Welcome: P N, U.S. D E, Oii
Welcome: P N, U.S. D E, Oii
Welcome: P N, U.S. D E, Oii
D E PA RT M E N T OF E D U C AT IO N , OII
IS S UE NO .2 * A P R IL 2011
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F.A.Q. CENTRAL UPCOMING EVENTS
Q: May a Promise Neighborhoods planning grant be April 4-5. Youth Violence Summit
used to plan to scale up existing cradle-through-
college-to-career activities beyond the geographic The goal of the Forum is to reduce violence, improve opportunities
area that an applicant is currently serving? for youth, and encourage innovation at both local and federal levels.
A: Yes. An applicant that has been serving children, April 11 - Promise Neighborhoods Notice of Proposed Priorities
and has already achieved significant results with comments due.
those children, in a target geographic area prior to
applying for a Promise Neighborhoods planning
grant may propose to use planning grant funds to April 18 Deadline For OSDFS Conference Proposals
develop a plan to expand services and scale up
beyond this initial area to serve children in a new The U.S. Department of Educations Office of Safe and Drug-Free
neighborhood. An applicant proposing to plan to Schools (OSDFS) is accepting proposals for workshops and posters
scale up existing activities in a new neighborhood to be presented at the 2011 OSDFS National Conference to be held
must partner with at least one organization or entity August 8-10 at the National Harbor, MD. The conference theme is
that provides at least one of the solutions from the Making the Connection: Creating and Maintaining Conditions for
applicants proposed continuum of solutions in the Learning. All proposals and questions about the conference may be
geographic area proposed to be served. submitted by email to osdfsnationalconference@ed.gov
Promise Neighborhoods teams may volunteer time to help with graduation and other school-related activities.
TIP OF THE MONTH: This activity supports community engagement and increases awareness of Promise Neighborhoods
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Your guide to opportunities for funding, collaboration, and outreach with Federal, state, and local providers
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NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROMISING PRACTICES
The Amherst Wilder Foundation and partners recently wrapped up the needs assessment of their Promise Neighborhood in
the Summit-University and Frogtown communities of St. Paul. Many neighborhood residents expressed their appreciation to the
Promise Neighborhood team for their efforts.
The team organized the needs assessment data in three categories1) demographic and other social data (race and ethnicity,
health, safety, etc.); 2) school data (number of students, achievement levels, attendance, etc.); and 3) survey data to collect indicators
not already available. All indicators required in the FY10 Promise Neighborhoods Notice Inviting Applications and additional
information considered important by the community are included in these three categories. Results of the assessment will be used to:
1) Assist Solution Action Groups, made up of community residents and service providers, to identify the most important
needs of children and families in the Promise Neighborhood area, the assets now available to address those needs, additional services and
supports needed, and the best solutions for supporting educational success.
2) Serve as a baseline to assess progress on indicators of success.
Research staff gathered census and administrative data in the first two categories from local school district, police and health
departments, and the Census Bureau. More than 650 surveys of neighborhood residents, conducted by Wilder staff and neighborhood
residents, collected data in the third category. Survey participants were randomly selected from a list of all residential addresses in the
Promise Neighborhood. These households were screened for eligibility (at least one child age 18 or younger in the household). Surveys
occurred by phone or in person. Respondents received a $10 gift card.
Obtaining school data was challenging. Due to school choice in St. Paul, many elementary-age students who live in the
community do not attend their neighborhood schools; in addition, the neighborhood does not have its own junior or senior high
schools. However, Because Minnesota has required unique student identification numbers for several years, Wilder was able to obtain
K-12 education information at the student level. This education data and the other indicators in the needs assessment will ultimately be
a part of a longitudinal data system. Although most of the needs assessment student data is currently at the aggregate level, Wilder
Research Executive Director Paul Mattessich is cautiously optimistic that partners in Promise Neighborhoods will ultimately all
work together to ensure that the data system includes indicators at the student level so they can be used to create a picture of how
children are better served and making educational and social progress through this new model.
An important next step in the needs assessment process is to share the data with the community in four ways:
- Promise Neighborhood Solution Action Groups
- Community Meetings
- User-Friendly Report
- Local Media
Overall, residents reacted positively to being surveyed. Some folks with concerns or frustrations about their neighborhood
appreciate having representatives from the Promise Neighborhood staff listening to them. Other residents, said Mattessich, take pride
in their neighborhood and were grateful that Wilder is organizing information in this way and sharing it with the community. They
want a tool like this and theyre glad were doing it.
The Promise Neighborhoods team at the Delta Health Alliance in Indianola, MS are deep into their needs assessment.
Their strategy was slightly different from St. Paul. Below is an overview of the needs assessment plan developed by the Southern
Research Group, the key partner conducting the assessment.