community needs assessements

An assessment can provide an accurate appraisal of the current state of affairs in a community—including a snapshot of individuals’ attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and priorities. This information can be instrumental in understanding where residents stand on important issues, to help prioritize issues of concerns to citizens, or to gather feedback for continuous improvement

Needs assessments can be conducted in many different ways, depending on a community’s needs and budget. An assessment may involve individual interviews with key community leaders, focus groups with individuals representing important subgroups in a community, facilitated discussions at public meetings, a survey using a representative sample of the community as a whole, or a combination of strategies, depending on the unique needs of the community and the issues involved.

Who Uses This Service?

• Public policy makers seeking to gather public feedback on issues of economic development
• Community leaders making decisions about programs and services in a community
• Educators seeking to measure public support for school initiatives and levies
• Officials in public health and public safety seeking to assess community needs and priorities