As a review of Part 1 of this blog series, in August 2023, as part of the statewide project, Know and Grow Oklahoma: Building Resilient Children, Families & Communities, the Potts Family Foundation awarded contracts to 15 communities to survey diverse groups of citizens, including families, extended family members, caregivers, service providers and others who touch the lives of children born from mid-2019 through May 2023, the pandemic years. In our last blog we covered what the Center for Family Resilience (CFR) at Oklahoma State University found as they evaluated the data submitted as part of the Discovery Project. Following is a recap from the CFR report.

Nationally, evidence indicates children born, right before or during the pandemic had very different early experiences coming into this world and may be exhibiting physical, emotional and cognitive delays. Here is what was discovered at the community level.

The CFR categorized the findings into three broad themes with subthemes. In Part 1, we revealed what they found in the Community Challenges theme. In this second part, we’ll highlight what was discovered in the theme of Community Needs.

Community Needs

There are three subthemes within this category as to what families with infants and toddlers experienced during the pandemic as well as what community needs have risen to the top as the world slowly discovers what lingering effects of the pandemic remain and could well be with us for years to come.

Community Supports such as specialized care, basic needs, child behavior management, postpartum and financial support were mentioned as a growing need by 71% of respondents. Resources related to child development, mental health and healthcare were a challenge for many communities and 57% of the responses indicated more support in this area is needed. Coming in at 36% was the need for Training in several areas, both for professional caregivers and parents. Specific areas of desired training include social emotional development, parenting skills, trauma-informed practices and children with special needs.

Representatives of the 15 communities that participated in this Discovery Project very much appreciated the opportunity to survey their community on what issues affected them most. Comments from one community service provider sums up the importance of this Discovery project by saying, “When we find out what our parents of young children need the most, we will be empowered to implement support strategies that are most needed and requested in the formats that people want and need.”

For a more in-depth review of the Community Supports findings, the full report can be found here. Stay tuned for part 3 of this blog series to find out more about what was discovered regarding Community Positive Experiences and community recommendations for what supports and resource children and families need going forward.

To learn more about Know and Grow Oklahoma, visit our website and follow us on social media.

This project is funded by a portion of the State’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awarded to Potts Family Foundation by the Oklahoma Legislature and in partnership with the Oklahoma State Department of Health.