Cedar/Jones ECI, community work together on Needs Assessment

     Affordable and quality daycare and childcare. Quality mental health services. Sharing of resources.

   These were the top priorities to come out of the Cedar/Jones Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) community meeting, held in Olin on Feb. 5. The purpose of the meeting was to gather countywide ideas for the ECI Needs Assessment, which is updated every four years.

   “We align it with our re-evaluation process,” noted Sherri Hunt, ECI director. “It’s a pretty in-depth process. The topics discussed will go back to our board and we’ll look at adopting them.”

   This Needs Assessment process helps ECI to refine its priorities in carrying out its mission of “strengthening the health, education, and well-being of children 0-5 and their families, supporting services and increasing the quality of these services through collaboration and support.”

   Almost 30 people were in attendance, covering a wide array of backgrounds and professions such as law enforcement, human services, faith communities/churches, Grade Level Reading, Public Health, HACAP, business professionals, the MHDS region, ISU Extension, Jones County Economic Development, and the Young Parents Network (YPN).

   Every year, ECI sends out a notice seeking letters of consideration for funding from organizations that provide comprehensive services for their core demographic, children 0-5. The priorities formed from the Needs Assessment help determine how the funding is spent.

   “We contract out for services,” explained Hunt.

   In the past, some of the organizations ECI has contracted with include: HACAP, YPN, Lutheran Services of Iowa, and AEAs.

   “This process redefines what’s important to us,” she added.

   As part of the Feb. 5 event, those in attendance were broken up into small groups for a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

   Some priorities that come out of this assessment are important local needs, but may not be something ECI, or its partners, can accomplish alone. For example, the need for more childcare services. In order to do that, perhaps a new childcare facility needs to be built in Jones County. Or, the workforce needs to get paid more to want to work certain hours.

   “We can’t single-handedly do these things,” Hunt said. “But who can address these needs?”

   Following the SWOT analysis, the priorities were ranked. Questions were asked of the participants, such as “How do these priorities compare with our current priorities?” or “Can we build upon and enhance what services we have to address these priorities?”

   Once the Needs Assessment is in place, ECI will use that as a guideline in putting together their strategic plan, also done every four years.

   “It’s an in-depth community plan that we send to the state (Department of Health and Human Services) for our redesignation,” continued Hunt.

   ECI current plan covers 2020-24. Each plan outlines the state ECI priorities, as well as those of Cedar/Jones ECI.

   For this plan, the state priorities were:

   • Healthy Children

   • Children ready to succeed in school

   • Safe and supportive communities

   • Secure and nurturing families

   • Secure and nurturing early learning environments

   The local priorities were:

   • Children and their families

   • Partnerships that avoid duplications

   • Focus on outcomes

   • Need-based services

   • Assessment for continuous improvement

   “It all comes back to putting kids and their families first,” stressed Hunt.

   If you have interest in assisting ECI, contact Hunt at sherri.hunt@jonescountyiowa.gov.