Austin Community Early Learning Partnership Needs Assessment
Aisha Ray and Jana Fleming
Fall 2011—Summer 2012
The Austin Community Early Learning Partnership, a collaboration of Erikson Institute, Chicago Public Schools, and Austin Coming Together, is conducting a needs assessment of early childhood services in Chicago’s Austin community.
Austin is characterized by high poverty, violence, and low-performing, poorly-resourced schools — all risk-factors for poor developmental and educational outcomes for children. Within the community, the needs assessment will:
- Identify and describe available early childhood services
- Determine the capacity of these services to meet the developmental and educational needs of young children
- Determine services that are lacking
- Identify key partners to contribute to the development of effective school and community-based interventions for young children in Austin