Students are to follow the outline below. The proposal should be properly formatted following APA style. The proposal should be 5-7 pages in length.

SOWK 7420 – Needs Assessment Proposal

1. Introduction
   1. Define the social problem
   2. Define the social need
      1. Is the social need perceived, normative, relative, or expressed? Explain your answer, using the text as a reference. If the type overlaps, explain how and why.
   3. What is the current solution to alleviate the need?
2. Stakeholders
   1. Who are the stakeholders? Explain how & why each stakeholder is important.
   2. How will you engage each stakeholder?
3. Describe the program
   1. NOTE: There may not be a current program, which is why the needs assessment is being conducted. For this section, address the lack of program or changes that have occurred creating the need for a program.
4. Focus the evaluation
   1. Review the questions important to the social need. Examples may be:
      1. What are the issues/needs of the area’s residents?
      2. What are the perceptions of the issues/needs?
      3. What services exist and how are those services viewed?
      4. To extent are residents of the area satisfied with the services?
   2. What are some of the questions you may ask within your needs assessment?
      1. For each question, how does the question imply or suggest?
5. Gathering evidence
   1. How will you gather credible evidence?
      1. Who are your targets?
         1. What do you want to gather from each target?
      2. What is your data source?
      3. How will the data be collected?
         1. Will you use a tool that is already validated? Will you create a tool? Report accordingly.
         2. What mechanisms of collection will you employ?
6. Conclusion
   1. How and with whom will you share the results?