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Assessing Community Needs
D. TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS
The community coalition might use the following tools to identifying the needs of its community:
- A community resources survey helps determine the types of health services available in the community and how accessible they are. It can also determine whether programs for children with special health care needs, substance abuse, or mental health problems are available and, if so, who is responsible for providing them. The community resources survey is a crucial step for determining how health, education, and social service programs interact and how far the community is from its goal of a quality system of integrated services.
- A parent survey helps determine the types of services families use, the types of services families need, and the barriers families face in accessing these services. Special sections can elicit additional information on important topics such as children with disabilities and dental care needs.
- As does the parent survey, a student survey provides the coalition with information on the types of services and programs that school children use, as well as those to which they might need additional access.
When developing these surveys, the coalition should consider what information is readily available from other sources so as to not duplicate efforts. It should also carefully explain the purpose of the survey to participants to generate support for the needs assessment and ensure honest and complete answers. When surveying students, appropriate steps should be taken to secure permission from parents, the school, or both and to stress that results will be kept confidential.
