Page 79 - 2015 Compass Now

Table 8 shows how survey respondents ranked the eight economic issues asked about in the COMPASS
NOW household survey by county. Concern about financial problems experienced by local governments has
dramatically decreased, moving from the second place in 2012 to 13th.

Table 8: Ranking of Economic Concerns by County out of 18 Topics

Concern Averages La Crosse Monroe Trempealeau Vernon Houston

Hunger 12 10 13 14 12 12

Gambling 15 15 15 15 15 16

Risk of Losing Your 17 16 17 16 17 17
Job

Risk of Foreclosure 18 18 18 19 18 18
and Bankruptcy

Excessive Personal 16 17 16 17 16 15
Debt

Financial Problems - 13 14 12 11 13 13
Local Governments

Funding for Local 6 99 4 5 4
Schools

Identity Theft 3 33 2 4 3

Source: COMPASS NOW 2015 Random Household Survey

Homelessness in our community continues to remain widely hidden. Accurately determining how many INCOME/ECONOMIC
people are homeless is difficult because homeless individuals utilize shelters or assistance programs on
both a long-term and temporary basis. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
states that in 2013 there were 6,104 homeless people in the state of Wisconsin, and 8,214 in Minnesota.
Although tracking the general homeless population can be difficult, the Wisconsin Department of Public
Instruction and the Minnesota Department of Education attempt to collect data from each school district
concerning the number of students attending school who are homeless.

During the 2013-2014 school year, La Crosse County had the highest number of homeless students at
263 students. During that same year, Trempealeau County had the lowest number of homeless students at
50 students. Table 9 shows the number of homeless students enrolled in school over the past five years.
Correspondingly, Figure 7 shows the percentage of the student population that was homeless over the past
five years. Monroe County consistently has the highest percentage of homeless students, with a high of
3.04% during the 2012-2013 academic year, while Trempealeau County has the lowest percentage.

Table 9: Number of Homeless Students Enrolled in School

County 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014
La Crosse 263
Monroe 147 207 193 238 204
Trempealeau 50
Vernon 179 180 206 205 60

38 40 39 55

22 21 34 40

Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Enrollment number recorded on 3rd Friday in September

COMPASS NOW 2015 71