Appraisal of proposals

Community Needs Assessment

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Community Needs Assessment

Community needs assessment represents one of the many approaches used by service commissioners and social work practitioners to inform decision-making related to improving social services. The needs assessment process involves exploring the social issues facing a specific population, resulting in resource allocation and agreed-upon priorities that will reduce inequalities and improve health (Mulroy, 2013). Community needs are gaps between what services exist in a community and what should exist and include relative, perceived, and expressed needs. Expressed needs describe the concerns raised by people regarding a particular problem. On the other hand, relative needs are based on equity while. The monograph explores housing as an unmet need among African Americans (AAs) in Dekalb County. Furthermore, the paper proposes a needs assessment that determines the potential programming to address the social problem besides projecting the program’s results.

Housing Insecurity Among African Americans in Dekalb County

One of the social issues facing Dekalb County is housing instability. According to the United States Census Bureau (2021), Dekalb county has 282436 households and 759297 residents based on 2019 population estimates. Of these, 54.8% are Whites, while 35.9% are African Americans. A significant number of moderate-and low-income households in Dekalb County lack stable housing (United States Census Bureau, 2021). A contributing factor to the housing insecurity is poverty. Figure One shows the share of households that fall below the official poverty line in Dekalb county.

Fig. 1: The share of Dekalb County residents. Source: (Housing Authority of the County of Dekalb, 2020).

Figure One shows that many households (19.35 to 37.04%) have severe housing needs due to poverty.

The housing needs are disproportionate among ethnic groups, with the burden being high among racial minorities such as African Americans. The four most common housing problems include overcrowding, dilapidated kitchen facilities, incomplete plumbing, and cost burdens (Dekalb County Government, 2019). Figure Two summarizes housing needs by race/ethnicity in Dekalb county.

Fig. 2: Disproportionately greater unmet housing need Among African Americans in Dekalb County (Dekalb County Government, 2019).

Figure Two indicates that 19700 African American households have at least one housing problem compared to 5037 White households. The housing issue is not only amplified in the low-income population. The housing disparity manifests in middle-income families, as depicted in Figure Three.

Fig. 3: Housing Need in Dekalb County households that fall under 50 to 80% of median income (Dekalb County Government, 2019).

Overall, while the housing issue is common in households in the lowest income group, the problem is significantly prevalent across all income groups but more pronounced among African Americans. The disproportionate data shows the need for an intervention to decrease housing inequality. Research has shown that housing is strongly related to health (Taylor, 2021). Housing quality, affordability, safety, and stability all affect people’s health and wellbeing. Individuals with chronic housing problems face higher morbidity regarding mental and physical health domains. Foreclosure is associated with alcohol use, suicide, psychological distress, depression, and anxiety (Taylor, 2021). Thus, improving housing security among AAs significantly affects the community’s health outcomes.

Proposed Needs Assessment Implementation Strategy

I would conduct a needs assessment that covers perceived, expressed, and relative needs. An aspect such as housing units in the community can help establish whether the number of renter-occupied units is consistent with the national trends. Another indicator that can show the prevalence of unstable housing among AAs in Dekalb County is vacant housing. The number of vacant units can be mapped using a geographical information system to determine renting trends among the Blacks. Moreover, data on the cost-burdened households can be collected from the county government agencies.

The needs assessment would employ community meetings to collect data on perceived needs. Meetings would bring AAs together to discuss housing issues, express preferences concerning community priorities, and voice concerns. In such arrangements, there will be a facilitator to lead discussions on the community’s potential challenges and strengths (Mulroy, 2013). To ensure cultural sensitivity, the facilitator will be a respected individual from the African American community. Such a choice ensures that the needs assessment process is not slowed down by language or cultural barriers. A critical part of the needs assessment tool is defining what would be accomplished at the end of the meetings to ensure goal attainment.

Another tool that can assess the housing need among AAs in Dekalb County is focus groups. Focus groups refer to guided discussions utilized in determining a target population’s opinions and preferences on a particular idea or issue (Diana, 2021). Conducting the focus groups would require a facilitator. Participants will be asked several open-ended, carefully selected questions on housing insecurity in Dekalb County. The approach encourages self-disclosure among community members. Although diverse groups are recommended, keeping the community structure is critical. For instance, adults may feel uncomfortable expressing their opinions in the presence of youth and vice versa. Also, community mapping can be used to identify how African Americans utilize community resources and barriers that hamper access to these resources.

Ethical Issues in the Needs Assessment

One of the ethical issues that can be faced in the community needs assessment is confidentiality. Community members expect that the information gathered from participants, such as notes, taped records, and even conversations, will be kept confidential. Data will only be shared based on a participant’s consent and existing regulations. Besides, all relevant stakeholders will be informed about the guiding confidentiality policies to protect participant data. Another ethical challenge is the conflict of interest. Housing is a social issue that dominates US politics. Thus, the assessment team could be viewed as a group representing or advancing the interests of a particular political faction. Besides, the exercise is subject to funding from politicians. Therefore, the names of donors and their names will be revealed to address the conflict of interest.

Projected Results of The Program I would Implement to Address the Social Problem

The projected results are based on the short-term outcomes and impacts contained in the logic model. The program to be implemented as an intervention for housing instability among AAs in Dekalb County is Homeownership Education and Counseling (HEC) (The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2016). HEC is a program that improves homeownership by counseling individuals on home selection, avoiding scams, inappropriate loans, discrimination, budgeting, and money management. As a result, the program would improve homeownership among AA by 5% within the first two years after implementation. Besides, the program is projected to decrease housing disparity by 3% in the first year and 4% in two years. Moreover, HEC implementation would reduce the housing burden among AA in Dekalb county by 12% within six years.

In conclusion, the paper explores housing insecurity among African Americans in Dekalb county. I would assess the housing need of this population through community mapping, focus groups, and community meetings. Besides, data from local government agencies can be critical in conceptualizing the social problem. Furthermore, ethical issues related to the needs assessment include confidentiality and conflict of interest. Finally, HEC would be implemented as a program seeking to improve housing security in AAs living in Dekalb County.

References

Dekalb County Government. (2019). 2019-2023 Consolidated Plan. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user2778/2019%20-%202023%20Con%20Plan%20for%20Public%20Comment.pdf

Diana, A. (2021). Needs assessment as a community research project. In The Routledge International Handbook of Public Sociology (pp. 91-103). Routledge.