% |
| Strengthening dependent care | 12 | 12 | 47.1% |
| Building the capacity of community nonprofits | 14 | 9 | 45.1% |
| Helping households reduce water use | 15 | 7 | 43.1% |
| Addressing alcohol abuse | 8 | 11 | 37.3% |
Of these top identified issues, 6 of them were also identified in the state top 10 results and are listed below.
- Protecting water quality
- Strengthening the local food system
- Protecting air quality
- Ensure safe, high quality foods
- Ensuring safe food handling practice to prevent foodborne illness
- Protecting freshwater resources
Community Issues
The priority issues selected were identified by the respondents in the survey but limited by the staff serving Richmond County: Helping youth develop leadership, citizenship and other life skills. This was the #4 issue identified in Table 2.
Future Programming to Address Community Issues
ISSUE: Developing Youth Leadership, Citizenship and Life Skills
4-H youth development programming will focus on building leadership, citizenship and life skills. 4-H will partner with the school division to offer school enrichment programs that are correlated with SOL’s. School administrators and teachers can request programs to reach goals and build particular skill sets. Nutrition and physical activity programs for youth in schools are also available from our Family Nutrition Program staff. To build these programs, we will make sure that school divisions are aware of the programming that can be offered.
Environmental education and stewardship programs will be offered in school and through local day camps. This aligns with at least 3 of the top 10 issues identified that are not focused directly on youth. Local partners in these efforts can include Northern Neck Master Naturalists, Friends of the Rappahannock, Menokin, Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association and others.
Leadership building programs will be offered through Teen Leadership and possibly through 4-H clubs programming. Practicing and building leadership skills can happen locally and at higher levels and in partnership with other organizations. New opportunities will be examined and shared.
To measure impact in any of these program areas, evaluations can be conducted that measure knowledge gained, skills improved and behavior changes adopted.
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Publication Date
April 1, 2024
