Health & Safety:

What are the top health concerns?

Crawford County residents self-report their top health concerns are chronic diseases (41%) and mental health (27%). They also report the top three root causes of these health concerns to be obesity, poverty, and substance abuse. (2)

Do lifestyle choices impact future health?

Youth in Crawford County are more likely to report lifetime tobacco use than the state average. 21.6% of Crawford County youth (from survey of students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12) reported lifetime use of cigarettes compared to 16.3% statewide. 14.1% of Crawford County youth reported lifetime use of smokeless tobacco compared to 8.4% statewide. (3)

What does health insurance coverage look like in Meadville?

A greater percentage of Meadville residents have insurance coverage compared to Crawford County and national coverage rates. However a greater proportion of Meadville residents have public coverage rather than private when compared to Crawford County, Pennsylvania and nationwide rates. Even when employed, 12.7% of Meadville residents (18-64) have no insurance coverage.

Is preventative care sufficient?

• Preventative care in our community is insufficient. Only 7.6% of Crawford County residents report having their own doctor (primary care physician) (1) compared to 85.8% of Pennsylvania residents and 78% nationally (8)
• Only 55% of Meadville adults over 50 got recommended cancer screening exams (1)

What is the rate of death due to drug overdose?

Crawford County has a higher rate of death due to drug overdose than state or national averages. In 2016, there were 45.2 drug-related deaths per 100,000 people in Crawford compared to 37.9 per 100,000 in Pennsylvania and 20 per 100,000 nation-wide. The number of drug-related deaths has more than doubled in Crawford County since 2014. (9) Further, opioid use is also linked to increase in outbreaks of HIV and/or Hepatitis C. (10)

What services are available?

As the county seat, many social service providers have offices in Meadville.

• Crawford County Mental Health Awareness Program (CHAPS) is committed to the mission of supporting consumers of mental health services, advocating for the improvement of local mental health services, and encouraging and enhancing the formation of a consumer self-help network in Crawford County. Available programs include:
  • Drop-In-Center - a safe environment to drop in 365 days a year for socialization, peer support, and empowerment
  • Journey Center Clubhouse - a place where staff and consumers work side-by-side on projects and jobs to complete "the work-ordered day" in a collaborative effort to lead happy, healthy lives
  • Representative Payee/Money Management Services - to assist clients in managing and budgeting money in a responsible way
  • Housing Services - assist individuals experiencing homelessness in finding permanent housing and manage a number of housing programs including Fairweather Lodge Housing, Housing Now, Emergency Solutions Program, and Shelter Plus Care among others
  • Warmline - a non-emergency, confidential peer support line for mental health consumers and family members
  • Community Education and Outreach
  • Certified Peer Support Program, a one-on-one model of support and non-traditional therapy that assists consumers reach recovery by building on strengths and skills
  • Mobile Psychiatric Rehabilitation, a program that assists consumers in accessing out-of-office resources and building skills needed to maintain good mental and physical health and to become as independent as possible.
• The Meadville Community Health Clinic offers a variety of services paid for through most forms of insurance or on a sliding scale for those who do not have insurance.
  • MCHC Medical offers family medicine from newborn to adult; treatment/monitoring of chronic illnesses; vaccinations and immunizations; hospital care when appropriate; minor office surgery, including removal of warts, cysts, and other skin problems; treatment of illness and minor injuries; blood and laboratory tests; routine physical exams for employment, sports, schools, and preventive health care; hearing and vision screening; Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment services; pediatric dental screening; and joint injections.
  • Family Planning Services offers services on a sliding fee scale in which patients may be eligible for reduced fees or free care depending upon age, family income, and family size. Services include pap smears, instruction on breast self-examination, sexually-transmitted disease (STD) screening, laboratory, including pregnancy, tests, counseling and information on all methods of contraception. The HealthyWoman Project, offered at Family Planning Services, can offer pelvic exams, pap smears, clinical breast exams, and mammograms at no cost for women 40 and over who cannot afford them. There are also funding sources available if additional testing or procedures are needed.
  • The Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Nutrition Program is a short-term intervention program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behavior. WIC provides free health screenings to all participants to determine nutritional risk. A nutritional risk is any problem that is associated with diet, growth, or medical diagnosis that might impact nutritional status.
  • Behavioral Health programs include individualized treatment plans for adults, adolescents and children and encourage family involvement to address diagnoses such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, dementias, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional and defiant disorder, conduct disorder, marital problems, anger issues, and sexual abuse.
• The Meadville Dental Center offers clinics which accept insurance but also provide services on a sliding scale. Services include routine oral exams, emergency oral exams, dental cleaning, fluoride treatments, space maintainers, full and partial dentures, denture and partial repairs, x-rays, sealants, limited periodontics, and restorations.
• Crawford County Drug & Alcohol Executive Commission, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that reduces the incidence and prevalence of alcohol and chemical substance abuse. They offer prevention, intervention, assessment, case management, treatment and rehabilitative programs through outpatient, inpatient, detoxification and hospital care services. They are committed to providing a full continuum of treatment options to Crawford County residents who have no public or private health care benefits with which to access addiction treatment. Case Managers help individuals support a sober and drug-free lifestyle, while promoting stability in housing, education, employment, transportation, child care, substance abuse treatment and healthcare. The Commission also offers curricula and speaking engagements to inform individuals to make good decisions and establish healthy habits.

Hunger

How many Meadville households qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits?

22.29% of households in Meadville qualify for SNAP benefits compared to 15.33% in Crawford County, 11.82% in Pennsylvania and 12.4% nationally (11)

How many students in Meadville are eligible for free or reduced lunches?

60.9% of students in Meadville are eligible for free or reduced lunches (55.2% free, 5.7% reduced) compared to a state average of about 45.6%. To qualify for free lunches, a student's family income must be below 130% of the poverty line (about $15,000 in 2015) (12)

What resources are available for those experiencing hunger?

• The Meadville Community Soup Kitchen serves 80-110 individuals daily (open 5 days/week) (13)
• The Center for Family Services Meadville Area Food Pantry (open 4 days/week) provides one supplemental food box per month per eligible household based on the current 150% of poverty guidelines. (14)

What is the quality of diet?

Residents of Crawford County report eating fewer servings of fruits and vegetables than what is recommended.

Table 1. Self reported daily servings of fruits and vegetables of Crawford County residents (15)

Where do residents get their food?

Residents of Crawford County source their food primarily from the grocery store (89%) (14)

• Restaurant/ Fast food→ 4.8%
• Food Pantry→ 2.9%
• Grocery Store→ 89%
• Farmers Market→ 3 %

How many residents are food insecure?

"Food security means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. " (15) A 2013 State of Hunger assessment found 14% of Crawford County residents are food insecure. (16)

Water

What is the quality of Meadville’s water?

Meadville's municipal water is sourced "from seven wells that are located in an unnamed glacial outwash, sand and gravel aquifer. Each well is approximately 80 feet deep and each well is capable of producing one million gallons per day.” (17) Meadville’s water is exceptionally clean. The Meadville Area Water Authority (MAWA) incurred 0 contamination violations in 2016 and publicly report all their data on legally monitored contaminants such as nitrates and lead, as well as additional chemicals they are not required by law to survey, like excess magnesium. (17)

What is the condition of Meadville's water infrastucture?

Meadville’s potable water infrastructure from MAWA’s facility to individual users can be as many as 80 years old, dating back to its original installation and consisting of majority lead and copper pipes. These pipes and valves are weak and highly vulnerable to leaking and decay. An unexpected environmental trigger such as a spill can set off a chain reaction of failures through the infrastructure. (19) In addition, careful management and monitoring must be maintained, and currently is maintained, in order to ensure there is no leaching of lead into the water.

Safety

Is the Meadville Police Department accredited through the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association?

No, the Meadville Police Department does not participate. In fact, there are no accredited agencies in Crawford County. The accreditation seeks to provide a consistent process, standards, and professional objectives with which to evaluate and improve overall performance. Some of the benefits of the accreditation process are reduction in risk and liability and an improvement in community relations and agency confidence. (20)

Is the Meadville Fire Department accredited through the Commonwealth's Certification Program?

Yes, the Meadville Fire Department is recognized for 75% participation in the Commonwealth's Certification Program (21) to encourage personnel to voluntarily certify within the professional standards programs administered by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner (22).

What is the crime rate in Meadville?

The crime rate per 100,000 population in Meadville is compared to Crawford County below. (23) An additional analyses of state (24) and national (25) crime was completed, but is not included in the table below due to discrepancies in categorization and reporting years that made comparisons difficult.

Housing

What are the characteristics of housing stock in Meadville?

• Percentage of houses built before 1950: 55.3% (26)
• Home ownership:
  • 43.6% of houses are owned-occupied(26)
  • 56.4% of houses are rented(26)
  • 16.4% houses are vacant(26)

What is the proportion of the Meadville population that are federally defined as low to moderate income?

• 56.13% are federally defined as low to moderate income (27)
• The median household income in Meadville is $34,826 (28) which is 36.5% lower than the Pennsylvania median household income of $54,895(29), and 37% lower than the national median household income of $55,322 (30).

1. http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/county_profiles/US/2015/County_Report_Crawford_County_Pennsylvania.pdf
2. http://www.mmchs.org/documents/2016-Meadville-CHNA-Report.pdf
3. http://www.pccd.pa.gov/Juvenile-Justice/Documents/PAYS/2015%20County%20Reports/Crawford%20County%20Profile%20Report.pdf
4. Census Bureau Meadville https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/1600000US4248360
5. Census Bureau Crawford County https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/0500000US42039
6. Census Bureau Pennsylvania https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/0400000US42
7. Census Bureau United States https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/0100000US
8. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/percent-of-adults-reporting-not-having-a-personal-doctor/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
9. http://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/crawford-county-official-opioid-announcement-a-marvelous-step-forward/article_06f5f1a2-f680-11e7-bc89-7f82875fd91f.html
10. http://opioid.amfar.org/PA
11. https://assessment.communitycommons.org/UserContents/CHNA_Contents/CHNA44530RPT_4.pdf
12. http://public-schools.startclass.com/l/76467/Meadville-Area-High-School-in-Pennsylvania#Disciplinary%20Trends&s=3ioyTB
13. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/volunteers-serve-soup-in-meadville-for-decades/
14. https://www.mmchs.org/documents/2016-Meadville-CHNA-Report.pdf
15. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us.aspx
16. http://www.hungercoalition.org/sites/default/files/uploads/CrawfordCounty%20hunger_factsheet_final.pdf
17. Meadville Area Water Authority 2014 Water Quality Report
18. Drinking water stations with addresses in Meadville and their reported violations in the past http://www.city-data.com/city/Meadville-Pennsylvania.html
19. http://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/value-problem-proves-to-be-very-time-consuming-and-labor/article_6d54c7b7-026b-5de6-980c-67e1f3a1e2f4.html
20. http://www.pachiefs.org/accreditation
21. http://www.osfc.pa.gov/Certification%20Document%20Library/Part%20Dept%20List.pdf
22. http://www.osfc.pa.gov/Certification%20Document%20Library/Participating%20Dept%20Application%20and%20Guidelines.pdf
23. https://ucr.psp.state.pa.us/ibi_apps/WFServlet?IBIF_ex=RUREP01&MAPAREA=20
24. http://www.paucrs.pa.gov/UCR/Reporting/NIBRS/NIBRSArrestUI.asp?rb4Set=0&sSeriesType=0&sD_FOR=GACRIME
25. https://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/StatebyState.cfm
26. Selected Housing Characteristics 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. (n.d.) United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
27. HUD FY 2014 LMI Summary Data, <https://services.arcgis.com/VTyQ9soqVukalItT/ArcGIS/rest/services/CDBG_Low_Moderate_Income_Area_Data_ACS_Based/FeatureServer?token=MDdOU16uQaQ1NOuuNlP0FRx24a8Tg0oALgH_WkfnmVyDfe1FyKSGbIO0YuZhQa6bKPUhh-WlbDMtJf8SFCcIrUngJAzjiQlTRAW7cw1lIdhepop0z-BNXvFIiEhbcBBO4fSgjPVrqIIRbe6FNaOZq30weYSc1uCDAPkeMjPu0mZn7gfo_CtSeoWuqQBj9PxFX24gvZd7BJkMXaiRp78-K0sMHZdOG53euQBOfTNDcEw
28. Meadville city, Pennsylvania Selected Economic Characteristics 2016: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/1600000US4248360
29. Pennsylvania Selected Economic Characteristics 2016: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/DP03/0400000US42
30. United States Selected Economic Characteristics 2016: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/16_5YR/B17020/0100000US