The Family Support Center is a part of the NYU Lutheran Family Health Centers system and provides non-medical services such as counseling, benefit enrollment assistance, and an ESOL program. Laura analyzed data from the Comprehensive Needs Assessment each of the 264 enrolling ESOL students have completed over the past year. Relationships were identified between various demographic groups and types of need in order to assist the center’s staff in creating and tailoring programs to meet the specific needs of their community.
The first phase of the project consisted of a series of maps comparing Brooklyn census data to student demographics, which showed that in most respects the student population is consistent with the make-up of the Sunset Park neighborhood where the center is located. The second phase consisted of statistical analyses to identify overlapping characteristics among the student population, and resulted in conclusions including that students with better computer skills make an average of about $6,300 more per year, but primarily because they work more hours per week not because they make a higher hourly wage. The third phase looked at the density of specific types of need in comparison to community organizations offering related services.
One finding was that students who are planning to get a job are less likely than average to be planning to get their GED, but students who are planning to get a better job are more likely than average to be planning to get their GED. But while 71% of students planning to get a job live within a half mile walk of a vocational training program, only 12% of students planning to get their GED live within that distance of a GED class.
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