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 2-page 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

References (use 2 or more)

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

· (For review) Chapter 6, “Needs Assessment” (pp. 107–142)

· Chapter 7, “Crafting Goals and Objectives” (pp. 144–164)

Assignment:
Journal: Supervising Others

Take a minute and think about the supervisors you have had in the workplace. What were characteristics of effective supervisors? As you reflect on these experiences, consider how supervision affected your ability to complete the tasks associated with your job. Also, think about how leadership styles can influence the relationship between social workers and their supervisors.

For this Assignment, review the Petrakis case study in this week’s video and note how supervisory and leadership skills are portrayed.

Assignment (4–5 paragraphs)

Complete the following Journal entry:

· Identify attributes of leadership styles and approaches that facilitate quality supervision.

· Evaluate the supervisory and leadership skills demonstrated in the Petrakis case study by identifying which supervisory and leadership skills the supervisor demonstrated.

· Explain whether the supervisor in the video demonstrated quality supervision, and why. Provide specific examples to support your evaluation.

References (use 3 or more)

Kadushin, G., Berger, C., Gilbert, C., & de St. Aubin, M. (2009). Models and methods in hospital social work supervision. Clinical Supervisor, 28(2), 180–199.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014d). Sessions: Petrakis (Episode 4 of 42) [Video file].

McTighe, J. (2011). Teaching the use of self through the process of clinical supervision. Clinical Social Work Journal, 39(3), 301–307.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.