OC Community Assessment 1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Government PROPOSAL NARRATIVE Target Population and Need: The telephone survey will be conducted with 600 households throughout Orange County, (Chapel Hill, Carboro, Hillsborough, Mebane, etc.) and specific questions will be asked about the need for services for young children in the household Focus groups will be conducted with consumers and service providers to determine needs, assets, and gaps in services for Orange County citizens. Specific groups will be conducted for Hispanic citizens, people with disabilities, as well as people who are homeless to find out what needs they have and the armmun 1 5s capacity to respond to their needs. Proposed Activity: To identify individual, family, and community assets, needs, and highlight gaps and opportunities, and to review and evaluate current and future priorities for the facilitation of plan=& policy development, resource allocation and investment Staffing: No staff will be hired. NC State Center of Urban Affairs will serve as a subcontractor to complete the assessment work. Outcomes: To conduct a general population survey of 600 citizens and 13 focus groups of professionals and consumers to detenine the needs of children, families, and individuals as well as the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the human service system. Once the information is reported, we will work with other fundets in the County to develop priorities for funding identified human service issues. A collaborative evaluation model will be developed to determine if funded services and programs are effective in changing behaviors, reducing waiting lists, and improving the overall functioning capacities of Orange County citizens. Collaboration: Nonprofit agencies, cornrnunity leaders, public service agencies, Town Council members, and other finders (foundations, Partnership staff and Chapel Hill human services staff} all serve on the Steering Committee and have provided input into the Community Assessment process. The hope is that human service fi mders will begin to collaborate on priorities and funding strategies once the assessment is complete. Consumer Involvement and Satisfaction: Many of the Steering Committee members are consumers of services. Also, focus groups will be conducted with consumers to get their input Evaluation Plan: United Way plans to establish a different mechanism for finding human services. It will involve the development of community priorities and benchmarks that Orange County citizens wish to achieve, e.g., reduce by 5% the number of children who have been abused or neglected over three years. Until the needs and gaps have been identified, the Steering Cotrnnittee will be unable to detemine those priorities, but a priority setting process is included as an outco ne for the project Agency Qualifications: United Way has been a funder of human service programs since 1945, and is generally the entity in the community to conduct Community Assessments. The last "Snapshot of Human Services in Orange County' was conducted by United Way in 1994. Also, since 1996, the Triangle United Way has conducted a Citizen's Perception Study to detenine the views of oominunity leaders, service providers, etc. Budget Narrative: Orange County is the primary fonder of human services. Other funders include United Way, Orange County Partnership for Young Children, and the Town of Chapel Hill. The Partnership has already committed $10,000 towards the assessment. United Way will seek funding from other funders for this project, since we intend to engage in a community priority setting process after the assessment is completed. Funding will not be sought again until an update or new assessment is needed, approximately 3 -5 years. The United Way Board voted to set aside funding each year to support this project in the future. We hope all funders will see the value of a collaborative assessment and begin to set aside funding for this endeavor.