10.4 – Needs Assessment
Standard: The agency shall periodically conduct an assessment of assets and needs to identify existing and projected gaps in service and determine land, facility and service priorities. Need assessments are used to help determine priorities for developing services with the agency.
Needs assessments can use a variety of methods to obtain input from the community, including focus groups, advisory boards, forums, and surveys.
Suggested Evidence of Compliance: Provide the current needs assessment, describe the procedural steps in conducting the assessment, describe the frequency of updates, and describe the use of the assessment in agency planning.
COMMENT: Question: how frequently is the needs assessment conducted?
RESPONSE: The Westchester County Resident Survey is deployed every 10 years to residents to answer questions about parks, recreational facilities, trails, sports, aquatic and cultural facilities. The survey evaluates what sites are most utilized, the conditions, how residents hear about the aforementioned facilities, if needs are met, what facilities they feel are most needed, benefits gained from our facilities, benefits our facilities will provide for future residents, how they wish the Department invests in the parks system, what may prevent residents from visiting and overall satisfaction of the department.
COMMENT: Need: describe the use of the assessment in agency planning?
RESPONSE: Results from the survey are implemented into agency planning by developing programming that fits the needs of our constituents based on the feedback from our survey. For example:
- Muscoot Farm ranked as the most visited northern recreation facility and in order to keep residents happy and coming back, several capital projects have been deployed to ensure the farm remains up-to-date and a fun facility for families to return to for years to come.
- Kensico Dam Plaza is the most visited facility County-wide, and we want residents to continue to visit to experience the park so additional programming has been added like Zumba and Cornhole.
- Walking/hiking trails and pathways are another popular feature of the park system and the department continues to maintain and work on these facilities like updating planting, paving and extending pathways, including a section of the Bronx River pathway that was paved between Scarsdale and Hartsdale to give residents a seamless path.
Narrative:
PRC conducts an assessment of needs to identify both existing and projected gaps in service and land priorities during its comprehensive Residents Recreation Preferences Survey which is conducted every ten years. Several survey questions addressed needs assessment including types of facilities and activities available, are needs being met, and input on where to invest capital funding to meet existing or new needs. This and other data have resulted in the repaving of popular trailways and the addition of pickleball courts and a cricket pitch at facilities.
PRC commissioned WBA Research to conduct its last survey between July 2 and October 3, 2022 using an Address-Based Sampling (ABS) approach, which resulted in a total of 792 completed interviews across the three regions of the County. Results have a 95% confidence level.
Visitors are also offered an opportunity to comment through QR Code surveys conveniently located when visiting facilities which allow for the user to comment “in the moment.”
PRC also uses tools such as the Westchester 2025 A Partnership for Westchester’s Future effort managed by the Department of Planning which is designed to assist county government and its 45 local municipalities to work together and speak with one regional voice on the critical future needs for a county situated in the complex New York metropolitan area.
Additionally, Friends groups provide input and serve as a sounding board for needs.
Agency Evidence for Compliance:
10.4 – EOC 1 PRC Residents Recreation Preferences Survey 2022: Needs Assessment
10.4 – EOC 2 PRC Residents Recreation Preferences Survey 2022: Investing in the Parks System
10.4 – EOC 3 South County Trailway Repaved – Rivertowns Enterprise Story
10.4 – EOC 4 Pickleball Courts Open at Tibbetts Brooks Park – Facebook
10.4 – EOC 5 Cricket Pitch Opens at Croton Point Park – Media Release
10.4 – EOC 6 QR Code User Survey Results – Beaches and Pools 2023
10.4 – EOC 7 Westchester 2025 A Partnership for Westchester’s Future Webpage
Westchester 2025 (westchestergov.com)
10.4 – EOC 8 Friends of Parks Groups List