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    Needs Assessment

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    maponloo
    Community needs assessments help identify community needs, concerns, issues, and assets. They can be done through various tools like focus groups, public forums, surveys, interviews, and asset mapping. The steps generally involve forming a committee, determining the needs/issues and community being assessed, choosing an appropriate tool, developing a plan, implementing the assessment, and reporting the findings. The results can then be used to target programs, empower community action, and determine if needs have changed over time.

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    Needs Assessment

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    maponloo
    532 views30 pages
    Community needs assessments help identify community needs, concerns, issues, and assets. They can be done through various tools like focus groups, public forums, surveys, interviews, and asset mapping. The steps generally involve forming a committee, determining the needs/issues and community being assessed, choosing an appropriate tool, developing a plan, implementing the assessment, and reporting the findings. The results can then be used to target programs, empower community action, and determine if needs have changed over time.

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    Community needs assessments help identify community needs, concerns, issues, and assets. They can be done through various tools like focus groups, public forums, surveys, interviews, and asset mapping. The steps generally involve forming a committee, determining the needs/issues and community being assessed, choosing an appropriate tool, developing a plan, implementing the assessment, and reporting the findings. The results can then be used to target programs, empower community action, and determine if needs have changed over time.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    532 views30 pages

    Needs Assessment

    Uploaded by

    maponloo
    Community needs assessments help identify community needs, concerns, issues, and assets. They can be done through various tools like focus groups, public forums, surveys, interviews, and asset mapping. The steps generally involve forming a committee, determining the needs/issues and community being assessed, choosing an appropriate tool, developing a plan, implementing the assessment, and reporting the findings. The results can then be used to target programs, empower community action, and determine if needs have changed over time.

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    of 30
    At a glance
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    The key takeaways are that a community needs assessment is a way to gauge opinions, assumptions, needs, key issues, and assets within a defined community. It can help identify community needs, target outreach programs, empower grassroots action, and determine if needs have changed over time. Some common assessment tools discussed are focus groups, public forums, surveys, interviews, and asset mapping.

    The document discusses two main types of communities: communities of place, which are defined by distinct boundaries and a common political, economic, and social system, and communities of interest, which are groups that share common interests, goals, or knowledge.

    Some common tools discussed for conducting community needs assessments are focus groups, public issues forums, secondary data analysis, community surveys, interviews, and asset mapping.

    Community Needs

    Assessment Tools

    Charlie French
    Community & Economic Development Specialist
    “Community”
    A body of persons having a common history,
    ethnicity, culture, geography, or interests.
    – Communities of Place: Defined by distinct
    boundaries and bound by a common political,
    economic and social system.

    – Communities of Interest: A group of individuals


    that share common interests, goals, or knowledge
    about something.
    Community Needs Assessment
    A way of gauging opinions, assumptions,
    needs, key issues, and/or assets within a
    defined community.
    Needs Assessment: Why do it?
     Identify community needs, concerns and issues

     Target outreach programs

     Empower grass-roots Action around needs

     Determine if needs have changed?

     Collect communities’ hopes/dreams/desires


    Community Assessment Tools
    • Focus Group Interview
    • Public Issues Forum
    • Secondary Data Analysis
    • Community Survey Questionnaire
    • Interviews
    • Asset Mapping
    Source: http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/tools/EN/chapter_1003.htm
    Focus Group Interview
    The focus group is a way to gather the opinions/
    ideas from a small, targeted group of citizens.
    The intention of focus groups is perhaps more to
    build a synergy of thoughts and ideas than it is to
    make projections about the community.
    Advantages Disadvantages
    • easy to conduct • ideas generated not
    • Provides detailed info necessarily prevalent
    • allows for issue probing • small sample for effort
    • stimulates thinking and • difficult to analyze
    discussion • quiet folks suppressed
    • requires participation
    Public Issues Forum
    Community forums are public meetings that
    involve residents to express their concerns about
    community issues, problems, and needs.
    Advantages Disadvantages
    • Diverse members can • requires skill/time
    share ideas • opinions obtained only
    • Provides quick look at from those who attend
    community issues • may generate more
    • involves local citizens questions or conflict
    • inexpensive
    Steps: Preparing for the Forum
    1. Form representative steering committee (5-15 people)
    2. Identify pressing issue(s) to form the focus of forum
    3. Select a trained facilitator
    4. Set a time and place:
    • Seating arrangement should encourage dialogue
    • have appropriate acoustics (i.e., microphone)
    • make sure the location is neutral (school is a great place)
    5. Publicize the forum
    6. Hit all the major media outlets
    Steps: Conducting the Forum Event
    1. Facilitator outlines process, what the results will be used
    for, and their role as facilitator.
    2. Do an ice-breaker to build trust.
    3. Brainstorm: The purpose of brainstorming is to generate
    ideas (if issues have already been identified go to step 5)
    4. Prioritize issues (you may want to do this via voting)
    5. Once issues have been identified, next step is to mobilize
    action groups (allow time for groups to meet and plan).
    6. Provide each group with action planner worksheet which
    gets them to write goal, objectives, planned activities,
    timeline, and persons responsible for activities.
    Steps: Followup after the Forum
    1. Develop a written report
    • If action is the goal, the report may be used as the basis for
    a plan
    • If change in policy is the goal, the report should emphasize
    priorities or final decisions.

    2. Disseminate the report using multi-media


    Secondary Data Analysis
    Secondary data is data that is collected about a
    particular audience without having direct contact
    with that audience. It can often provide insight
    .
    about emerging trends or issues in a particular
    community.
    Advantages Disadvantages
    • data already exists • representative sample
    • fast & easy to access may not be accurate
    • data available for many • gaps in data
    geographic levels • requires inferences
    • Lack of Data Richness
    Strafford Coos
    Age: < 6 Years 9,429 8.60% 2,452 7.5%
    6-11 Years 8,961 8.20% 2,728 8.4%
    12-17 Years 7,865 7.20% 2,904 8.9%
    18-24 Years 15,532 14.20% 2,311 7.1%
    25-34 Years 17,529 16.00% 4,158 12.8%
    35-44 Years 17,228 15.80% 5,140 15.8%
    45-54 Years 12,579 11.50% 4,140 12.7%
    55-64 Years 8,204 7.50% 3,268 10.0%
    65-74 Years 6,513 6.00% 2,914 8.9%
    75-84 Years 4,146 3.80% 1,873 5.7%
    85+ Years 1,305 1.20% 712 2.2%
    Median Age 32.3 38.4
    2000 Per Capita Income
    General Demographic Data
    http://factfinder.census.gov/ General data on housing,
    demographics, business...

    http://www.nhes.state.nh.us/elmi/index.html Look here for


    Labor Market information for New Hampshire.

    http://www.granit.sr.unh.edu/ NH natural resource info

    http://www.ed.gov/topics/topicsTier2.jsp?top=Research+%26
    +Stats&type=T&subtop=Statistics This site contains national
    and state-level data on education and test scores.

    www.nhhealthdata.org This website is an inventory of health


    data that is available to New Hampshire communities.
    Community Survey
    Community surveys help one to gather
    info about local attitudes regarding precisely
    defined issues, problems or opportunities.
    Surveys may be open ended or multiple choice.

    Advantages Disadvantages
    • wide distribution • expensive
    • good for data analysis • requires skill/time
    • strong sample of the • suffers low return rate
    population • poor qualitative tool
    Build a Survey on the Web
    The University of Illinois’ Laboratory for
    Community and Economic Development has a
    database of sample surveys/needs assessments
    as well as an an on-line survey-builder. Moreover,
    the website provides a flow chart clearly outlining
    every step of the survey process.
    http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~lced/main.html
    Interviews
    An interview is a conversation with a purpose,
    designed to help you gather information about
    peoples assumptions/perceptions of activities in
    your community. They are useful when looking
    for in-depth information on a particular topic.
    Advantages Disadvantages
    • detailed information • Time-consuming
    • allows for clarification/ • requires skill/time
    followup on questions • Information is hard to
    • personal contact builds summarize
    rapport • Little quantitative value
    Steps in an Interview Process
    1. Form a Steering Committee to guide process
    2. Determine who is to be interviewed
    3. Select a skilled Interviewer
    4. Select questions
    5. Decide on an interview format/delivery method
    – Formal or informal structure
    – Face-to-face, telephone, or email delivery
    6. Inform the participants
    7. Practice
    8. Steer / guide the interview session (take notes)
    9. Write a summary report
    10. Thank the interviewees
    Steps in an Interview Process
    1. Form a Steering Committee to guide process
    2. Determine who is to be interviewed
    3. Select a skilled Interviewer
    4. Select questions
    5. Decide on an interview format/delivery
    method
    – Formal or informal structure
    – Face-to-face, telephone, or email delivery
    6. Inform the participants
    7. Practice
    8. Steer / guide the interview session (take
    notes)
    9. Write a summary report
    10. Thank the interviewees
    Developing and Asking Interview Questions
    • Don’t ask defensive questions.
    • Avoid the two-in-one question.
    • Avoid complex questions.
    • Keep it short.
    Asset Mapping
    Asset mapping is a technique for cataloguing
    local community assets/resources to meet
    community objectives. The goal is to identify
    and utilize assets to better the community rather
    than to focus on problems and needs.
    Advantages Disadvantages
    • Focuses on what • Community assets may
    community already has. not match key issues.
    • Provides diverse look • People tend to respond
    at community assets. to crises rather than
    • Involves multiple possibilities.
    stakeholders.
    Assets Come in Many Forms
    • Human Assets
    • Associational Assets
    • Institutional Assets
    • Local Business Assets
    • Outside Resources
    Asset-Based Community Development
    Step 8 Step 1
    Identify Opportunities & Form a Steering
    Mobilize Community Committee

    Step 7 Step 2
    Cross Reference Needs Commit Resources
    with Assets
    Step 3
    Step 6 Identify your
    Develop Resource List Community

    Step 5 Step 4
    Administer Asset Decide on Inventory
    Assessment Tool Method
    Asset Mapping Resources

    - Vitalizing Communities, 1999. J. Allen, S. Cordes, and J. Hart.

    - The Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI) at the University of


    Nebraska.
    - Asset Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern
    University: http://www.nwu.edu/IPR/abcd.html

    - Other Community Development Links:


    http://www.uwfv.bc.ca/commdev.htm
    Community Asset Inventory
    1. Personal Skills Inventory
    2. Institution/Organization/Business Inventory
    3. Previous Efforts Inventory
    4. Community Development Opportunities
    5. Development of a Plan
    Factors for Choosing your Assessment Tool
     Purpose of Assessment
     Type of Data Needed
     Time Commitment
     Cost
     Skills needed
     Target Audience
     Sources of Bias
    Review: Steps for Conducting an Assessment
    1. Form a Steering Committee
    2. What need(s)/issue(s) are you addressing?
    3. Determine the community you are assessing.
    4. Determine assessment tool
    5. Develop a plan (who, what, when, where, how).
    6. Implement the assessment tool (see next page)
    7. Analyze the results
    8. Report the results
    9. Implement or instigate follow-through
    Using the Web to Administer Assessments
    The internet is increasingly being used to
    administer surveys and other types of needs
    assessments. Programs, such as Cold Fusion,
    enable one to build interactive web interfaces. In
    other words, as people fill out surveys on the web,
    the information is sent directly to a central
    spreadsheet where it can be analyzed on an
    ongoing basis. Web surveys are ideally suited to
    statewide or national assessments where on-the-
    ground techniques might be difficult.
    Presenting the Data
    • Clear and Concise
    • Combine numbers with text and graphics
    • Focuses on most important findings
    • Don’t try to put too much in it
    Assessment Tool Guides
    Asset Mapping: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/AssetMap.doc
    Concerns Survey: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/ComConSurv.doc
    Needs Survey: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/ComNeedSurv.doc
    Focus Groups: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/FocGroups.doc
    Interviews: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/Interviews.doc
    Public Forum: ftp://ceftp.unh.edu/PublicForum.doc

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