Community Needs Assessments Thomas P. Holland, Ph.D., Professor UGA Institute for Nonprofit Organizations

Why conduct a Community Assessment? To get information about public attitudes or opinions about specific issues, problems, needs, opportunities in the community Identify how people rank order issues in terms of importance or urgency Provide public input to policies, goals, priorities Assess public support for initiatives End speculation about “what people are thinking” or “what people really want” Build partnerships for change

Assessments may focus on Local assets, resources, activities, opportunities Proposed legislation or policy change Gaps, barriers, needs Attitudes, perceptions, behaviors, skills

Assessments can help a community by Improving understanding of the issues families face and want to address Identifying hidden strengths or underutilized resources to be developed Understanding needs, gaps, or barriers to using services Determining which resources could contribute to desired changes and how to use them Promoting engagement of citizens in collaborative efforts to make changes on issues that concern them Empowering people by providing roles in developing better understanding of others’ views and in formulating action steps to make changes together

Asset Mapping Examines strengths and resources of people and organizations May include skills, interests, experiences, resources, programs What could each person or organization contribute for others? Identify opportunities and barriers to sharing assets (such as location, accessibility, awareness, understanding, trust) Issues in matching assets with the concerns of others Issues of perceived appropriateness and quality

Who should be involved? Identify a sponsoring group, organization, or coalition to manage project and lend credibility. Invite other groups to participate in planning the assessment. Don’t leave out any leader or group that may be important to implementing findings. Be prepared to negotiate compromises among interests of organizational representatives, consumers, sponsors, others Recruit volunteers to gather the information Prepare community to expect and use the findings

Guiding Principles A shared vision statement will point toward information needed to take action. Focus on specific issues, and don’t try to cover everything. Draw upon diverse perspectives, not just the familiar ones. Involve many participants in developing plan, collecting information, interpreting results, formulating action steps. Communicate! Make sure participants and respondents understand what is expected. Make the whole process a learning opportunity for everyone. Coordinate efforts through a central person or team to avoid duplications or gaps. Be prepared to act on findings.

Key Steps Establish inclusive planning committee to solicit involvement, develop plan of action, oversee implementation. Identify the shared vision and the important issues to be addressed. Identify what specific information is needed and how best to get it. Build on previous assessments and available information. Specify the population and sample to be contacted. Develop and pre-test questionnaire. Train volunteers to gather information Collect and analyze the data. Report the results. Identify priorities and formulate action steps to achieve them them.

Approaches to collecting information (may use combinations) In-person interviews –Key informants or opinion leaders –Sample of population Telephone interviews Self-administered questionnaires Focus group discussions Community forums Review of data already available

Key Informant Approach Seeks information from selected leaders in positions to know community issues, such as –Elected officials –Business executives –Leaders of public service organizations –Professionals in specific service areas Requires interview questions and interviewers Advantages –Gets depth of information –Relatively easy and inexpensive Disadvantages –May get biased views –May overlook important perspectives (consumers’ views)

Public Forum Approach Uses open public meetings to discuss community concerns May include questions such as –What are the most important issues facing our community/ neighborhood? –What has been tried? What helped/ didn’t help? –What could we do to improve the situation? Requires ground rules and strong leadership to sustain focus Advantages –Open to a wide range of people and views –Encourages active participation –Inexpensive Disadvantages –Views may not be representative –May turn into gripe session –May generate more questions, unrealistic expectations, discontents

Focus Group Approach Uses a number of small groups to identify and examine issues Requires open-ended questions and skill in group facilitation Advantages –Allows many people to be involved without intimidation of large audience –Allows in-depth examination of issues –Inexpensive Disadvantages –Requires skills in group facilitation –Scheduling participation is a challenge –Discussions may drift into tangential areas –Limited time, limited discussions –Results may be difficult to interpret Variants: nominal group and Delphi techniques

The Survey Approach Systematic information gathered from a sample of residents Uses specific questions, administered by in- person interviews, telephone interviews, self- administered, mailed Requires skills in designing questionnaire, selecting sample, analyzing responses Advantages –Broad range of people may be included –Representative findings Disadvantages –Costly to develop and administer –Requires specialized skills –Not much depth on issues examined

Examples of discussion questions What opportunities or services does your family want most? Why? How well do the services of this organization meet your needs? What gaps or unmet needs concern you most? What attracts you to a service or resource? What barriers do you see to finding and using services you need? What new opportunities would you like to see for your family/ your children? What do you see as the important strengths and assets of this community? What conditions in our community benefit your family/ make it more difficult for your family? What recommendations do you have about this matter?

Examples of useful indicators Health –Immunization rates for young children –Percentage of babies with low birth weight –Rates of early prenatal care –Rates of births to single mothers under 18 –Views of health services accessibility Economic conditions –Poverty rates –Numbers of students receiving subsidized lunches –Young adults in school or employed –Housing mobility rates –Views of economic opportunities/ barriers

More examples of indicators School success –Rates of Head Start and preschool participation –Measures of academic performance –Student mobility rates –Graduation rates, drop-out rates –Views of school needs Family issues –Numbers of children in foster care –Numbers of families on child care waiting lists –Numbers of DFCS cases –Juvenile incarceration rates –Views of family needs

Using the Findings Process must have included people who can act on the findings Findings should support specific conclusions and recommendations for action Report must be easy to understand Select priorities (you can’t work on everything at once) May allocate issues among several work groups Identify specific targets for change Recruit or develop skills and resources for action Monitor progress and communicate successes widely Be prepared to deal with barriers without losing momentum

Challenge Design a community assessment plan that a coalition of nonprofit organizations could implement in New Orleans soon after a large number of its residents have returned. Show how that plan makes use of the principles and approaches covered in the course material on community assessment.