Gomers -- What's going wrong

UNUSED: In 2008, the ANCHOR Center - the state's first-of-its-kind residential treatment center for parolees and probationers with mental health issues - opened in Cedar Rapids. But since then, inpatient service has not been implemented because state legislators haven't appropriated money. Outpatient services have been provided, but the residential operation won't begin until next year and then only at reduced capacity because of the lack of state support. The residential center and its programs are designed to help them build critical skills they'll need when they return to the outside world.

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GAPS OF CONCERN: Johnson County's population has seen diversity increase from 11 percent people of color in 2000 to 17 percent in 2010 and likely higher by now. But efforts to close the gap in several racial disparities hasn't kept up. Johnson County Jail's daily population in 2010 was 42 percent black inmates. Black and Latino high school graduation rates still lag those of whites and Asian-Americans. And unemployment rates are still substantially higher among non-white residents. The Racial Justice Coalition presented the report and offered recommendations for the community to consider.

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