COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK Background of Compassion for Migrant Children Compassion for Migrant Children (CMC) was

born of a desire to work for children of migrant workers in China. CMC strategically builds community centers in the heart of migrant neighborhoods and slums. Through and around these centers, it offers programs for migrant children, youth and their families, and also for teachers in migrant schools. CMC seeks to play a role in providing social and educational opportunities to many of these children while weaving an underlying web of hope that they so desperately need. Since its inception, CMC has been hard at work building bridges between itself and nonprofits and also between nonprofits and the migrant community. CMC partners with NGOs, community leaders, and the government to achieve this vision for the migrant communities. CMC has been working with migrant communities in Beijing for the past few years and in Shanghai for over one year. It has come to have faith in its strategy of building community centers as spaces for change for migrant communities. It now seeks to expand its geographical focus and replicate its strategies, where appropriate. It has chosen to work in partnership with NGOs for other migrant slums in Asia. Why a Needs Assessment Study Migrant and slum populations all over the world have several common characteristics like belonging to the lower income groups working as wage labourers or in informal sector enterprises, their non-legal housing status in communities, poor standards of civic and social infrastructure, and above all secondary status in urban areas. While these may be common features, migrant populations also have region-specific characteristics. Entering a new country, therefore calls for sound understanding of its specific characteristics so as to tailor strategies and programmes that meet the needs and aspirations of the communities. Overall goals of CMCs Needs Assessment Study (the why): 1. To gain a sense of what people think and to learn from the community 2. To gain a good sense of the communitys current status of wellbeing 3. To gain a good sense of the communitys assets, needs and solutions and to use the process of assessment to empower the community to understand itself better 4. To ensure that CMC intersects its approach with the felt needs and assets of the community 5. To begin the process of forming relationships with the community
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To begin the process of building partnerships with other stakeholders like NGOs, academic institutions, government institutions and experts in the field

7. To have sound baseline information, parts of which CMC could use in the future, to evaluate the impact of its programmes 8. Use the process of assessment to build the capacity of CMC staff as professional development workers 9. To build a case for CMC and CMCs stakeholders Specific objectives of the Study (the what):

1. Understand the context in which households in the community live and the issues the households would like to address. Gain a sense of demographics and migration dynamics
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Determine the status of education (children, youth, and parents), health, livelihoods, infrastructure, water and sanitation, services, social networks, etc of the community Determine the nature of community/public spaces currently available to the community, the extent to which they fulfill community needs and the gaps Determine the issues, problems and opportunities of the community, with special attention paid to children and youth, though including all in the community

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5. Map out existing institutions and stakeholders that communities come into contact with and gain a sense of community attitudes towards them 6. Locate hidden strengths and underutilized resources that can be tapped into 7. Shed light on the sense of community within communities and the range of differences within communities (if any) How will CMC use the Needs Assessment Information: To decide on the communities to work within each city To decide on the community groups to focus on within each community To be sensitive to the issues the community faces To tailor its portfolio of programmes according to communitys aspirations To set the stage for community participation in the programmes To build collaborative partnerships with institutions and relevant stakeholders within and outside the community Methods (the how) CMC basically wants to have 2 perspectives of the migrant communities. a) Macro perspective: General information on migrant communities (from secondary literature sources) in the city like: - number of slums/squatters in the city, where they are located and a short history of each. If possible to map out the slums. - Approximate population sizes - A general description the characteristic features of the slum dwellers. Eg. Dominant and minority castes, whether they are domestic of international immigrants, dominant occupations that they pursue, slums that are known for specific aspects like being organized, etc. - Any specific information about particular slums that is important to know b) Micro perspective: Based on the macro information above and on the advise of the research partner, CMC will try to narrow down on a few slums for the research partner to carry in-depth studies. The indepth study would try to cover the issues suggested in the Specifc Objectives above and keeping in mind Overall Goals. The methodology would include a small sample survey of households, a few interviews with key stakeholders and a few focus group discussions with people who would might benefit from CMC programmes if CMC worked in these communities (like children, youth and parents).

Deliverables To be confirmed with research partner