1993 Need Assessment Update & Fiscal Year 1994-95 Interim Priorities
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SAN MATEO COUNTY
FIELDS OF SERVICE CATEGORIES

• There is little local information in this field of service. AIDS education within the Bay Area is a good example of community efforts to increase knowledge and prevent disease. The public education efforts include diverse media messages, written and oral, as well as workshops. Health professional and volunteers have worked together in education advocacy.

• Innovative public education methods need to be applied to reach people unaware of available services, especially the poor and non-English speakers. Service providers need to learn and adept to cultural issues that block access to ethnic minorities.

• School age immigrants tend to be a group without advocacy. Parents lack understanding of the US public education system; immigrant and refugee community self-help groups are busy with legalization, housing, healthcare, and inter-racial conflicts. It is important that the community based immigrant self-help organizations, refugee resettlement groups and child advocacy groups work together on behalf of young immigrants in school.

• Major concerns for information and referral are: homeless children; assistance with housing; transportation; outreach to homebound and ethnic minorities. Trends in this service are influenced by an increase in complexity of problems, more coordination and cooperation and cooperation among agencies. These expansions in service require more time, more in depth assessment and more follow up. There is still an unmet need for information.

• In San Mateo, the problems of families needing services are so large relative to resources that service coordination and community organizing are vital. Some excellent examples of service coordination exist in the County: The Homeless and Hunger Coalition; The Children's Executive Council; Adopt-a-School programs between the schools in 24 school districts and businesses coordination by the County Office of Education.

• There is negligible information on community organizing one exception is the set of public forums and community discussion groups held in 1989 - 1990, called "County 2000". The purpose of this series was to simulate citizen interest and participation in shaping the future of the county.

• 50% of all volunteers are employed outside of the home. Volunteers now have to be recruited from the workplace. Corporation need to be encouraged to create release time programs in which employees volunteer on company time. 45% of all Americans donate an average of 4.7 hours a week to volunteer work. The largest percentage of volunteer time goes to religious organizations, informal education and health activities. in that order. Women still are the largest group of volunteers. There is a clear relationship between contributing volunteer time and giving: a higher percentage of volunteers donate money to charities than those who do not volunteer.

• There is a need for at-risk youth serve their communities. Since many volunteer services programs include skills training, exposure to workplace requirements, and a chance to build a resume, these services clearly have a value for disadvantaged youth. Besides, servicing others can give young people who sense themselves as victims a chance to develop a sense of self-worth with a positive outlook for the future.

• Other people who benefit from the training and socialization of volunteer experience are people in transition such as immigrants, women entering the workforce, youth, those leaving the mental health system  and those leaving the criminal justice system.

• Companionship services which link volunteers to clients need more volunteers. Such services for the elderly and homebound prevent or delay costly institutionalization.

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