Assessment and Planning in Jefferson County, Colorado
What is Assessment and Planning?
Assessment is the systematic review of indicators within a given population to identify key assets and problems. Planning is an effort to leverage community assets to address problems. Organizations are often required to conduct assessment and planning efforts. They use plans to set priorities and coordinate and target resources.
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Since 2021, the Assessment and Planning Action Team has been focused on evolving assessment and planning practices to increase community leadership and organizational responsiveness. To learn more about how the team works together, please visit our Action Team page.
What We're Learning
Community and organizational leaders must work together to find the story behind community data and provide context surrounding community health. The following are conditions we are finding necessary to support the evolution of assessment and planning processes.
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Centering community means responding to community. Who knows a community's strengths and concerns better than the members of that community? No one! The people living, working and playing in a community are the experts. Organizations have an opportunity to learn from these experts and design action plans based on this input.
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Relationships matter. Building trusting relationships between organizational staff and community leaders in planning and assessment processes helps create sustainable partnerships in building healthy communities.
Community Partners Collaborating on Assessment and Planning in Jefferson County
Assessment and Planning in Action
Tools and Resources for Assessment and Planning
Many resources exist to inform and support assessment and planning efforts in our communities. Resources referred to in this action team are listed below.