What is the Context of Tulare County, California?
- 4,863 square miles with over 450,000 residents
- Is a vital farming district with Fresno as its closest large urban center
- Leads the nation in dairy production
- Is the #1 agricultural producing
county in the country in 2013 (Tulare
County Farm Bureau)
- Top Crops are Milk, Grapes, Oranges, Cattle and Calves, Pistachios, Walnuts, Almonds, Corn, Nectarines and Alfalfa
- Total agricultural production value in 2013 was $7.8 Billion
- Agriculture is the largest private employer in the county, nearly 25% of all jobs
- Visalia is also the gateway to Sequoia National Park
- ACT works throughout the Central Valley by partnering with organizations as far north as Stockton and south to Bakersfield.
Social Climate
Tulare County is a particularly challenging area in California to promote sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice.
- #2 birth rate of all Counties in California in 2012 with 85.4 births per 1,000 women vs. 63.6 births per 1,000 women for California as a whole. Source: www.kidsdata.org
- #57 out of 57 California counties for a measure of "Health Factors" which includes healthy behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and the physical environment. Source: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/sites/default/files/state/downloads/CHR2014_CA_v2.pd
Teens
- 25% of sexually active teens in Tulare County become infected with an STD, 75% that are sexually active become pregnant (No Time for Complacency report: http://teenbirths.phi.org/2007FallSTDCountyTable.PDF).
- Tulare County ranks #2 in Teen Birth Rates in the state, just after neighboring Kern County.
- It is unsettling that despite overall decreases in the past 10 years, Tulare County's teen birth rate in 2012 was still twice the California rate with 49 births per 1,000 teens compared to the California average of 25.7 births per 1,000 teens (http://teenbirths.phi.org/CountyTable2012Data.pdf).
- In 2013, the unemployment rate was 14.5%, compared to 11.5% for all of California. Source: American Community Survey (ACS); Tulare County; Employment Status, 5-year estimates 2009-2013: http://factfinder.census.gov
- 26.2% of the residents in Tulare County live in poverty, compared to a total of 15.9% in all of California. (13.6% for White non-Hispanic residents, 32.9% for Hispanic or Latino residents, and 29.0% for other race residents). Source: ACS; Tulare County; Poverty Status in the past 12 months, 5-year estimates 2009-2013: http://factfinder.census.gov
- 30.4% of households with children under 18 were living below the poverty level, compared with 12.2% of people 65 years old and over. 21.7% of all families and 42% of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level. Source: ACS; Tulare County; Poverty Status in the past 12 months of families, 5-year estimates 2009-2013: http://factfinder.census.gov
- In 2013, 21.2% of the population was without health insurance coverage, while only 7.4% of children under 18 were without health insurance coverage (compared to 7.9% for California as a whole). Source: Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) 2013: www.census.gov
- #5 on the list of Top 10 matropolitan areas with the largest number of adults without health insurance coverage in 2012. #1 for California. Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/161777/healthcare-coverage-uneven-across-metro-areas.aspx
- #55 out of 57 counties for percent of people over 25 with a high school diploma. Based on 2009-2013 estimates, 68% of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 13.3% had a bachelor's degree or higher. 32% of people 25 or over had less than a high school education. Source: ACS; Tulare County; Educational Attainment, 5-year estimates 2009-2013: http://factfinder.census.gov
- #15 of 57 California counties in 2013 for highest high school drop out rate at 13.2% compared to the California average of 11.4%. Source: Kidsdata.org
- 40.7% of adults affiliate with a religious congregation in 2010 compared to 45% of California as a whole. Source: Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
- Tulare County used more than 17.5 million poinds of pesticides in 2005, the third highest use of any county in California Source: Californians for Pesticide Reform
- Pesticides are the fouth biggest cause of air pollution in the San Joaquin valley, an area that is one of the most polluted air basins in the nation and leads the state in rates of childhood asthma. Source: Californians for Pesticide Reform
- Tulare county is second only to Kern county in average annual particulate matter concentration at 16.1 micrograms per cubic meter compared to 9.9 for California as a whole. Source: Kidsdata.org.
- Tulare ties with Riverside County for second highes number of days per year that the ozone levels are above the regulatory standard with 93 days per year compared to a California average of 16 days per year.
- Tulare county had 254 Maximum Contaminant Level violations for public water systems. This is compared to 15 MCL violations in Contra Costa County, or 0 violations in San Francisco County. Kidsdata.org estimates that 25,031 people per 100,000 are effected by water quality violations in Tulare County, compared to 2,469 per 100,000 in California as a whole.
