Josh Shaffer Mrs.

Velasquez Service Learning November 25, 2013 Community Needs Assessment Every community has needs whether we realize it or not. Although the needs of our community may not be obvious to us because we dont see it every day or it does not directly affect us, it is important that we make ourselves aware of these needs and do whatever we can to help out. One of the issues we currently face in Solano County is that accurate prenatal care is provided for women. By focusing on this issue, we may also be able to lower the rates of drug and alcohol use by women during pregnancy. Another issue that must be addressed is the rate of alcohol use by adolescents in Solano County. By working together on these issues, we can ensure a better community and a better future for everyone living in it. It is vital that members of our community have access to effective prenatal care. How effective prenatal care is can have a direct impact on rates of low birth weight, premature birth, and infant mortality. It can also have indirect impacts later on in childhood obesity rates and asthma rates. In Solano County, the percent of women with adequate prenatal care access is lower than the state percent of about 77 out of 100 by about 7 percent. Although this number has improved over the last several years, there is still visible room for improvement, and these numbers are significantly lower than the target of 90 percent of women having access to adequate prenatal care.

Alcohol usage by adolescents is another issue that we must address within our community. It is reported that over 20 percent of 11th graders binge drink. These numbers are far above the target number of two percent of adolescents participating in binge drinking. The numbers in Solano County are also slightly higher than the state percentage. Binge drinking can lead to serious impacts on the health of our youth and a significantly increased chance of alcoholism later on in life. It is important that this issue is given great attention since it can have such a significant impact on the well-being of the youth in our community. There are many ways that I myself and others can play an active role and help the community by addressing the needs it is currently facing. Increased development and better funding for programs that offer prenatal care is a vital step toward increasing the availability of adequate care. By organizing community events and petitioning for better funding of these programs, we can improve the situation and strive toward our communitys target numbers for prenatal care access. Regarding teen alcohol usage, there are many ways we can be active to decrease the usage of alcohol and other drugs in our community. Most importantly, we must work directly with our schools to provide seminars where we can speak directly to students about the dangers of adolescent use of alcohol. The best way to help is to inform, and we are all capable of sharing the information that is readily available on this issue and others. By taking these steps we can ensure a better and safer community for everyone.