United Way holding needs assessment meetings

The United Way of Jasper County and representatives of a consulting firm have been holding a series of meetings this week to get input from local residents on a needs assessment of the area conducted recently.

Dialogos Consulting of Estes Park, Colo., at the request of the United Way of Jasper County sent out a questionnaire to approximately 400 professionals in business, education, clergy, health care and public safety in September. About 200 surveys were returned.

Rene Moquin, president of Dialogos has been in Newton this week to gain further input from those groups concerning the questions involving the major problems affecting the county today. Law enforcement and other city and county officials answered a number of questions from Moquin, including public perception of law enforcement's response to a variety of problems, such as drug use, child abuse, juvenile crime and burglaries.

“I will urge the United Way to bring to the public one or two issues to solve,” Moquin told the group of public safety and law enforcement officials Thursday afternoon. “In my opinion, giving more money to departments to solve problems is a mistake. The key is to find the right person to provide leadership to deal with the problem. Those being impacted by the problem, whether it’s substance abuse or poor parenting, need to be a part of the solution. They will determine what’s missing, and then that narrows the discussion. Perhaps then a pilot program could begin.”

United Way director Megan Crawford said results of the survey will be made available to the public early next year.

cutline:

Dialogos Consulting president Rene Moquin gathers input from local law enforcement professionals Thursday at Newton City Hall. The consultant, along with United Way of Jasper County, held a series of listening sessions this week to augment the needs assessment survey of the county.