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Community needs assessment identifies urgent human-services gaps; prioritization summit planned
Summary
Tempe Community Council released initial findings from a community needs assessment by ASU’s SERC, identifying crisis areas and planning a July prioritization summit to set funding and program priorities for FY 2026–27.
Tempe Community Council presented early findings from a human-services Community Needs Assessment conducted by Arizona State University’s Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center (SERC), and announced next steps including a July prioritization summit.
"This report really not only highlights Tempe's critical needs, but provides us with a lot of questions that we want to explore," Octavia Harris, TCC executive director, told the council. Kim Vanenwegan, TCC Community Impact Manager, described SERC’s mixed-methods approach: surveys of residents and providers, key-informant interviews, focus groups and in-depth interviews with people with lived experience.
SERC examined more than 18 topics, including household issues, health and wellness and populations with specific needs. Harris said the assessment will inform three areas: the agency-review funding process, Tempe Community Foundation grant priorities and City of Tempe human-services planning. The presentation tied the assessment to Tempe City Council strategic performance measures cited in the briefing (for example, youth drug use/misuse and community health and well-being).
TCC said the advisory and research teams will convene further conversations with community members, people with lived experience, program providers and city staff; those discussions will culminate in a prioritization summit in July where participants will rank potential actions using 14 criteria. The summit’s outcomes will be used to define goals, strategies and measurable outcomes that will inform funding decisions for FY 2026 and 2027.
Councilmembers praised the assessment’s approach and asked to be engaged for feedback; TCC said it will return with progress and seek council input in early fall.
