Community Needs and Assets Assessment

Evaluator's Corner

Community Needs and Assets Assessment
by Julia Kohn, Evaluation Manager

Community programs are designed to solve problems and meet community needs. However, many times programs are undertaken without a clear understanding of the problem and with little information about what is already being done to address it in the target community. Furthermore, longstanding programs may continue to run virtually unchanged even though the community problem may have improved or changed in some way. For these reasons, it is important to develop a thorough understanding of the problem or need before launching a program, and before designing an evaluation.

One good way to get a handle on a social problem or need in a community is through a needs and assets assessment. A needs and assets assessment should describe:

• the extent or scope of the problem in the community;
• a summary of current interventions designed to address the problem;
• any relevant gaps between the community needs and the services available;
• what community residents think and feel about the problem;
• what causes the problem; and,
• how it can be prevented (using current research and theory).

Fortunately, many community-based organizations do make some effort, either formally or informally, to assess community needs. It is equally important, however, to take stock of a community's strengths, such as existing local programs and services that are designed to support area youth. Not only will this help you to focus an intervention and ensure that it does not already exist in the community, but it will help to assess whether there are existing programs and services that may help or hinder your efforts. For example, if you are offering a comprehensive sexuality education program in an after-school setting, it is important to know exactly what kind of sexuality education teens are getting in school. Knowing what kind of established parent groups exist in your community may provide you with an existing network of parents to tap into or engage in some way. Finding out what kinds of activities are available for teens during after-school hours may help you to design your program so as to get the participants that are most in need of your program. In short, it is important to realize that a program does not, and should not, exist in a vacuum, and that assessing both community needs and assets will help you to design the most effective program for your target audience.

Community assessments vary widely in their scope and complexity. Some communities may be able to draw heavily from existing data, such as reports from local governmental or community-based organizations. Other communities may decide to collect new data, or may have to collect new data due to lack of existing information about the given community. In any community there are a variety of sources from which to collect information. Some of those include local agency officials, community leaders, community residents, parents, and teens. Be aware that it can sometimes be difficult to organize the competing thoughts and ideas of many different groups. If possible, assign a small group or task force to take on this challenge.

A community needs and assets assessment should ultimately result in a problem statement - a clear summary of your needs and assets assessment information that combines the data that you gathered, the interviews you conducted, and any existing reports you reviewed. Your problem statement should include the following: 1) your point of view on the problem; 2) a description of the population(s) affected by the problem; 3) evidence of the scope and nature of the problem; 4) your ideas about how to address the problem; and, 5) indicators that would suggest the problem has improved. Ideally, your programs would have been developed from your problem statement and relevant research on the subject. As we all know, programs do not always develop this way. But it is never to late to reassess your current programs to ensure that they are still relevant and necessary for your community, and to evaluate whether or not you are meeting your program goals and objectives.

Below are selected resources on needs assessment:

Sociometrics. Assessing Your Community's Needs and Assets: A Collaborative Approach to Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. Available from http://www.socio.com/.

McArdle, Geri. (1998). Conducting a Needs Analysis (Fifty-Minute Book). Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications.

Samuels, B., Ahsan, N., Garcia, J., & Family Resource Coalition. (1995). Know Your Community: A Step-By-Step Guide to Community Needs and Resources Assessment. Chicago: Family Resource Coalition.

Witkin, B.R., & Altschuld, J.W. (1995). Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

If you have questions about evaluation, would like assistance, or would like to request an Evaluator's Corner edition on a particular topic, please do not hesitate to contact me: Julia Kohn, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, 434 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001. Phone: 212-261-4629. Fax: 212-247-6269. Email: julia.kohn@ppfa.org