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2020 Community Needs Assessment
1.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest issues facing the health of our county's children? Please choose up to four (4).
Parents lacking parenting skills, knowledge and support
Drug/Alcohol use
Not enough resources for children with special needs
Lack of specialty mental health services for children
Too many children are not able to access healthy foods
Overweight children
Too many children dealing with parental/family substance abuse
Children are not learning basic life skills or coping skills
Child abuse
Health care services are too expensive
No programs for children in need of basic necessities out of school
Lack of affordable family counseling services
Lack of support groups for children of parents in prison
Other (please specify)
2.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest issues children face when preparing to enter school ready to learn? Please choose up to two (2).
Too many children/families living in poverty
Parents lack the skills to help children prepare for school
Children lack the basic knowledge needed to be successful in Kindergarten
Children are not socially and emotionally ready to be successful in Kindergarten
Not enough early education services available (preschool, Head Start, Early Head Start, etc.)
Children lack the engagement of educational experiences
Lack of classes for parents to help their children be successful in school
Other (please specify)
3.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest reasons why children are not successful in school or why they don't complete school? Please choose up to three (3).
Bullying/harassment
Truancy/lack of consistent school attendance prevention programs
Children have poor academic performance
Children are not able to pass High School assessments
Children are lacking role models, mentors and positive influences
Too many students with disabilities do not complete their education
The dropout rate is too high; too easy to disenroll from school
Lack of parenting support groups
Lack of parenting skills classes
Lack of in-school mental health counseling services
Lack of affordable family counseling services
Other (please specify)
4.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest reasons youth do not have opportunities for employment or are not ready for a career? Please choose up to three (3).
Not enough jobs for youth ages 16-24 who want to work
No assistance for youth wanting to obtain their driver's license
Youth lack the skills or education needed to access well-paying jobs
Not enough employment training or career development opportunities
Education is not affordable
Not enough transitional services and supports for older youth aging out of foster care
Not enough youth go on to higher education
Drop out rate is too high
Too many students with disabilities do not complete their education
Too many young people ages 16-25 not living with family/ are homeless
Too much generation to generation poverty
Lack of transportation resources
Poor advertising of existing programs/services
Other (please specify)
5.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest reasons why families are not safe or economically stable in our community? Please choose up to four (4).
Not enough well-paying jobs in the community
Too many children have a parent in prison or has history of legal problems
Too many children/families living in poverty
Too many children/families go hungry or have food insecurities
Lack of affordable housing
Too many children/families are homeless
Lack of transportation resources
Lack of parenting support groups
lack of affordable child care
Difficult/inconsistent work schedules
Healthy and nutritious foods are not affordable
Lack of parenting classes for parents in prison
Lack of life skills classes (effective communication, conflict management, decision making, coping skills)
Lack of practical life skills classes (Cooking, cleaning, money management, sewing, etc)
Other (please specify)
6.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest issues of why communities are not safe for children, youth and families? Please choose up to three (3).
Not enough after school/evening programs and/or activities for children/youth
No affordable programs/clubs for children/youth
Crime rate has increased
Gang activity
Not enough affordable childcare available
Drug/alcohol use by parents is a problem
Community pride is no longer a priority
Children lacking role models, mentors and positive influences
Too many children/families living in poverty
Not enough enforcement on blighted/rundown properties
No programs for children in need of basic necessities on weekends and long breaks from school
Lack of support groups for children
Lack of affordable inpatient drug treatment programs/facilities
Other (please specify)
7.
Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, what do you consider to be the biggest contributing factor as to why babies would not be born healthy in Allegany County? Please choose up to two (2).
Teen pregnancy/lack of proper sex education
Too many Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID)
Lack of parenting support groups
Drug/alcohol use
Lack of prenatal care services
Healthy and nutritious foods are not affordable
Lack of parenting skills classes
Other (please specify)
8.
Based on your responses to the previous questions, what do you feel are the main barriers to accessing/receiving services in Allegany County? Please choose up to two (2).
Services exist but people don't know about them
Lack of transportation
Services don't exist
High costs keep people from accessing services
Location of services
Hours of operation
Lack of incentives for people to participate
Fear of the unknown
Unjust eligibility requirements
Other (please specify)
Current Progress,
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