An effort to improve children’s education started with a survey of Allentown neighborhood’s parents. Here’s what it learned.

Morning Call - 4/2/2024

Despite many parents in Allentown’s Franklin Park neighborhood facing financial, food and housing challenges, an overwhelming majority feels children receive good child care within the community.

These are just some of the results from a recently completed survey of 233 people in the neighborhood, which runs from the 17th and Chew area to the downtown redevelopment area. They were shared Tuesday afternoon at Hays Elementary School during an event to celebrate the completion of the survey and gather more community feedback.

The event was part of Families First in Franklin Park, a collaborative effort of the Allentown Health Bureau, Community Services for Children, Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, Leonard Parker Pool Institute for Health, Pool Center for Health Analytics and Valley Health Partners. Families First, announced last year, aims to improve the learning environment of young children in the neighborhood, and increase access to services that improve childhood development.

“The idea is that each of these organizations is serving the same community but we’re often not aware of how that intersects together,” said Samantha Shaak, the Pool Institute director of community innovation and evaluation. “By focusing on that one specific neighborhood, we’re looking at how each of our organizations are providing services that are in support of families who have young children.”

Community Services for Children surveyed the neighborhood from April 2023 to October. The surveys were primarily conducted at clinics, beauty and barber shops, schools and libraries, according to information shared by Families First at the event.

Among the insights gleaned is that the vast majority of parents and guardians in Franklin Park, 95%, are happy with the child care their children receive, whether it is primarily from a licensed facility, family, friends or a neighbor.

When selecting child care providers most parents, 61%, said safety and cleanliness are most important, followed by cost (43%). Similar proportions of parents, 22%-23%, said location, hours and teacher knowledge were among their top priorities.

The top challenges families in Franklin Park face are financial ones, according to 66% of survey respondents. More than a quarter of respondents said food access and housing were also challenges (27% and 28%, respectively).

Teri Haddad, vice president of community initiatives and advancement at Community Services for Children, said the Tuesday afternoon event was only the first step, but an important one to help ensure the groups are on the right track to provide support to the neighborhood.

“The thing about community engagement is making sure we’re not doing this in isolation,” Haddad said. “We really want to share the results with the community and ask ‘Is this your impression?’ ‘Does this make sense?’ ‘Do you have suggestions?’ This is our first step and I think it’s good news that only 5% said their child care is not meeting their needs.”

Kaitlyn Kelly, Community Services for Children’s assistant director of community initiative, said the next step will be another, more expansive survey using the Lupton Center’s Flourishing Neighborhood Index. The index uses data collected on economic, social and structural indicators to measure a community’s health. Haddad said the results from the index and the previous survey will help the partner organizations better coordinate efforts to provide services to the neighborhood.

Families First is looking for volunteers to help once surveying starts in May. Anyone who lives in Franklin Park or an adjacent neighborhood is eligible, and surveyors who complete 30 surveys will receive a $1,000 stipend.

Haddad said Families First will also hold what is being calling Care Uplift, after-school programs at Ripple Church, 1421 W. Turner St., where they will provide education and dinner, and try to find out what other types of support they can provide families. Shaak said it is important to find the gaps in resources so they can be addressed.

“It’s got to be iterative as we go because part of what’s really grounded in this is we work with communities and not do to communities,” Shaak said.