Community Needs Assessment for North Philadelphia Pennsylvania

agencies “develop a picture of organizational quality, recognize best practices, and identify possible
opportunities for improvement”. When an agency is being reviewed, its review is graded as follows on the
needs assessment process:
1. At risk There is little or no needs assessment data, and the agency has no system
for synthesizing available data to guide the direction of comprehensive
agency strategic or operational plans.
2. Insufficient but
making progress
There are needs assessments for specific programs required by funding
sources. The data are only used to meet program requirements
3. Sufficient Systems exist for utilizing the program needs assessment data on an
agency level or for disseminating funding within the agency. There is a
regularly conducted, broad based community needs assessment and a
system is in place to utilize the data across program lines
4. Sufficient and
making strides
toward
excellence
There is a regularly conducted, broad based community needs
assessment and a system is in place to utilize data in developing the
agency strategic plan and in formulating goals and objectives
5. Excellent The agency meets the criteria in 4 and the information from the needs
assessment is used in formulating agency goals and objectives in which the
board members were involved and approved. Information is also shared
with the community, local policy makers and legislators. The agency needs
assessment and strategic plan are utilized in seeking funding through
government and private funding sources.
Community assessments can and should be more than just a gathering and analyzing of data, they can
also be a basis for creating change. A community based needs assessment can help the agency address
families by providing a snapshot of families in the service area and their economic well being, educational
status, health and welfare. Agencies can begin to create change either by setting a framework for
programs and plans that work toward ending poverty (or helping individuals and families to move up and
out) or family stabilization (helping individuals and families to stop moving down). It can provide important
community information as to who may be working on issues and where gaps in community services lie. It
provides an opportunity to meet and develop partnerships strengthening services for citizens in the area.
Finally a community needs assessment helps the agency in its planning process by providing the
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