Current Projects

Regional Survey of Children’s Issues: 
Voices of the Valley

The Central California Children’s Institute (CCCI) is currently gathering input from Valley residents and community stakeholders regarding the health and well-being of children in the San Joaquin Valley.  A random telephone survey of 1,200 Valley residents in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties is being conducted in collaboration with the Central Valley Health Policy Institute.  The telephone survey findings, along with focus groups with key stakeholders, will enable the Institute to prioritize issues of concern, document perceived community assets for children, and gauge the extent to which residents are willing to become civically engaged in children’s issues. With this work, Valley residents will have direct input in the crafting of an agenda to improve the lives of children.

The telephone survey encompassed the following themes:

1. What do adults in the Valley think are the critical issues or concerns facing children?
2. What do parents need for their children in terms of programs and services
3. What programs/services that support healthy development have families utilized?
4. How are people being treated when they try to access services?
5. How civically engaged are people relative to improving communities for kids?
6. What children’s issues are people willing to become civically engaged in?

In face-to-face interviews, the following questions were asked to child-serving agency executives and other institutional stakeholders:

1. From your perspective, what are the major issues or challenges facing children in your community?
2. What is the most compelling need that you have encountered but were unable to address?
3. What barriers/challenges has your organization encountered in terms of providing services to children in your community?
4. What strategies do you think can be used to address these barriers/challenges?
5. How is innovation fostered in your organization?
6. What mechanism do you use to evaluate the progress of your organization?
7. What region-wide efforts are you aware of that address issues of children in the Valley? Are you involved in those efforts? Why or why not?
8. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?