Today, the Alexandria Council of Human Service Organizations (ACHSO) released a report, Meeting Needs Today: A Needs Assessment of the Alexandria Human Services System - Volume 2, which provides a snapshot update of impressions regarding the state of Alexandria’s human services system – services, service gaps and service improvements – since the last needs assessment in 2008.

This report, the second in a series planned by ACHSO, is the product of a research committee headed by Hopkins House President, J. Glenn Hopkins.

The report revealed five key issue areas:

• Development of more affordable housing
• Early intervention  for physical and behavioral health and developmental issues for youth
• Bridging the information gap for immigrant non-English speakers, and most specifically immigrants who also cannot read or write in their native language
• Bridging the eligibility gap between subsidy levels (Medicaid, childcare, etc.) and income needed to afford the market cost of services
• Enhancing nonprofit advocacy – particularly at the local and state levels.

Copies of the report are available on the ACHSO website.