2020 Community Needs Assessment

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)

Question Title

* 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)