Few Surprises In Community Needs Assessment

By Gordon HopkinsBlue Valley Community Action (BVCA) and Public Health Solutions (PHS) collaborated to conduct a joint Community Needs Assessment for several southeast Nebraska counties. The report was provided to Jefferson County Commissioners at a meeting Tuesday morning, October 10, 2023.Commissioner Mark Schoenrock told his fellow commissioners, “This was a year long process that I was very much involved with.”Schoenrock noted, “If you go to page six, are the key findings of the assessment, probably no surprises here.”According to the report, the top needs are: Increasing mental health concerns with limited availability and access for treatment. Substance use concerns, including higher rates of heavy drinking among adults, higher rates of marijuana use among youth and higher rates of tobacco use among adults and youth (relative to state rates) due to mental health concerns, cultural norms, easy access, and limited activities for youth. Limited quality housing to ensure safe and affordable living. Concerns with inflation and addressing food insecurity and other basic needs. Limited affordable quality childcare, with availability during hours when workers need it. Limited transportation options for those residing in the smaller communities. PHS area residents have higher rates of some chronic health conditions than the state average, including high blood pressure, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, diabetes, obesity, and asthma. Radon levels are higher in the BVCA/PHS area and higher than EPA recommended levels, and less than one-quarter of homes have Radon kits.A number of these issues, particularly mental health and substance abuse and the need for affordable housing has already been on the commissioner’s radar, having been discussed at numerous meetings.“And so I believe last week, our Blue Lake Community Action Executive Board met. We discussed these needs and we’re developing a plan of action to address that,” Schoenrock said. “The point I made and all of those meetings is that not only BVCA/PHS to work on this but all the other agencies that work with this as well, like Region Five comes to mind, state agencies come to mind, DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services), et cetera. And so, I think we’ve done a good job of identifying the needs. It’s not only a Jefferson County. It’s a multi County area.”A company called Partners for Insightful Evaluation (PIE) was contracted to implement a mixed methods approach, which provided both quantitative and qualitative data. In addition to compiling publicly available data from secondary sources, data was collected via an online community survey, 13 interviews with community partners, and two community focus groups.

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