Program Development

Question 1

● A community needs assessment is done to develop an informed understanding of the gaps or needs that exist within a community and their impacts upon the community’s
members.
● A community needs assessment identifies the strengths and resources available in the community to meet the needs of children, youth, and families.
● 5 Steps of Conducting a Community Needs Assessment:
Step 1: Define the Scope: What issue are you looking at? Housing? Mental
Health?
Step 2: Collaborate: Partner with existing groups/organizations.
Step 3: Collect Data: Use things such as surveys, focus groups, demographic
information, and/or interviews.
Step 4: Determine Key Findings.
Step 5: Share your Findings.
● Note: If we are working with a new population, there may be a step that comes before
conducting the needs assessment. This step will occur in order to better understand the population to ensure the needs assessment is done with respect to the needs of that
specific community. This can be done in one of two ways:
○ Identifying and meeting with experts around this population or issue.
OR
○ Completing a literature review to understand what has been done (and what has
worked/not worked) with similar presenting issues or populations.

Answer 1

1. Conduct a Needs Assessment: Explore the problem and gather information

Question 2

● Identify and build a team of key staff to be included in the planning, development, and
implementation process for the new program.
● Task forces are usually for larger programs.
● Note: this is the team that will be developing the program, not the people that will staff
the program itself

Answer 2

2. Establish the planning team/Create a task force

Question 3

The goal(s) should define what the program is specifically looking to achieve in order to
address the identified problem(s) from the Community Needs Assessment.
● The goal(s) describe the overall, measurable outcomes or changes that you are
expecting through the implementation of the program.
● The objectives specify the measurable tasks that will occur in order to achieve the
broader programmatic goals

Answer 3

3. Define the goals and objectives of the program based on results of the needs
   assessment

Question 4

● Programs should be research-supported and theoretically sound
○ Gather and organize data on programs that have addressed similar issues.
○ If you haven’t already done so at the beginning, conduct a literature review. A literature review is a process of gathering relevant information from multiple sources. It involves a critical, in-depth evaluation of previous research on a
specified topic.
● Clarify the components of the program.
○ Identify program activities, output, and outcomes of the program.
● Identify people and resources needed for successful implementation of the program.
○ Outline teaching and learning methods for staff.
● Determine benchmarks and tools/measures for assessment and evaluation.
○ How we will measure success should be determined during the program development process. This is critical in evaluating whether or not goals are met.
○ This will ensure data is used throughout program implementation, influencing the
development of the program and can be used for continuous improvement throughout.
● Create a timeline with a schedule for the implementation of the program.

Answer 4

4.Develop an action plan and timeline for implementation

Question 5

Evaluate progress throughout and make adjustments as needed.

Answer 5

5. Implement the action plan/logic model