Comprehensive Community Needs Assessments

1. Comprehensive Community Needs Assessments Office on Volunteerism and Community Service October 23, 2014

2. Presentation Purpose/Content ROMA Cycle Why a comprehensive community needs assessment? Tie to the Strategic Plan, including the Board Planning Data/Information Choices and Collection Analysis Action

3. ROMA Cycle Includes Assessment and Planning

4. Comprehensive Community Needs Assessment • A community needs assessment is a requirement of CSBG Act (Section 676(b)(11), part of ROMA cycle • A comprehensive community needs assessment seeks: • Greatest community needs • Available community resources • Organization’s needs/abilities (to meet needs identified)

5. Why a CCNA? For Strategic Planning (information for making choices) ROMA (targeting) Support community partners decision-making process

6. Community Needs Assessments and the Strategic Plan • A comprehensive community needs assessment isn’t the strategic plan, but it is essential to a good one Feeds yearly goals/outcomes, specific expected improvements in the community long- and short-term Setting Family, Agency, and Community goals requires more than just needs data

7. Initial Planning • Severely underestimated in importance and time required • All stakeholders involved in this phase (not staff only) • Board, Mgmt. Staff need to set aside substantial time • Prepare Board for the process • Fresh process, reexamination of how we’ve done this • What do you need to lead?

8. Initial Planning • What are the expectations for a finished product? • Identify needs • Identify partners • Identify big-picture concerns (policy, funding) • Community education (of what the needs are)

9. Initial Planning • What are the expectations for a finished product? • Defining terms • Timetable • How will we use it? • Who will need to see it?

10. Initial Planning • What categories do leaders want to use? • Broad, agency-wide? • Specific CSBG, ROMA?

11. Planning Assessment Implementation • Assessment Leader • Assessment Team • Diverse skills/viewpoints, adequate time to contribute • Community, partner, Board, management

12. Planning Assessment Implementation • Refine the work of the Leadership • Needs, categories to look at • What are the indicators? • The data that will be needed • Tools to get that data that you have, needed • Groups you’ll need to target to get the rest

13. Information/Data • Community Profile is the one most often included in every assessment • Target population and its characteristics • CCAP tool can provide you with some of this • Dig deeper, look for trends, emerging conditions that could create need

14. Information/Data • Create a planning tool • What data you want, the place to get it from, and how you will get it? • Identified issues and their indicators • From leadership and Assessment Team Brainstorming Ensure that all goals, expectations, categories, and outcomes are planned out before beginning the collection of data!!

15. Data Collection • Statistical Data (Quantitative) • National Performance Indicator/Outcome Data for your agency • Available Public statistics (census, govt, partner data, PDC, Income, Employment) • Demand for services at your agency, in community • Multi-year databases within the agency or partners for finding trends

16. Data Collection • Qualitative • Surveys • How it’s administered impacts the results greatly (online, mail, onsite) • Keep language simple, with a positive feel, to encourage participation • Question choice needs to be specific enough to be useful • Ex. Health Care as a need doesn’t give enough to determine partners, types of services, whereas dental care for kids under 5 is better.

17. Data Collection • Partner Surveys • Looking at the capacity/resources the organization has/needs • The needs of those they serve • Their view of your agency? If anonymous….

18. Data Collection • Qualitative • Community Forums, Community Meetings • Can yield great information, and keep the community in tune with the agency processes • Need good outreach to get participation, and careful choices on the issues and where meetings are held matter. • Have a good agenda with flexibility built in

19. Data Collection • Qualitative • Community Forums, Community Meetings • Have plenty of ways to capture input • Community Forum/Meeting could be done first, to educate the survey • Know the audience before the conversation, if possible • Strong voices and frequent contributors may lessen input of others

20. Data Collection • Qualitative • Focus Groups • Can be more specific, easier to control, easier to facilitate, easier to plan • Skill of the facilitator greatly increases the outcomes of a focus group discussion • Record and review later

21. Data Collection • Qualitative • Interviews • Target community leaders • Leave more room for conversation, less bulleted questions • Active listening

22. Assessment Report • Analyzing the Data • Use your Community Profile (from Statistical Data mainly, but can include qualitative) • Find the areas of interest, the places that make sense to focus • Analysis • the relationship of community to State/Nation data • Comparing your CSBG/program data to more general data • Past/present • Comparing similar communities

23. Assessment Report • Analyzing the Data • Qualitative • Review results of surveys, interviews, forums, groups • This is where the early planning really pays off • Assign this information to an issue from your planning tool/framework • You are interpreting the information you’ve collected • Not all information collected is good, helpful

24. Assessment Report • Create reports, personalized for the receiver’s need • This is a comprehensive set of information, analyzed and made useable • Decisions and an Action Plan come from this • Describe the process for how this will occur • Strategic planning will……? • Presentations will be made to partners by…..? • Community members can hear more about the results at …..?

25. ROMA Cycle Includes Assessment and Planning

26. Questions? • Matt Fitzgerald (804) 726-7142 • Matt.fitzgerald@dss.virginia.gov • Go to NASCSP for the document from which the ideas in this presentation came