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Sponsored and Facilitated by: Childress County Office Texas Cooperative Extension The Texas A&M University System |
Introduction
This report presents the results of the Childress County Forum
conducted Thursday, March 25, 2004 in Childress. This Forum is part of the
Childress County Futures Forum coordinated by the Childress
County Extension Office. Such events are being held in every Texas
county as part of the Texas Community Futures Forum, a state-wide needs
assessment sponsored and facilitated by Texas Cooperative Extension.
Texas Community Futures Forum
County-level involvement in the Texas Community Futures Forum began in January 1999, with Texans from all segments of the population participating. Citizens in every county were asked to study, discuss and define their communities' current and future needs. Because the populations of Texas counties vary widely, within the framework of the Futures Forum a "community" may be a neighborhood, town, county or region.
Texas Cooperative Extension facilitated the partnering of county government, state agencies, organizations, businesses and other groups to gather information about local needs and issues, and then helped organize action teams to address them. This was an ambitious undertaking. It was also a unique opportunity for many groups to work together in meeting the needs of Texans in the 21st Century.
The 2004 Texas Community Futures Forum process builds off of the previous effort to once again gather information about local needs and issues in all 254 counties. This information will be shared with all of Extension's partners and used as the basis for Extension's long-range outreach education plan for 2005-2008. Extension educational programs, which are available to all Texas residents, will be developed in response to community needs and in conjunction with participating partners.
The products and benefits of this process will be many. All of the issues identified locally will be posted on the Internet for county government, state agencies and other organizations and groups to review and use in developing their own strategic plans. The results from all counties will also be compiled and analyzed in light of trend data to create a comprehensive report. This report will be available to all partners in the Texas Community Futures Forum and to others on request. The information will help all groups to more directly focus their activities and resources; it also will reveal areas of common interest in which partnering groups can work together to solve community problems.
Participants in the Childress County Forum
On Thursday, March 25, 2004, 23 individuals attended the Childress County Forum. They represent a cross-section of county residents, public agencies and businesses in the area. This forum was facilitated by the following individual(s): Vanessa Davis. Other(s) supporting this effort included: Roxanne Sumpter, Alda Beth Garrison, Sue Haile.
Purpose of the Childress County Forum
The purpose of the Forum was to solicit and prioritize citizens' opinions about the most important needs and concerns in Childress County. A modified Nominal Group Technique was used to conduct the forum.
The County Forum Agenda
Introductions and Overview: The Forum began with a general session to review the overall agenda, discuss the facilitation process and rules, and pose the question to be considered. Participants were then divided into 4 small groups.
Small Group Session: Participants were asked to respond to the following question:
Participants recorded their responses on paper. These items were displayed for all small group participants to see. Items were then grouped and edited by participants to eliminate duplicates and combine similarities. In the last step of the small group session, each person was allocated ten votes (represented by adhesive dots) to be used among the items he or she believed to be the most important. The outcome was a group consensus for the relative importance of the items. The top-ranked items from each small group were reported in the large group session. All items generated in small groups are in appendix 1.
Large Group Session: First, duplicate and similar statements from the 4 group(s) were edited to eliminate redundancies. Using the voting procedure described above, participants then voted for the items they considered most important.
A final step in the process gave the participants an opportunity to identify entities in the county which are best positioned to work on the issues identified. Participants were asked to respond to the following question:
Which entities (agencies, organizations, community groups, etc.) are positioned to best address these issues?
Information from this step was recorded for each of the top-ranked issues. Results of this part of the process are provided below.
Priority Needs in Childress County Identified by Participants in the County Forum
The following table reports the final rank of items generated by the Childress County Forum.
Table 1: Critical Issues and Entities Identified in Childress County, Thursday, March 25, 2004.
| Rank (Vote) | Description | Entities/Organizations Involved |
| 55 | lack OF QUALITY WATER SUPPLY FOR THE CHILDRESS COUNTY AREA(DOMESTIC USE)THERE IS NO STORAGE FOR HEAVY RAINS. WATER RIGHTS SALE. TO HELP WITH WATER SHORTAGE PERHAPS BUILD A LAKE AT PEASE. | SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, CITY COUNCIL, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, GREENBELT WATER AUTHORITY, RED RIVER WATER AUTHORITY, TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. |
| 50 | LACK OF QUALITY, FAMILY SUSTAINING INDUSTRY. JOBS FOR YOUNG FAMILIES TO MAKE THEIR HOME IN CHILDRESS. BUILDING UP OF APARTMENTS AND STORES IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA(IE:GROCERY). PROVIDING JOBS FOR THOSE WITHOUT MORE THAN A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. NEED TO BRING YOUNG EDUCATED PEOPLE TO CHILDRESS BY PROVIDING MORE ACTIVITIES AND PLACES TO MEET. CHILDRESS AND THE AREA NEED SOME TYPE OF LIGHT INDUSTRY, SUCH AS SOME TYPE OF MANUFACTURING BUSINESS TO LOCATE HERE AND HELP PROVIDE JOBS FOR OUR LOCAL POPULATION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY | CHILDRESS BUILDING CENTER, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD, CITY COUNCIL, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE-GO TEXAS, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, PANHANDLE PLANNING COMMISSION, AREA COLLEGES, TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. |
| 43 | DRUG EPIDEMIC JUST THE YOUTH. NEED AN ACTIVITY CENTER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. MORE ENTERTAINMENT WITH GOOD SUPERVISION AT ALL TIMES. LAW ENFORCEMENT WHEN CAUGHT. MORE EDUCATION FOR PARENTS. NEED HELP FOR THE COMMUNITY MEMBER OR KID WANT TO QUIT DRUGS. EXAMPLES INCLUDE A COMMUNITY COUNSELOR, REHAB CENTER AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FAMILIES. NEED REALISTIC ALTERNATIVES TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE GROUNDED. HOLD PARENTS RESPONSIBLE. PROVIDE A COUNTY BOOT CAMP OR OTHER INTERVENTION. | POLICE AND SHERIFF, CITIZENS TAKE ACTION, STUDENTS TAKE ACTION, SCHOOLS, CITY COUNCIL, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD, CHURCHES, BANKS, TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. |
| 25 | PROVIDING TEENS WITH MORE POSITIVE FORMS OF RECREATION, POSSIBLY AN ACTIVITY CENTER. HAVE A HEALTH AND FITNESS CENTER OPEN TO ANYONE YOUNG OR OLD. HAVE TRAINERS AND CLASSES IN FOODS AND EXERCISE. HOPEFULLY THERE WOULD BE MENTORING BETWEEN THE YOUTH AND ADULTS | TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, SCHOOLS, CITY COUNCIL, CHILDRESS COUNTY COURT, PROPERTY OWNERS WITH VACANT BUILDINGS |
| 21 | LACK OF RESPECT FOR THE COMMUNITY TO KEP A CLEAN CITY. BEAUTIFICATION-CLEAN UP-RESIDENTAL AREAS, OLD, FALLING DOWN HOUSES, TRASH, WEED, CONTINUAL CLEANUP OF DOWNTOWN AND WEEDS GROWING THROUGH SIDEWALK. POTHOLES EXIST ALL OVER THE TOWN IN ALL AREAS-PAVED AND DIRT ROADS. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES. | CITY COUNCIL, KEEP CHILDRESS BEAUTIFUL, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, ORGANIZED VOLUNTEERS, LOCAL CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS, LOCAL YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS, TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. |
| 15 | NEED FOR AFFORDABLE AND ASSISTED LIVING, VETERANS HOME IN CHILDRESS | |
| 14 | TEEN PREGNANCY-PROVIDE EDUCATION AND AWARENESS. NEED FOR COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL SUPPORT. JUST SAY NO! | |
| 8 | UPGRADE OF EXISTING SEWER FACILITIES. PLAN TO IRRIGATE GOLF COURSE WILL NOT WORK UNLESS WATER IS PROPERLY PROCESSED | |
| 7 | NEED FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND CARDIAC CARE FACILITIES IN CHILDRESS. |
Note: Items are the actual and unaltered responses submitted by the participants. Any discrepancy between an item listed here and the same item in the small group listing (see appendices) is due to editing by participants in the general session. The numbers in the Rank column represents the number of votes participants gave to the corresponding item. Higher numbers denote greater importance.
Future Plans for the Childress County Community Futures Forum
The Futures Forum process gives residents of Childress County the opportunity to identify critical issues that affect them, their families, and their communities. Many local and area agencies and organizations want input from local residents to better focus their activities and resources. Working together, such groups can plan individual, joint or coordinated actions to effectively address a county's or community's critical needs.
Note: Small group results are reported here as they were submitted; they have not been edited or changed in compiling this report.
Items Identified by Participants of Small Group(s), Childress County Forum, Thursday, March 25, 2004.
| Small Group # |
Vote | Description |
| 1 | 14 | Providing job opportunities for those without more than a High School education |
| 1 | 6 | Recreational activities for youth to occupy their time |
| 1 | 12 | Drug Abuse and Prevention for all. |
| 1 | 7 | Continual improvement of parks and recreational facilities |
| 1 | 10 | Water Shortages |
| 1 | 10 | Building up of stores and apartments in downtown(ie: another grocery) |
| 2 | 7 | The issue of providing teenagers with more positive forms of recreation...possibly an activity center. |
| 2 | 17 | Lack of quality, family sustaining industry. Jobs for young families to make their home in Childress, TX. |
| 2 | 12 | Potholes over the whole town. Driving around on either paved or dirt, the town is full of potholes, these need to be repaired. |
| 2 | 1 | Lack of Respect for the Community to keep a clean city |
| 2 | 13 | Lack of quality water supply for the Childress County Area(domestic use). |
| 2 | 11 | Beautification-clean up residential areas, old falling down houses, trash and weeds. Continual clean up of downtown area-weeds growning through the sidewalks. |
| 3 | 10 | Bring young educated people to Childress with job opportunities. Need for activities and places to meet. |
| 3 | 7 | Upgrade of existing sewer facilities. Plan to irrigate golf course will not work unless water is properly processed. |
| 3 | 7 | Teen Pregnancy-need for education, awareness, and community/school support. JUST SAY NO! |
| 3 | 14 | Drugs-not just youth. Need for Activity center for young people. More entertainment offered with good supervision at all times. Law must be enforced when caught and parents held liable as well. More Education for parents |
| 3 | 10 | Water shortage(no storage for heavy rains). Water rights sale |
| 4 | 16 | A health and fitness center for young and old alike open to anyone who wants to join. Have trainers and classes in foods and exercise etc. |
| 4 | 8 | Juvenile justice. Drug epidemic among young people. Need realistic alternatives to keep young people grounded. Parental responsibility. County boot camp or other intervention. |
| 4 | 1 | Need for more water-perhaps building a lake at Pease |
| 4 | 5 | Need for local Mental Health and Cardiac Care Facilities |
| 4 | 11 | Childress and the area are in need of some light industry, such as some type of manufacturing business to locate here and help provide jobs for our local population and diversification of the local economy. |
| 4 | 12 | Need help for our community members/kids that are using drugs and want to quit. Examples are a Community counselor, Rehab center, and opportunities for families |
| 4 | 7 | Need for affordable assisted living and a Veterans Home. |