Completing a Statewide Needs Assessment Plan: Perspectives and Lessons Learned
Presenter: Darlene Groomes, Ph.D., CRC, LPC
Event ID: 1366459
Event Started: 7/21/2009 2:51:10 PM ET

will get started in another minute or so and give people a chance to jump on the line. 

Okay. Welcome to the second webinar session. I am Scott Cabela. I am with the region agency in Colorado. This is associated with the National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation. This is really a community of practice event, and for anyone who is not familiar with that term or the group, the community of practice is a group of individuals that have common goals and interest that form a learning community where they are able to exchange information and experiences and learn from the joint sharing. And the common interest in this case are issues related to quality balances on Rehabilitation. This is provided by the National Clearinghouse and training materials and that can be found at www.ncrtm.org under program evaluation. So keep coming back to the site to see what is new and fresh, and at the end of the talk today, I'm going to have a talk about the second annual evaluation quality assurance in Denver, Colorado. We are happy that you can join us today. We are happy to have Darlene Grooms to join us today to discuss the need of Rehabilitation. She is going to share her experience and knowledge from MS Excellence which is from Michigan State University with her statewide Needs Assessment. I will turn it over to you Darlene. 

Thank you Scott. Can everybody hear me? 

I am happy to be a part of this webinar and to speak with you about the process behind the need of assessments. I have been able to adopt the acronym of SNAP. It's a common acronym that is used when talking about the Needs Assessment plan. That is what I mean, Needs Assessment. I have provided a page of assessments and you can look at this and define the needs that they have when talking about the Needs Assessment and all of that beyond what we talk about here in this webinar. 

I will begin and start with a general overview. I'm going to discuss the basic process behind the Needs Assessment, define what we mean by the Needs, and then we will go into a more specified process and defining what is needed in doing all of the assessments. What we will talk about in doing all of this from my perspective in completing two full Needs Assessment and working on completing my third, and I hope I am able to show you the lesson's learned, the growing pains and the process. We do offer in the chat area of this webinar, a place where you can enter questions as we go. I probably won't address the questions in the process of the webinar, but we will address those at the end. Please feel free to add your questions as you have them, type them in, and I will be able to see them and I will refer to them later. Okay. So if we think about providing an overview of the statewide review of the Needs Assessment plan, it is a mandated conference, mandated in section 4 of the rehabilitation act. It is described as fulfilling the needs of those with disabilities. We find here in Michigan State and the rehab offices that we are really focusing on the needs of those with disabilities. The rehab office, the commission for the blind, and the state rehabilitation council office, they have provided excellence to provide the consultation, collaborate with all of the partners, compile, and then write the report. The 2011 report that is due soon, 18 months, that will be my third experience with the process. 

What is the process? We will start with the basic definition of the Needs Assessment. Really the Needs Assessment process obtains and maintains the process of the defined population. Our work is the population with the defined need. We need to define the need for the gap and that there is a disyep answer aspect. It must be a need focus and hard evidence. It is that evidence that is to provide a plan for the most effective and efficient needs of the plan. What is needed to address the needs of the consumers and the professionals. What they offer to us. It's three-fold in its purpose. It's used to identify and measure the gaps between what it is and what it ought to be. It's used to prioritize the gaps and what they ought to be and also it defines the gaps that are most necessary to work on. Those that are most necessary to work on are incorporated in the state plan. Okay. And in further deciding the needs, beyond seeing, you know, the gap of the present and the desired state as I mentioned earlier, there is a more specific and defined way to define the needs. You have the professionals or the experts that are influenced or restricted by their own values, and then on the other hand, you have the target population or the consumers perspectives which is combined with the lack of knowledge and their needs being met. We really need to focus on the understanding of reaching a balanced appreciation of the discrepancy of the consumers and the professionals' view. It disclaims what their needs are. The more balanced approach and consideration of the person's needs are possible. You have factors influencing those needs. We have factors such as the medical issues, experiences, pasts, education, and you can see that all of these factors come from the consumers and the professionals. The need, this is explaining and identifying the needs. The negotiation of the needs is to define those. You need to know the needs and values of the professionals and the consumers. After talking with them, researching and deciding the mode to take, once you find your reports objectively, and you find the readers in the need of the assessment of the negotiated need, that is what you want to put in the Needs Assessment plan. Negotiating the Needs Assessment by finding out the needs and values of the professionals and the consumers and then negotiating those needs, and then those needs are addressed in the state plans. I would use the world negotiated need in the report, when you are writing up the report. That is the background information in terms of the process of the Needs Assessment. I'm going to talk now about the specific process. Okay, now, that we have a basic understanding of what a Needs Assessment is, how do we get it done. What exactly do we do here? There are several steps in this specific process. First, usually, it's a good idea to use previous assessment reports. I know in the work I have done, I always go back to the reports we have done. I know the first Needs Assessment -- maybe it wasn't the first, but historically, the first Needs Assessment was done in the mid-80s. And the next one we have on record is the 2001 report, and it is good that it is mandated every three or four years now, so we can control what is happening. It's a good idea to go back to the previous reports, review them, and determine what methods and strategies work best, also determine what methods are needed to be improved. You can evaluate what the needs are on the assessments. I haven't had a chance to check now if they are up on the website now or what, but there are guidelines that they want everyone to follow to complete the Needs Assessment for 2011. It's a good idea to hold several meetings, discussions, and they, as collaborating partners, want to make important decisions and they want to guide the way forward, so holding the meetings is very important early on. You want to develop and complete the step by step production plan, and you want to provide and implement that information as you submit them. You want to review the draft final report. And that is the overview of what the process is, but that is what it takes. 

Now, moving forward, what I would like to offer is my perspectives and I would like to spend the lessons I have learned, the pitfalls, and so on. I have provided the idioms. Rather than focusing on the issues or the details, I think it's important to think about the idioms. It's not about whether you win or lose, but it's how you play the game. I think it's important to know there is not only competing competition out there, but in completing game, it's important how you come across. Know the plan, the process, arrive at a negotiated need, write up the findings, make the recommendations and assist the state agencies and put in how that incorporates in your plan. Truly, it's not a competition, but just knowing that you know the process you are doing and completing the task, and hopefully that would be the right perspectives in mind, hopefully. 

You need to take the time, and you need to make the time. I have found that major parties make the time to meet and make progress. Right in the middle of the plans or the game that you are playing you have to be flexible. The experience that I want to share, you know, at this last 2008 report, we decided to complete a survey for the communities rehab portion and selection, and it took a long time to prepare the quality survey, but the board took a look at the answer s to those questions. It took some time. The next thing I would offer is do not be afraid. Do not be afraid of the expected processes that we have to deal with. Sometimes we get stuck in the process of the evaluation. We are an active member of the process. Questions are productive in the nature of this. The state agency, the state rehab council, the state agency for the blind, if they have not been answered for awhile, ask what is going on, what is needed in the reports, what does the agency require in the state plans this time around. I say that because often when we have done the Needs Assessment, we are in the process of doing them in the incremental steps, and when it gets to the end, we will hear from our policy person and they will say, this year they wanted to hear about employment and work force investment systems and we didn't plan enough in advance to present that. We had to backtrack, think about it, and we had to decide what we were going to do with the work force implementation plan. Silence is not golden. If we can be active participants, not afraid to speak up, that means you are more likely to be more productive in the work that you need to do and more than likely be productive enough to meet the state plans. 

Another idiom I have here, know the ropes. Don't be afraid to understand the details and the process. There is a lot of details in plan here, so know the ropes. 

Never bite the hand that feeds you: Don't hurt anyone that helps you. They are a friend and a partner. You don't want to hurt anyone who has the potential of helping you. 

A house divided against itself cannot stand: Everyone involved must unify and function together or it will not work out. 

The lessons I have learned. Planning is critical. From my experience, I have discovered that we really need to break down the tasks in smaller projects rather than creating the entire SNAP over three years. We have a touch of OCD in order to complete the smaller projects in yearly increments. Time goes by very quickly here, so you want to break it down in small components. The report is due in 18 months. It seems like it is a long way away, but it is the little things you can do to make it more productive. Break those down in smaller projects and complete those one at a time and you can come together and compile it all at the end. When I talk about allowing for more time, other issues of time is working with the bureaucrats, partner, perspectives from the community rehab organizations, developments, meetings, surveys, and always keep in mind that the findings that you have from the SNAP inform the state plans. You need to complete your research and your reports ahead of the state plan. I know in Michigan they are looking for that commission in March or April for the June state plan. The time goes by quickly. In terms of the work involved, it all goes by fast. Costs, third party costs, food, travel, phone, software, printing, there is a whole bunch of information that you will never have enough money for truly; it's not that you want to hear that, but even the small iteming like the bagels in the groups, and things like that, that's a small amount of money, but you have to budget that. Be kind and patient with that one in the sense that I encourage kind and patience, please remember that you will be remembered in the community. You have to do these SNAPs every three years, and you want to respect the time, the partners, the community, and you want to be remembered in a positive light. 

When you are completing the analysis, and you have gone through a specific process and you are going through the analysis of the quantitative data for the survey and that perspective, or the qualitative data. Quantitative findings those are usually a quick and easy process. But the qualitative data, all of the information, you need to provide the summary of the critical themes, don't feel like you have to include everything in the form of all of the information you have found. Just make it a critical report. They can find the piece of those findings and they can find it if it's there. That's in essence qualitative analysis. 

Growing pains, things I have experienced over the last 7 years, and it will be 9 years by the time we fill in our 2011 report, but despite the nature of the partners you have given, the state agency, the rehab council, office, it's partnerships, that's a given, but their relationships will grow. People will bounce back as the problems resolve. I have been real pleased and fortunate with the groups I have been worked with. We have that type of relationship. For those that are new to the process and new to the partners, you can expect that it is going to take time to develop those partnerships to develop those. Just be honest, be kind, yadda, yadda. Establish flexibility in the work groups, it can be difficult. Just remember, like I stated before, be kind and patient, and the idiom about the house divided against itself, you know, will not fall -- I'm sorry will not stand. Seek unity when you are collaborating. Create that kind of spirit so you can feel you are truly collaborative to meet the common goals to meet the goals of the Needs Assessment. Budgeting, just know there is never going to be enough money. You will have to create an assessment of the money. Developing appropriate research methodologies, keep open to all projects and be flexible -- possibilities, and be flexible to the hard evidence that is wanted. A lot of times the agencies want quick and dirty data, but you want to responsive to their needs, but you do have time to find the information they are asking for. Just know that you are always on the hunch for the most appropriate research methodology. That is part of a painful experience that we went through and the part of the commitment we have went through in that way. I would offer you to be kind to yourself as well as an evaluator. Don't let this consume you or take over you. Find other projects to work on throughout the process. Allow yourself time away. I would suggest good break times after each set of interviews. After you develop a survey, take a break. After the qualitative theme analysis, take a break. You may want to walk away from it for a little while after each section that you have wrote up. After you come back to it, it makes more sense. The unified approach makes more sense as well. Allowing your time away from it is important as well. The next time, it's good to do this and this and this. It's goods to be focused on it, but you need to allow yourself some good breaks as well. 

That's all I have. If you have questions, you can type them in the chat area, and I will flip to the references that I have, or you can -- or you can access those. We will go to questions. I will leave the helpful references slide up here for you now. If you have questions, feel free to ask them in the time we have left. I'm not sure of the exact amount of time, I guess it is just a few minutes, but I also want to offer, whatever questions that are not wanting to be addressed here, we can address them at the ncrtm website. 

There is a question on the chat. 

Go ahead, Michael. 

[ Speaker/Audio Faint & Unclear ] 

I don't see any questions in the chat box, is there a question that is wanting to be asked over the audio? 

Hey, Scott? 

This is Michael Shoemaker, I have a question for Darlene, and that is as part of the statewide Needs Assessment, one of the things we are asked to do is -- [ Audio Cutting In and Out ] -- [ Overlapping/Multiple Speakers ] 

(Speaker/audio unclear and unavailable at times due to other participants phone lines being opened, not muted). 

In essence in order to complete the Needs Assessment is to serve those populations that are in need. We have talked to the independent living centers, talked to the directors, and we have said, if you know persons in the community who have needs, please invite them to the group and ask them to come in and we can get their perspective for those who have never heard of or used these services. We also incorporate those who are leaving the state agency, we draw what their needs are when they leave the system as well. We are drawing upon those who are accessing the service and they are quite familiar with the state agency, but they still have the needs. I think we can draw from the community at large for accessing the networks and the independent living centers as well as the folks who have been served. 

Thank you. 

Any other questions? 

There is one on the chat here asking about the specific research methodologies that we used. In Michigan, we used the snowball technique in evaluating the performance. You start out by contacting the directors of the agencies, or the executive director-type folks, and we ask what they need and ask them to put us in contact with other people who can put us in contact with those who have needs. It's a snowball technique. And also reaching out to folks who work with those with needs. That's one of the research methodologies that we used, the snowball formula approach. We also had a survey that was done on line, we as the state council, MRS, as well as myself, we reached out to the community and we asked them who they believed had been served, under-served, and we spoke out to the travel initiatives, and we conducted focus groups. We primarily tried to break down the state in four regions and we offered one or two focus groups per region. Whereby we would spend a few hours with a group of people who would tell us what their needs are and get their perspectives. I think that is primarily -- oh, in the 2008 report, we relied on a lot of archival data. That was an interesting process. We had not done that before. It was precipitated by the need of more work force groups and programs. We went to our archival data pool to work on the archives and the resources and in the community as well. We know of a group that got a developmental employment council grant. We asked for permission for the report, and we used that data as evidence. It informed the state plan on supported employment. That is another type of methodology that we used. 

Are there any other questions? 

Marilyn Campbell wanted to know what type of recruitment strategies did you find most useful. With the respected focus groups in getting out to the community and getting the folks involved, the most successful attempts through the independent living that we have through the state of Michigan, and we contacted each of those and see if they would house us coming in and recruit for us in the focused community, and they did a lot of advertising for us in the community and those who had the need for those services. We also relied a lot on the commission for the blind. They offered a lot of focus groups as well. They had clientele, and those who are not members of the actual commission services, but they did that work to get recruitment through that date. In terms of recruitment we relied on the collaborative partners throughout the community and the organizations that we have. 

Debbie Miller wants to know, I think it would be helpful to answers to the questions that we have asked, and I was wondering if they would be available. 

We are completing a comprehensive Needs Assessment guide. At the summit that is in September, we are going to have that contractor come to Denver to that Summit to answer questions about the guide when it comes out. They don't know when it is going to be released. It's on the back burner and it's going through approval, that's my understanding. 

That's helpful too. It's my understanding that the guidelines were coming out in July, but it is being held up a little bit, so we keep checking the website ourselves to see what questions they have and what they want answered. 

I think we have to keep moving, and thanks to the persons who have asked questions, and I want to thank Darlene -- Dr. grooms, I want to thank her for being onboard. I want to thank you-all for joining us today as well. I also want to invite you to the continuing -- to continue to participate by going on the website, our home base, National Clearinghouse, and to the next summit called Expanding Our Horizons which is going to be December 16th and 17th. It's a rehabilitation aid, and it is specifically a forum to discussion issues with the state rehabilitations issues. We will also have the contractor with the RSA to talk to that guide, and we will have an individual coming to that to answer questions about the Needs Assessment. We have information about the building -- analyzing data, building surveys, we have performance management, and we also have time for the information in tool-sharing throughout the conference. Come join us and the seats are limited, but you will -- to register for the event go to www.tace.region.8.org. There is no registration costs and we think we are going to be able to provide lunches for each days, and there is free transport to and from the airport, so the travel, daily lodging is something you will have to pay for, but everything else is free for the event. 

So I guess we are concluding today's training. So keep an eye out on the National Clearinghouse webinars. Thank you, Dr. Groom. 

Thank you. I look forward to seeing you at the conference. 

Bye-out. 

Bye. 

[ Event Concluded ]