SOWK 410 COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND ASSET MAPPING ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
The purpose of the Community Needs Assessment & Asset Mapping Assignment is to apply assessment skills at the macro social work level to better understand your local community’s needs and
strengths. For this assignment, you will employ the skills of community needs assessment and community asset mapping as described in Chapters 8 and 9 of the Kirst-Ashman & Hull text.
INSTRUCTIONS
Each student will conduct a local community needs assessment (consider searching for “community needs assessment” and your local county or city online) and create an asset map. You will be
determining a specific pressing community need (e.g. lack of affordable housing for low-income families, mental health services for homeless individuals, etc.) in your local city, town or neighborhood and the community strengths that can be drawn on to address that need (this is not about fixing potholes or bridges). The larger the population of your local community, the more this needs to focus on your local neighborhood. For instance, if you live in New York City, you will want to focus on the neighborhood in which you live (e.g., the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn). This is a research and data driven paper regarding the needs, not your opinions about those needs so back up your claims with data. The end result for this project is 1300–1600-word assessment of your local community that concisely, but thoroughly addresses the following:
Community Needs Assessment: (2-3 pages)
1. Demographics: Gather local demographic data about your community that provides a highlevel overview of your community.
2. Target Need: Based on your research and data, identify one primary community need you will be focusing on, the causes and contributing factors to this need, and the gaps in resources that
prevent individuals within the local community from getting the help they need. For instance, is the community need due to not having service providers in the local community for that need, a lack of accessibility to service providers, a lack of marketing and advertising about existing service providers, etc.? Support your position with your research and social worker interview responses.
3. Past Attempts to Address: In one paragraph, how has the community attempted to address this need to date, if at all? What have been the results of those efforts?
Community Asset Mapping: (2-3 pages)
1. Strengths or Assets: Identify a thorough listing of local community strengths (see Chapter 9 and page 359 for examples of a community strength/asset mapping) which you believe could
have a positive impact on the primary community need you identified. Use the categories
identified in the text – built, natural, social, economic, and service assets.
2. Stakeholders: Determine specific key community stakeholders in the community (including
organizations, local churches, individuals, government offices and leaders) who you have
learned are (or potentially could be) invested in addressing the primary community need you
have identified.
3. Action Plan: Develop your initial 4-step action plan to address the identified community need
making use of the local community assets (strengths) you’ve discovered.
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SOWK 410
You are encouraged to use the headings (above in bold) for your paper. Do NOT include the
instructions that are listed for each item.
Academic Integrity:
All assignments are designed to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their own
knowledge and competency in application of that knowledge. Please note that your assignment may be
checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool, and other sources. The LU Academic
Dishonesty policy applies to all assignments, including discussions. Using any material without giving
appropriate credit to the author through proper citation is a breach of both academic and professional
integrity and will result in sanctions according to the policy.
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