Obama Administration Selects Three Appalachian Communities as Rural IMPACT Demonstration Sites September 2015

On September 25, 2015, the Obama administration announced the selection of ten rural communities, including three in Appalachia, as demonstration sites for the national Rural IMPACT project to combat rural child poverty by forming a learning community for coordinated health, human service, and workforce development service delivery. The Appalachian communities selected for the project are Berea, Kentucky; Hillsboro, Ohio; and Oakland, Maryland.

The Rural IMPACT (Integration Models for Parents and Children to Thrive) demonstration project is part of a cross-agency effort launched by the White House Rural Council in April to combat poverty and improve upward mobility in rural and tribal places. Created to help communities adopt a comprehensive, whole-family framework for addressing child poverty, the project will meet the needs of both vulnerable children and their parents with the goal of increasing parents’ employment and education and improving the health and well-being of children and families.

The demonstration project will be administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with support from the Community Action Partnership and the American Academy of Pediatrics and implemented in collaboration with ARC; the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education, and Labor; the Delta Regional Authority; and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

White House Fact Sheet on Rural IMPACT Demonstration Sites (PDF: 153 KB)