A focus group led by Central Missouri Community Action met Thursday afternoon to put steps into place in an effort to combat poverty over the next 10 years.
The meeting came one day before the U.S. Census Bureau released a report stating that poverty levels in the nation have reached an 11-year high. The report, which captures figures from 2008, states that poverty levels have hit 13.2 percent. In 2007, the level was 12.5 percent.
In 2007, the most recent year for which state and county census information on poverty was found, Cooper County had a poverty level of between 10.1 percent and 12.9 percent.
In 2008, the Cooper County focus group — made up of county leaders, representatives of area agencies and county residents — established three goals it identified as being the most important in the county. On Thursday, the group reaffirmed the goals it hopes to have accomplished within the next 10 years.
