By Heather Cameron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Taber Times
The Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) Community Needs Assessment is currently open to those who live in one of the 16 municipalities in the Barons-Eureka-Warner (BEW) region, being the communities of Barnwell, Barons, Coaldale, Coalhurst, County of Warner, Coutts, Lethbridge County, Milk River, M.D. of Taber, Nobleford, Picture Butte, Raymond, Stirling, Taber, Vauxhall, and Warner.
Dr. Lars K. Hallström, Director of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy that is based at the University of Lethbridge, said that the Community Needs Assessment is part of a broader project that the Prentice Institute is doing for the Barons-Eureka-Warner FCSS.
“We’ve been contracted by them to conduct a needs assessment for the prevention priorities that are set out by the Province of Alberta,” said Dr. Hallström. “This survey is part of our public and publicly focused data collection to get a better handle on the general population of citizens across the region see, think, feel, and have experienced in terms of those five prevention priorities.”
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Those five prevention priorities, Dr. Hallström stated, are homelessness and housing insecurity, mental health and addictions, employment, family and sexual violence across the lifespan, and aging well in the community.
The study, Dr. Hallström said, has been in progress since 2024 and is currently in the last phases, due to end in March 2026.
“It takes a long time to do these kinds of surveys,” said Dr. Hallström. “This is being complimented by other kinds of data collection. “We’ve done interviews, we’ve been out to community events. We’ve talked with people in their communities. We’ve talked with service providers across the region. We’ve talked with elected officials. We’ve talked with municipal officials. We’ve talked with FCSS staff. This is really a 360-degree approach to trying to understand where the strategic and operational needs of the region are in terms of those five prevention priorities.”
The Community Needs Assessment Survey can be found online at: https://uleth.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aidJGuCIjqMeay2?fbclid=IwY2xjawNsn3pleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiRllJQ212UVlEb1hxWFU2AR5v7r6XJai69cbjCfKhysshj8Um-mOtAtzUqIpJXRXsV4fzBm8ATJuYHKGB1w_ aem_JXqqmMugtTzR_ibacZhdvQ.
For more information about the survey and its purpose, contact Dr. Lars K. Hallström at prentice@uleth. ca or 403-380-1814 or Zakk Morrison, Executive Director at FCSS at zakk. [email protected] or 403-715-2260.
The survey, Dr. Hallström said, has been open since July 2025.
“We are very honoured to be able to do this kind of work,” said Dr. Hallström. “It’s very, very relevant to the communities that are involved, and the Prentice Institute has a mandate to support public decision making with evidence, so we are doing exactly what we were created to do.”
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