Community Needs Assesment 

 What is the Community needs Assessment?

Gads Hill Center and Partners are required to conducts a community needs assessment to collect data about community strengths, needs, and resources every five years. Agencies will use this data to make decisions about long- and short-term program goals, selection criteria, the type of services provided for children and families, and to determine collaboration possibilities with other agencies. Community needs assessment data will be updated each year as needed.

Assessment Requirements 

Every five years, Sub-Recipient and Delegate Early Head Start/Head Start programs will conduct a community needs assessment following Performance Standard 1302.11 (b) that will include:

1. The demographic make-up of Head Start eligible families in the agency’s service areas, including

number, geographic location, and racial/ethnic composition.

2. The number of eligible infants, toddlers, preschool-age children, and expectant mothers,

including their geographic location, race, ethnicity, and languages they speak, including:

● Children experiencing homelessness;

● Children in foster care; and

● Children with disabilities, including types of disabilities and relevant services and

resources provided to these children by community agencies;

3. The education, health, nutrition, and social service needs of eligible children and their families,

including prevalent social or economic factors that impact their well-being; and

4. Typical work, school, and training schedules of parents with eligible children.

5. Other child development, child care centers, and family child care programs that serve eligible children, including home visiting, publicly funded state and local preschools, and the approximate number of eligible children served

6. Resources that are available in the community to address the needs of eligible children and their families; and

7. Strengths of the community;

Staff  will continue to consider whether the characteristics of the community allow it to include children from diverse economic backgrounds that other funding sources would support, including private pay, in addition to the program’s eligible funded enrollment. However, agencies will not enroll children from diverse economic backgrounds if it would result in a program serving less than its eligible funded enrollment.

The annual grant planning and the budget process should include reviewing and updating the strengths, needs, and resources in the various communities throughout the orgnization  service areas.

Information from local, state, and federal sources, including the City of Chicago’s Community, Needs Assessment, the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall, Illinois Kid’s Count, and the United Way, will be utilized.

Analysis of the assessment information will be used in developing long and short-term goals in the strategic and grant planning process, including locations of sites, program options, staffing patterns, and identifying areas of need.

Using the Data 

After writing/ reviewing the community assessment, the  Director of Early Childhood Programs will review along with the GHC executive leadership team. The program’s structure and locations for center-based, family child care home,, and child care partnership program options to reassess and determine if the agency is serving the neediest children in the manner that best supports the community. The programs collaborative agreements and partnerships to ensure they have relationships that support the needs of children and families served. The programs goals and objectives to ensure they align, when appropriate, with the needs of the community served