The original W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant that established AAACF’s Youth Council in 1989 requires that Youth Council conduct a needs assessment every three years to identify the concerns and needs of our community's youth.

The purpose of the Needs Assessment survey is to gain a better and deeper understanding of the issues that are of greatest concern to young people in our community. Survey results help shape Youth Council’s funding priorities and identify possible opportunities and areas for Youth Council to lead. Youth Council also feels that the Needs Assessment helps to give a real and credible voice to the population it is trying to serve.

Youth Council's past needs assessments have been instrumental in helping to improve our community for youth. A 1998 Needs Assessment identified the need for a safe place where teens could gather after school – not just to hang out but to have opportunities to participate in meaningful programming. That report inspired a group of young teens to do something and  led to the creation of Ann Arbor's teen center – the Neutral Zone.

Listed below are the results for the Needs Assessment completed in the Fall of 2010:

Programs that deserve funding:
    1. After school recreation and social activities
    2. Music programs
    3. Mentoring
    4. Art programs
    5. Job skill/Job Training Activities

Youth would personally participate in the following programs:
    1. After school recreation and social activities
    2. Art programs
    3. Music programs
    4. Job skill/Job training activities
    5. Youth-led programs

While the Needs Assessment Survey serves as a major guide for grantmaking priorities, Youth Council also recognizes that funding opportunities will arise that are either outside of the scope of the Needs Assessment or the result of new and developing needs within the community. Youth Council is committed to trying to serve those needs as well whenever possible.

If you have questions, please email YC Advisor Chris Lemon.