Boone County touts youth program gains, calls for mental health support in annual report
Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo.
Boone County’s Community Services Department reported a nearly tenfold return on investment through its Children’s Services Fund, according to its 2024 annual report.
The annual report, which began in 2014, evaluates services funded by the 2012 voter-approved sales tax, which supports programs for Boone County youth ages 19 and younger. Between 2019-23, the Boone County Children’s Services Board invested in five key service areas — infant and early childhood, school-based programs, youth and family support, treatment, and community support and basic needs—yielding a lifetime return of $390 million. For every $1 spent, the report found a return of $9.51.
“The amazing nonprofit organizations that are out there in the community doing really hard work for children, youth and families, that’s what I’m most proud of, is to really brag on that work in the programs that they’re able to offer, not just here in the city of Columbia, but also throughout the community,” Boone County Community Services Department Coordinator Joanne Nelson said.
The report — prepared by Central Missouri Community Action and Partner for Better — uses a model from Washington University’s Institute of Public Policy. School-based programs saw the highest return—$42.36 per dollar—followed by community support ($10.04), youth and family support ($14.23), early childhood ($9.70), and treatment services ($4.19).
The report also outlined progress made across multiple indicators since the fund’s inception:
Child poverty among children younger than 6 years old declined from 24.3% in 2014 to 13.1% in 2022.
Teen birth rates dropped from 12.5 to 7.1 per 1,000 girls aged 15–19.
Food insecurity among children fell to 9.9% from 17.8%.
Juvenile law referrals and substantiated child abuse cases also decreased.
However, some areas showed concerning trends. Mental and behavioral health hospitalizations for youth rose from 92.9 to 114.8 per 10,000 people between 2014-20. Teen deaths from unintentional injuries, homicides and suicides also increased from 26.6 per 10,000 people in 2014 to 30.5 in 2020.
“It’s a huge concern,” Nelson said when asked about the mental health concerns in Boone County. “You’ll see that everything that we have in this report revolves around mental health. You may ask? ‘Well, we provide food, you know, are diapers or, you know, essential items.’ But that’s going to help the mental health of families. You can’t be mentally healthy unless you have a roof over your head or food in your belly.”
Boone County has seen several moderate improvements in youth and family related outcomes over the past decade, according to the report.
The teen birth rate dropped significantly, from 12.5 per 1,000 in 2014 to 7.1 in 2022. Juvenile law violation referrals among youth ages 10-17 also declined slightly, from 37.1 to 36.2 per 1,000 during the same period. Additionally, the substantiated child abuse and neglect rate fell from 4.8 to 3 per 1,000 children.
The department said it has funded 10 school-based programs, which served more than 33,000 individuals in 2023 through teacher training, case management, mental health screenings and crisis intervention. One of the report’s key recommendations is to expand school-based mental health services and provide professional development for educators.
In response to growing concerns about youth violence, the county began funding six grassroots organizations dedicated to community safety and youth engagement.
“Youth having guns is an extremely difficult challenge,” said Victoria Woods, Boone County’s new Health and Justice Coordinator. “That’s why the board invested that money… to help with some of these issues that deal with youth violence.”
Woods’ position was created through an initiative spearheaded by Boone County Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson. It serves as a liaison between agencies, including law enforcement, behavioral health providers and social service organizations.
“It’s so multifaceted,” Woods said. “Mental health plays a big part. Gun access plays a big part of it. And then also we have to consider ramifications from COVID and just the long-lasting impacts that can have on youth mental health. That’s still like we don’t even have a full understanding of.”
Woods emphasized that the root causes of mental health challenges often begin with instability in housing, income and basic needs.
“We can’t have mental health without having a roof over our head,” Woods said.
She also said conversations with local law enforcement have been encouraging.
“We’ve been able to have a really positive conversation with (Columbia Police) Chief (Jill) Schlude and (Boone County Sheriff’s Office) Capt. (Jenny) Atwell as the jail administrator,” Woods said. “They’re looking for ways to best serve the community with the resources they have. But resources can be limited, whether that’s personnel time, whatever that looks like for them.”
The Community Services Department oversees the allocation of the Children’s Services Fund and funds from domestic violence court fees. Its mission is to promote the health, well-being, and independence of Boone County residents.
The full report is available through the Boone County Community Services Department.
Boone County’s Community Services Department brought in $11.2 million in revenue in 2024, with the vast majority — $10.6 million — coming from the Children’s Services sales tax. Other sources included investment income ($503,880) and smaller contributions from the Domestic Violence Fund and miscellaneous donations.
Expenses totaled $14.35 million, with 79% ($11.3 million) going toward contracted services for children, families, and individuals. The rest covered salaries, professional services, and operational support.
In 2024, the county also reallocated $1.83 million in unused Community Health/Medical funds to the general revenue fund, following accounting best practices.
The Boone County Children’s Services Board has invested nearly $76 million locally during the past decade. Despite being required to keep 17% of the fund in reserves, the board has contracted more than it collected in tax revenue to strategically lower the fund balance, which peaked in 2017 at $16.5 million and is now down to around $9.1 million.
“I just think that taxpayers need to know that we hear them,” Nelson said. “It’s really important that we keep track of all the taxpayer dollars that are being spent, that we can account for all of that, and we can show all the good work that organizations are doing out there.”
You can view the full report here: