"Community Needs Assessment"

What is the Community F.O.C.U.S. Needs Assessment?
Community F.O.C.U.S. is a research project that collected information about eastern LaSalle County's needs for health and human services and explore the area's ability to meet those needs.

Why was Community F.O.C.U.S. needed?
Health and human service organizations need information they can use to prioritize issues, plan programs, determine opportunities for collaboration, and seek grant funding. Organizations and residents need the chance to voice their opinions and experiences to support organization and community planning. Community F.O.C.U.S. took a comprehensive look at needs and resources, drew upon information contained in existing reports, and shared information among organizations and residents.

Who conducted the Community F.O.C.U.S. project?
The Applied Social Research Unit of Illinois State University was commissioned to direct the project, which was sponsored by business, education, government, labor, and health and human service providers.

How did Community F.O.C.U.S. collect information?
Researchers were able to:

• Review existing information, such as census and health data
• Survey households in eastern LaSalle County (6/00-8/00)
• Survey LaSalle County health and human service providers (8/00-9/00)
• Conduct focus groups composed of area residents and service providers (8/00-9/00)
• Interview people with special knowledge of the area and its needs (8/00-10/00)
• Review literature about successful ways to organize and deliver services

What types of input was Community F.O.C.U.S. looking for?
Researchers gathered information on:

• Residents' current and projected needs for health and human services
• Residents' experiences and perceptions of local issues
• Current services including needed and shared resources, barriers to providing services, untapped resources, and opportunities for collaboration

How was the information used?
Community F.O.C.U.S. heightened awareness of the County's health and human service delivery system. Materials included an Executive Summary, a user-friendly comprehensive final report, and materials for a one-hour public presentation to be used by service clubs, churches, educators, government bodies, health and human service providers, and others.

For more information about Community F.O.C.U.S., please contact Shelli Ocepek at the United Way of Eastern LaSalle County, 1-815-434-4003, or Sharon Mills at Illinois State University, 1-309-438-7771.

Click here to access a PDF. file copy of the F.O.C.U.S. 2001 report