A Three-Phase Methodology for Conducting Equity-Focused Needs Assessments

ABSTRACT

This paper describes methods for conducting equity-focused needs assessments in human service organizations (HSOs). We begin with an overview of needs assessments in social welfare, then describe a three-phase methodology for bringing an equity lens to traditional needs assessment approaches. Central to this methodology is convening stakeholders and addressing issues of power and trust between those leading the needs assessment and those impacted by the process. Key challenges for executing equity-focused needs assessments are discussed, including the need to coordinate across multiple levels of government; enhance collaboration between academics, practitioners, and communities; and improve secure access to high-quality data for analysis.

KEYWORDS:

• Needs assessment methods
• racial equity
• gaps analysis
• community stakeholders
• human services

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge funding support for this work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, and the generosity and expertise of those who reviewed the article and provided invaluable feedback: Emily Berkowitz, TC Burnett, Sue Gallagher, Amy Hawn Nelson, George Hobor, Della Jenkins, Chris Kingsley, Kate Szczerbacki, and Yixi Zhou for their reviews of this article.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Notes

¹ This paper draws on a synthesis of Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy’s (AISP) internal knowledge from over a decade of thought-leadership on interagency data integration, a review of needs assessments literature, and key informant input on the development of methods.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice [N/A].