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Community Needs Assessment (CNA) 2019

DYCD introduced the 2016 Community Needs Assessment (CNA) to hear directly from New Yorkers and document their views on what is needed to improve the well-being of their own communities. The findings demonstrate that programs and services in the categories of education, employment/career advancement, and basic needs are the top priorities, and these just happen to be the resources that would especially benefit low-income New Yorkers. 

DYCD's recent program integration, systems upgrades and new analytics platforms support efforts such as this survey and the Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) process, allowing the agency to use community feedback to inform program design and assess program success as part of our continuous quality improvement process. Given the results of the 2016 CNA survey, DYCD will broaden its efforts to partner with other NYC agencies and community organizations to reduce barriers and better connect participants to existing resources, particularly in high-need communities.

Download the Community Needs Assessment Report

How did this CNA differ from previous assessments?

DYCD expanded on previous needs assessment efforts by introducing:

  • Multiple surveys that combine common questions regarding service needs and gaps along with questions tailored to specific stakeholder groups: adults, youth, employers, faith-based leaders, public school principals, program directors, CSBG-funded program participants, and key informants (elected officials and Community Board leaders).
  • Use of newly released publications and studies to identify the causes and conditions of poverty in New York
  • Adult Survey was translated in several prevalent languages including Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Bengali, Russian, Cantonese and Mandarin
  • In addition to paper distribution, DYCD developed a series of web-based survey platforms
Map of 42 Neighborhood Development Areas

Neighborhood Development Area (NDA) Profiles

Bronx

Brooklyn

Manhattan

Queens

Staten Island