Klamath Tribal Community Needs Assessment
Project Profile
Client:
The Klamath Tribes of Oregon
Project Location:
Klamath County, Oregon
Project Time Frame:
November 2024 - May 2026
Services:
Household Survey
Stakeholder Interviews
Listening Sessions
Analysis of Newly Collected Data
Areas of Focus:
Demographics
Housing Conditions, Needs, and Preferences
Health & Wellness
Income and Finances
Transportation
Child Care
Economic Development
Project Description
The Klamath Tribes launched the Klamath Tribal Community Needs Assessment project to gather and analyze comprehensive data that reflects the needs and priorities of Klamath Tribal members and their families. By collecting accurate, up-to-date information about community demographics, housing conditions, educational attainment, employment statuses, income levels, transportation habits, and community priorities through a variety of methods, the Klamath Tribes aimed to strengthen their data collection capacity and create a portfolio of information that Tribal leadership, departments and programs can use to support collaborative, data-driven decision making. The project also created a platform for the Tribes to explore partnerships with non-tribal organizations and service providers in south-central Oregon that could improve the delivery of programs and services to Klamath Tribal members.
The Klamath Tribal Community Needs Assessment is an innovative initiative centered around four main goals:
Create a data set specifically representing Klamath Tribal members and households. The Tribes set out to design a survey that would collect information directly from households containing enrolled members of the Klamath Tribes since information representing this population cannot be extracted from publicly available datasets—including those produced by the United States Census Bureau.
Collect data that accurately represents Klamath Tribal members and households. Using local Tribal member field staff who would distribute the household survey questionnaire and assist Tribal members with completing their surveys, the project aimed to collect information that the Tribes can have faith in the accuracy of and that is vital for planning as well as grant writing.
Understand Tribal member needs and preferences regarding specific Tribal initiatives. Tribal staff would be encouraged to collaboratively design questions that would produce data to support comprehensive planning processes and inform the management, improvement and development of Tribal programs and services, information that publicly available data sets do not ask about and thus do not capture.
Engage the Klamath Tribal Community. Using listening sessions, community meetings and door-to-door surveying, the Tribes planned to engage Tribal members within and outside of their homes, giving Tribal members a chance to share their experiences and strengthening bonds within the Tribal community.