Planning Your Community Assessment with the New HSPPS Final Rule

The new year is a great time for organizations to set goals and build capacity! Foundations for Families can help you meet the updated standards for Community Assessment so that you fully understand the strengths, needs, and resources available in your service area.On February 11, we will be at the Region IV Annual Training Conference and Expo in Atlanta facilitating a pre-conference workshop on Community Assessment and the Final Rule. At this all-day session, your program will learn how to use the latest data to tell your community’s story.This workshop will include practical tips for data collection, including where to find the most useful data and how to limit redundancies in your report. In addition, we will focus on how to conduct a meaningful survey of community stakeholders - so that you really understand how your families, your staff, and local resource providers view the needs of families and children in your community.Finally, we will share best practices for analyzing and presenting data. A well-executed community assessment provides a roadmap for Head Start and Early Head Start programming and service delivery, setting up your organization for success. The information you collect will inform strategic planning for the next five years.You will get hands-on experience with data collection, including how to estimate the number of eligible children in your community, and where to find data on other programs that are serving eligible children. You will also explore ways of presenting data findings, including easy-to-understand graphs, charts, and tables for the most impact. Our approach uses a strengths-based inquiry process to conduct an annual review of your community assessment, so that you can stay in compliance with the final rule.The Region IV Annual Training Conference and Expo is being held February 11-14 in Atlanta. Join hundreds of early care and learning professionals and hear from leaders in the field, while expanding your professional network. Register for just the Community Assessment Workshop - or the full conference. Anyone is welcome – attendees are not required to be based in Region IV.We look forward to seeing you, and welcome both individuals and teams from Head Start agencies. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn alongside our team, as you develop a new and improved community assessment for your program!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.