Assignment: Planning a Needs Assessment II

 

Week7: Logic Models and Theory Informed Intervention

 

A logic model is a picture representation that shows the association between activities, outputs, resources, and the effects of a particular program (Randolph and Thyer 2010).

 

Problem	Needs	Underlying Causes	Intervention Activities	Outcomes
–       What services does the agency need to offer to assist low-income young mother’s be more successful. –       Young mother’s may not be receiving the maximum benefit of the agency’s services because of program redundancy with other community resources	–        Health Care –       Childcare –       Quality food resources	–       Childcare –       Child health and development –       Economic self-insufficiency –       Lack of education regarding pregnancy outcomes –       Prenatal health –       Problems caused by the parent’s beliefs and their environment (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).	–       Social support –       Essential community health and resources –       Infant immunizations –       Connections to Community health services –       Assisting housing –       Infant care, and food.	Short-term: –       Plans for economic self-sufficiency. –       Reduced unplanned pregnancy –       Increased –       Decreased cognitive and language delays –       Decreased fear and distress (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001). Long term: –       When the children become teenagers, o   reduced number of arrests and convictions. –       There will be increased spacing between the first and second child –       Mothers will have jobs; thus, catering to the needs of their families will be easier (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).

 

 

Logic Model of Family-focused program in Early Childhood Development for Low-income young Mothers

Family-focused programs have different goals to focus on the importance of a child’s early life and how parents play a role in that. The program includes making home visits to check the environment in which these families live, thus better understanding what they need. The program begins when the mother is pregnant to when she delivers. By teaching low-income young mothers about child development is crucial. Parenting can affect a child’s development and can be impacted by several pathways, including home environments, parental beliefs, and the parents’ mental health. 6the team might explore and learn more about this through home visits as not all mothers will come to the hospital.

Problems

Some of the problems low-income mothers experience include childcare challenges, including child health and development and the family’s economic self-insufficiency. Another problem these mothers go through is the lack of education regarding pregnancy outcomes, especially prenatal health. A logic model can be applied to see the relationship between the problems, needs, and activities of the intervention and outcomes. Some of the problems are caused by the parent’s beliefs and their environment (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).

Needs

Some of the resources required for the completion of the program will include the volunteers or staff’s time, supplies, and money.

Underlying cause and Intervention Activities

Home visits will include visiting their homes weekly in the first month then every week until the mother gives birth. In the first week, the mothers will be taught about the fetus’s effects when the mother uses illicit drugs such as alcohol. The mothers will be taught about the importance of eating a balanced diet and weight gain during pregnancy. Methods of family planning to be taught immediately the mother gives birth so as t make sure that the children they get can get all their basic needs. After the mothers have delivered, home visits will be twice a month. Parents will receive education on the importance of breastfeeding the baby inclusively then light feeds after six months to ensure the healthy growth of their baby. If they are in postpartum depression, they will receive emotional and psychological support. The mother’s decision-making about their future will be facilitated, including the importance of planning for future children and selection of the suitable family planning method. The mothers will be helped in determining the right strategies and goals for working so that they can support their children’s education. This will improve the mothers’ life course by helping them determine the lifelong vision of their future at the same time work and plan for their pregnancies (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).

Short term Outcome

The mothers will, in the end, grow their plans for economic self-sufficiency that is reducing the consequent pregnancies, and it will also increase the number of months women will be employed by the time the child celebrates their second year. There will be small numbers of children with cognitive and language delays at the same time. Mothers will interact more with others and share their problems hence reducing fear and distress (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).

Long term Outcomes

When the children become teenagers, there will be a reduced number of arrests and convictions due to illicit behaviors, such as theft and destruction of property. There will be increased spacing between the first and second child as most mothers will have known the importance of family planning. Ten years after the program’s implementation, most mothers will have jobs; thus, catering to the needs of their families will be easier (Bronte-Tinkew and Redd 2001).

References 

Bronte-Tinkew, J., & Redd, Z. (2001). Report to the DC children and youth investment trust corporation: Logic models and outcomes for youth entrepreneurship programs.

Randolph, K. A., & Thyer, B. (2010). Logic models. The Handbook of Social Work Methods, 547-561.

 

 

Week 8: Needs Assessment in Program Evaluation

Assessment is perhaps the most fundamental of all social work activities. It is a process of gathering pertinent information to answer questions about problems, contributions to problems, and potential strengths and assets. At a program-evaluation or program-planning level, a social worker applies the same thoughtful process used in individual assessment but extends or filters it to answer program-level questions.

The purpose of a particular needs assessment will help you determine the types of questions to ask and from whom to gather information. You employ a thinking process similar to that used in your experiences with direct practice assessment. You generate two needs assessment plans this week, one for a program of your choice that meets an unmet need, and the other for a support group for caregivers.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Generate a needs assessment plan
• Evaluate needs assessment plans

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Dudley, J. R. (2020). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press.

• (For review) Chapter 6, “Needs Assessment” (pp. 115–143)
• Chapter 7, “Crafting Goals and Objectives” (pp. 149–168)

Document: Tutty, L. M., & Rothery, M. A. (2010). Needs assessments. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods (2nd ed.,pp. 149–162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PDF)

Copyright 2010 by Sage Publications, Inc.
Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

 

Optional Resources

Stewart, K. E., Phillips, M. M., Walker, J. F., Harvey, S. A., & Porter, A. (2011). Social services utilization and need among a community sample of persons living with HIV in the rural south. AIDS Care, 23(3), 340–347.

Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

 

Assignment: Planning a Needs Assessment II

One of the many reasons social workers conduct needs assessment is to provide support for new programs. Social workers have many methods available to collect necessary data for a needs assessment.

 

Social workers can use existing data from a wide range of sources, including local and national reports by government and nonprofit agencies, as well as computerized mapping resources. Social workers can gather new data through interviews and surveys with individuals and focus groups. This data can provide the evidence that supports the need for the program.

 

To prepare for this Assignment, review the needs assessment plans that you and your classmates generated for this week’s Discussion. Also, review the logic models that you created in Week 7 and any literature on needs of caregivers that you used to generate them. Consider the following to stimulate your thinking:

 

• Getting information about the needs of the target population:
  • Who would informants be?
  • What is your purpose for interacting with them?
  • What questions would you ask?
  • What method would you use (interview, focus group, questionnaire)?
• Finding potential clients:
  • Who would informants be?
  • What is your purpose for interacting with them?
  • What questions would you ask?
  • What method would you use?
• Interacting with the target population:
  • Who would informants be?
  • What is your purpose for interacting with them?
  • What questions would you ask?
  • What method would you use?

 

Submit a 700-word paper outlining a hypothetical needs assessment related to the support group program for caregivers. Include the following:

• The resources needed to operate this service
• The program activities
• The desired outcomes
• A plan for gathering information about the population served
• Justifications for your plans and decisions
• A one-paragraph conclusion describing how you might conduct a follow-up to the needs assessment at the implementation stage of the program evaluation