How to Conduct a Meaningful and Responsive Community Assessment

Community assessments are a foundational requirement for Head Start/Early Head Start programs and have taken on new significance and utility as programs navigate unprecedented staffing shortages, participation in the Full Enrollment Initiative, and evolving community needs. Some programs are also planning for a Change in Scope Request, which requires a justification built on up-to-date and relevant community and program data.Before your agency’s next comprehensive community assessment is completed, we recommend a close look at your most recently completed report. What did you find most useful about the report? Are there ways that it could have been more helpful? The goal is to have a report that meets Head Start requirements and is also digestible, meaningful, and helpful to your program.The Proposed Rule Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming includes a section that states a desire for more specific guidance about outcomes of the community assessment and strategic data gathering. This is, in part, in response to “…concern that in some cases, programs approach the community assessment as an unnecessarily detailed community assessment with overly complex analytical methodologies.” We understand that it can be easy to gather a lot of data for community assessments, particularly in communities or states that make data readily available. Yet, in some cases, more isn’t necessarily better. Imagine a 100-page report filled with detailed tables and little narrative, versus a 60-page report with tables, graphics, and narrative analysis. The latter might serve as a more usable tool and resource.Something else that stood out to us in the Proposed Rule Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming is the need for “new language to ensure programs assess readily available data on their community that provides usable information on the community...” This is a smart approach to community assessment in which existing data is leveraged to the fullest extent. There might be other state or community agencies, organizations, or publicly funded programs that have gathered and reported data that your program needs for its community assessment. There are many examples – e.g., Point-in-Time (PIT) Count reports of homelessness and Community Health Needs Assessments. Finding and citing data from existing reports is one of the easiest ways to avoid duplication of effort and support shared understanding of community needs.OHS indicated that a Final Rule is expected in response to Proposed Rule Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming. We encourage you to proactively align your community assessment efforts with some of the key points in the Proposed Rule. One approach you can start with, as stated in the rule, is to “…have a strategic approach to determine what data to collect prior to conducting the community assessment and how to use the data acquired after conducting the community assessment in order to achieve the intended outcomes.”We encourage you to think about your program’s next comprehensive community assessment as a fresh start. Consider the data points you gathered in the past and what you will gather going forward. What do you need and what do you want (adds the most value)? What can you do without, because it doesn’t add substantial value? Also, don’t forget the value in your program’s own data – you are one of the experts on community needs!At Foundations for Families, we value high-quality community assessment as one of the key components of program planning. Our approach aligns with Head Start requirements, is forward thinking in its alignment with the Proposed Rule, and is designed to be useful and meaningful. If you’re interested to learn more about our Consulting Services, including community assessment, please be in touch and we would be glad to discuss your program’s needs.Thank you.Thank you for reading our blog. We encourage you to use our blog posts for thought, integration, and sharing. When using or sharing content from blog posts, please attribute the original content to Foundations for Families.