A recent book from the Brookings Institution Press – Confronting Suburban Poverty in America – cites a 25 percent increase in poverty in Montgomery County between 2000 and 2010 – and praises Montgomery County’s exemplary response.
“Montgomery County officials and service providers recognized the changing needs of a diversifying population and anticipated the growing demands that would arise as the Great Recession began to take hold,” write Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube in the book.
“In 2006, the newly elected county executive, Isiah (Ike) Leggett, signaled that the county recognized the transitions under way and the need to leverage resources beyond what it alone could provide.”
The book cites the creation of the Office of Community Partnerships and the launching of the Neighborhood Opportunity Network as two creative examples of a responsive local government following a “proactive and collaborative approach” in meeting the growing social service needs of diverse families in the County
See more about the book.
