Grays Harbor parents with children ages 0-5 in their care will have a chance to weigh in on areas where local health services fall short for that demographic.

Grays Harbor County Public Health is currently completing an early childhood services gap analysis aimed at identifying “the holes in the service network in the county and identify ways to fill those gaps,” according to a press release from public health. The gap analysis will act much like recent assessments by public health, including the behavioral health gap analysis, which identified weaknesses in the county’s behavioral health system.

The gap analyses are used to make decisions about funding allocations and future services in the county.

As part of the gap analysis, public health is hosting a community forum and launching a survey to gather input from parents.

The community forum will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at Hopkins Preschool, 1313 Pacific Ave. in Aberdeen. Public health staff will be on hand to listen to perspectives of parents about the health needs of their children. Refreshments and beverages will be available, and childcare for people who bring their kids, according to the press release.

Interested participants should register ahead of time at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XMVG8BC or https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LTW7K6B for Spanish speakers. A Zoom option is also available through the registration links.

Those people who might not be able to attend the forum can still provide input by completing a survey at https://healthmanagement.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6h9fxHOLbKd3JhI. The survey takes 10-15 minutes