Community Assessment Handbook
	Community Assessment Handbook
	Worksheet 9
	Worksheet 8
	Worksheet 7
	Worksheet 6
	Worksheet 4
	Worksheet 5
	Worksheet 3
	Worksheet 2
	Worksheet 1
	Working Through the Pre-Assessment Phase
	Why do it?
	What is a Community Assessment?
	Social Planning Model
	Social Action Model
	Rothman's Three Models of Community Organizing
	Reporting the Findings
	Locality Development Model
	Information Collection & Analysis
	Establishing Community Priorities
	Core Elements for Developing a Plan
	Conclusion
	About Methodologies
	A Key Component of Community Work
	A Community Assessment Scenario
	Bibliography

Social Planning Model

	Practice Variables	Social Development
1	Goals Solving community problems	Problem solving, task oriented goals (versus the process) are the focus of an assessment in social planning. Techniques are selected that gather social indicators of need.
2	Assumptions Social problems addressed through formal services	The collection of data is usually done to lobby for additional services. This approach is more likely to rely on secondary data analysis to demonstrate needs of community and current level of services.
3	Change Strategy Decisions made based on data collected	Change in the community is more focused on formal services, so data collection and analysis are completed by professionals to demonstrate the need. Surveys focus on utilization of formal services and perceptions of service providers (less focused on the informal supports and strengths of the community). Decisions made by professionals.
4	Change Tactics Consensus or conflict	Data are summarized and distributed to an audience of professionals. Data are need focused. The information may be used to formally or informally lobby for services.
5	Community Worker (CW) Role Fact gatherer and implementer	The focus of the CW is researcher/fact gatherer and the methodology for collecting and reporting is more quantitative and objective.
6	Medium of Change Formal organization	Data are collected and issues prioritized by service providers, interagency groups.
7	Orientation Toward Power Structure The power structure and the planner are almost synonymous	Usually an organization/government body has directed the planner to be involved, so the planner's interests, motivations and techniques are the same as their employer's. Planners are seen as possessing a high degree of technical expertise and power. Their recommendations will be grounded in an analysis of objective fact.
8	Boundary Definition of the Community Total geographic community or a community segment (i.e., the homeless, the mentally ill)	Social planners may focus on the prevalence of issues across the entire city, and find city-wide solutions to the issues. They may also decide what the priority issues are and develop a plan focusing on a targeted segment of the population.
9	Assumptions Regarding Interests of Community Sub-groups Interests reconcilable or in conflict	A planner would analyze the competing interests in order to predict resistances.
10	Conception of the Client Population or Constituency Consumers of services	Planning is done "for" as opposed to "with" community members.
11	Conception of Client Role Consumers or recipients	Members and consumers have no/minimal involvement as planners' efforts are not directed at organizing community members or putting mechanisms in place for community input.