Needs Assessment
**YOU MUST ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN THE ATTACHED WORKSHEET – DO NOT CREATE A SEPARATE PAPER**
As a counselor, you will individualize services for clients. It is important for you to understand how to conduct a needs assessment to help you know how to create new services that will meet the needs of your clients or the clients of an agency. Keep in mind that a needs assessment and program evaluation are not synonymous. A Needs Assessment will show you what services are needed for your clients, while a program evaluation will tell you whether services that have already been delivered were effective for your clients. You will dig deeper into program evaluations next week.
For this
Assignment
, you will review a case example of a needs assessment and make a recommendation for program development based on the data that was collected.
To Prepare
- Review the Needs Assessment Worksheet found in the Learning Resources, and consider the requirements for this Assignment.
- You may work independently or form small groups of no more than three people. If you choose to work in small groups, you may use the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra “Live Meetings” tool found in the left-hand navigation of the classroom to collaborate with your group in a synchronous way. Once you access the “Live Meetings” tool, use the “Sessions Help” feature in the top right-hand corner to guide you through setting up your session with your group if you choose to do so.
- Review the Needs Assessment Worksheet and consider the requirements for this Assignment. Specifically:
Review the case study.
Answer all questions in the worksheet.
Assignment
Imagine you are a task force or part of a task force charged with making a decision about the development of a new program. Your job is to review the data that was collected and complete a Needs Assessment Worksheet that will help you determine whether a new program should be developed and for which populations it will be helpful.
- As an individual part of a task force or in your small group task force, complete the Needs Assessment Worksheet.
Needs Assessment Worksheet
Name of Student:
Names of Group Members:
Read the following case study, review the data set, and answer the subsequent questions:
Case Study: Laurie is a professional counselor who works for a community mental health center in a rural area. In consultation with her colleagues, Laurie has identified 14 adolescents who currently participate in outpatient individual services who could potentially benefit from services specific to sexual abuse. Laurie would like to develop a psychotherapy group to meet the needs of teens who have been sexually assaulted as an alternative or enhancement to individual therapy.
In an effort to establish services that will best meet the needs of the clients, Laurie has conducted a Needs Assessment. She will present her findings to the mental health center administrators as evidence to support her program proposal. Analyze the following data and determine whether enough evidence exists to support the development of the psychotherapy group.
Survey
After securing parental permission, adolescents were asked to answer the following questions. Results for each question are included.
1. Age
2. Gender
3. Interest in Group Therapy
Participant #
Age of Child
Gender
Interest in Group Therapy
1
15
F
Yes
2
10
M
Yes
3
13
F
Yes
4
12
F
Yes
5
10
F
Yes
6
14
F
Yes
7
17
M
No
8
16
M
No
9
12
M
Yes
10
11
F
No
11
15
M
No
12
9
F
Yes
13
11
F
No
14
16
M
No
4. Rank the TOP THREE issues that you feel would be most important to you in a therapy group
1. Anger Management
2. Stress Reduction
3. Coping Skills
4. Assertiveness Training
5. Alcohol and Drug Prevention
6. Peer Pressure
7. Grief
8. Self Esteem
9. Recovery from Sexual Abuse/Assault
10. Communication Skills
Participant #
1st Choice
2nd Choice
3rd Choice
1
9
2
3
2
3
8
9
3
7
8
9
4
5
9
3
5
6
9
10
6
9
7
8
7
9
3
2
8
2
9
8
9
8
6
9
10
3
9
8
11
9
8
3
12
4
6
10
13
8
2
9
14
10
9
3
What is the purpose of Laurie’s Needs Assessment?
What is the population of interest and who are the stakeholders for this Needs Assessment?
Compute the mean age of all proposed participants in the psychotherapy group.
What percentage of adolescents expressed interest in the proposed psychotherapy group?
Based on the data provided, how did teens rank the topics presented as possible options for the therapy groups? What topics were identified as the top three ?
Based on the information provided, what evidence exists that supports establishing a Sexual Abuse psychotherapy group? Is there other information that is missing that could be useful to make this decision?
1.
2.
3.
In your opinion, did Laurie’s approach to data collection address the purpose of the Needs Assessment? Why or why not?