**UPDATED** The Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC Leon) will host a series of focus groups and forums in multiple locations during January, 2022. The goal of these small groups are to engage parents, providers and youth in meaningful discussion on the diverse needs of children and youth as part of the comprehensive assets and needs assessment currently underway. These events are just the start of multiple community engagement events. Some events will be held in-person while others will be hosted virtually. All will be facilitated by the CSC Leon research firm, Q-Q Research Consultants. Participation is limited and pre-registration is required. These events are accompanied by an invitation to participate in a county-wide survey by all members of the community and not just parents or providers, and will be followed by a series of listening sessions in the near future.
Finer Details
CSC Leon will host eight (8) focus groups with parents, two (2) focus groups with youth, three (3) focus groups with providers, and six (6) provider forums. The dates are listed below. Q-Q Research Consultants selected two local organizations to assist with marketing and outreach to local providers and families. They are United Partners for Human Services and We Are All We Need, Inc.
The “parent focus groups” are small group discussions designed specifically for parents to give direct input on their experiences and observations related to the diverse needs of children, youth, and families in Leon County. These will be held in eight different locations (dates updated below due to increased COVID concerns) to invite participation in all neighborhoods. Participants will be provided a $50 gift card and access to childcare during the event. One session will be held exclusively in Spanish. These sessions are limited to 15 individuals each and a waiting list will be started, as needed. **UPDATE: Due to COVID, the focus groups were postponed by two weeks. COVID precautions will be taken. SIGN UP | DOWNLOAD FLYER
- January
418 at 6:30 pm: Lake Jackson (Canopy Oaks Elementary School) - January
519 at 6:00 pm: Southside (Nims Middle School) - January
620 at 6:00 pm: Woodville (Library Branch) - January
822 at 9:00 am: Westside (The LIFE Center) - January
822 at 10:30 am: Killearn/Bradfordville (Play BIG) - January
822 at 1:30 pm: Greater Frenchtown (Springfield Community Center/Boys & Girls Club) - January
623 at 12:00 pm: 5F Farm Event Center (Spanish Only) - January
1024 at 6:00 pm: Eastside (Heritage Trails Community Center)
The “youth focus groups” are youth-only, small group discussions around quality of life, experiences and opinions on the programs and services needed for children and youth in Leon County. High school youth are invited to participate in one of two sessions to provide their unique perspective. Youth participants will be provided a $50 gift card and a meal during the event. **UPDATE: Due to COVID, the focus groups were postponed by two weeks. COVID precautions will be taken. SIGN UP | DOWNLOAD FLYER
- January
822 at 11:00 am: Westside (The LIFE Center) - January
1024 at 6:00 pm: Eastside (Governor’s Charter Academy)
The “provider forums” were designed to be structured group interviews with a maximum of 30 providers at a time from across our community that serve children, youth and families in specific priority areas identified by CSC Leon. Participants will be asked to share their direct experience and first-hand knowledge as a provider on what is working well and where the perceived gaps are in our service system. Participation is limited to one individual per program but programs can participate in up to two forums due to the natural crossover in service delivery for many providers. Our thanks to our community partners, Leon County Schools and the Northwest Florida Health Network, for use of their spaces. **UPDATE: Due to COVID, these forums were moved to a virtual setting and participation capped at 15 per session. They were held on the dates below and will be repeated the last week of January. ROUND 2 SIGN UP
- January 5 at 9:00 am AND January 26 at 10:00 am: Food Stability
- January 5 at 11:00 am AND January 26 at 1:00 pm: School-aged Readiness & Supports
- January 5 at 1:30 pm AND January 26 at 3:00 pm: Housing Stability
- January 6 at 9:00 am AND January 27 at 10:00 am: Physical Health/Mental Health
- January 6 at 11:00 am AND January 27 at 1:00 pm: Youth Development
- January 6 at 1:30 pm AND January 27 at 3:00 pm: Supports for Caregivers
The “provider focus groups” were designed to gather information and feedback on proposed key outcomes, indicators, and measures organizations use to measure impact. Participation is limited to 15 individuals per session and programs/organizations/agencies are asked to designate a single staff member familiar with data collection principles and/or impact measurement. Our thanks to our community partner, Whole Child Leon, for use of their space. **UPDATE: Due to COVID, these groups were moved to a virtual setting and participation capped at 8 per session. They were held on January 10.
All events will be transcribed and coded for qualitative analysis.
Community Survey
If you are a parent or youth and cannot attend any of the focus groups above (or have bee wait listed), you can still participate in the needs assessment process by completing this survey. It is available in both English and Spanish. Members of the general community are also invited to take this survey. Please only complete once. ACCESS SURVEY
If you are provider of children, youth and family services, you should have received a direct invitation from QQ Research Consultants to participate in a provider survey. If you did not or have questions, please contact our team at at admin@qqresearchconsultants.com or 305.999.QQRC(7772).
Future Listening Sessions
The focus groups and provider forums described above are the first steps in our community engagement but is by no means the last step or the only step. We will also be hosting community listening sessions in the near future with the express goal of sharing more information about what a CSC is and asking the community for feedback on what the CSC might specifically accomplish. It is our belief that we cannot fully answer that question until we have gathered direct input from the community we seek to serve in a variety of ways. The listening sessions will be facilitated by the CSC Leon Executive Director with multiple members of the Council present but in a less formal manner than how the monthly Council meetings are conducted. These larger, open sessions will be publicly noticed and held in various locations around the community.
If you would like to host a session in your neighborhood, please contact us at info@cscleon.org or call 850-764-2966. You can also use these methods to contact us with any questions regarding any of the above events. Thank you!