Complementing Public Data with Community Voice to Address Neighborhood Needs

Bijan Kimiagar (Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York)

In addition to the demographic information available from the US Census Bureau on New York City’s community districts, city and state agencies make publicly available a wealth of administrative data useful for neighborhood-level planning and decision-making. However, these data resources often do not directly address the topics which are priorities for residents. This paper reviews examples from Citizens’ Committee for Children’s recent community-based assessment projects that identified both welcomed and worrisome neighborhood level trends through analyses of public administrative quantitative data, as well as qualitative data collected as part of participatory workshops with parents of young children, young people, and service providers who work directly with children and their families. The presentation will identify a variety of public data sourcesavailable in New York City, and as well as methods for engaging residents in conversations about community resources and risks to improve conditions for New York City families across a variety of domains, including economic security, housing conditions, health, education, and safety.