May 6, 2025
Many families with kids younger than 6 are struggling with the cost of basic needs and childcare. But why and how much are they struggling? And what can lawmakers do about it?
Those are just some of the questions that local nonprofits ROC the Future Alliance and Common Ground Health’s Healthi Kids Coalition seek to answer through participation in the 2024-26 RAPID Community Voices Project.
Created during the COVID-19 pandemic, the RAPID Survey Project from the Stanford Center on Early Childhood polls parents on a range of topics. This year and next, they will field surveys in Rochester, NY, to hear directly from parents and caregivers on such topics as their economic circumstances, parent and child well-being, child care, community and family health needs. The goal is to better understand families’ experiences with early childhood policies, programs, and other supports.
Different from typical survey processes, a team of Stanford researchers will rapidly analyze the survey responses and share them back with communities within weeks, enabling them to turn the insights into immediate action.
The first RAPID survey is available to parents/caregivers with children ages 0-5 in the City of Rochester until Thursday, May 29, 2025. Take the survey. This is the first in a series of 5 surveys that will be rolled out between now and August 2026.
“The RAPID Community Voices project gives us access to thousands of tested survey questions, technical assistance from Stanford researchers, and connections with other RAPID project teams fielding surveys in their communities, to better understand the needs of families of young children,” said Stephanie David, early childhood policy director for Common Ground Health. “It also gives us the rapid analysis and insights we need to drive change for families in our community.”
“The challenges to families in our communities grow day by day,” said Sara White Smith, director of collective impact with ROC the Future Alliance. “By getting the input of families and receiving the help of Stanford in analyzing it quickly, this will help our community respond in real time to these challenges.”
Other groups in the 2024-26 cohort are: The Early Childhood Alliance Onondaga in Onondaga County/Syracuse; Northside Achievement Zone, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Partnership for Community Action, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Whatcom County Health & Community Services, Whatcom County, Washington.
These organizations will conduct place-based surveys that promote parent- and data-informed programs, advocacy and policy making. The Community Voices project also aims to build the capacity of community and state-based organizations to gather and act on parent voices and data.
David said a project team that includes local families and other Rochester organizations is meeting to determine what questions are the most important to ask.
“Community input is key to this project,” David said. “The surveys will be designed by a project team that includes family caregivers. The survey data will be returned to the community and collectively owned by the community for use in future analyses.”
When it has been used in other communities, the RAPID survey has asked open-ended questions, including “What would you like your elected officials or other policymakers to know about how you and your family are doing and what you need during this time?” Answers to this question have focused on needing supports for the expense of child care, needing material supports to meet basic needs, health care and housing costs.
RAPID surveys gather essential information regarding the needs, health-promoting behaviors, and well-being of young children and the important adults in their lives. RAPID collects data monthly from parents and child care providers in all 50 states.