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Step 2: Conduct a Community Assessment
(Needs Assessment)

What is a community assessment (needs assessment)? 

A community assessment is a systematic process for examining the current conditions of a situation (such as substance abuse) and to identify the level of risk and protection in your community.

Why do we need to complete a community assessment?

A community assessment will assist you in:

• Creating an objective profile of your community
• Determining the geographic and demographic areas that are at greatest risk
• Ensuring you are putting your time and money where it will have the greatest impact
• Showing policy makers the need for funding your prevention programs
• Identifying research-based strategies to implement in your community

How do we complete a community assessment?

1. Collect data.
2. Analyze the data.
3. Select the priority risk and protective factors (Step 3).

Next Step: Translate data into priorities

For more information and tools on needs assessment:

Achieving Outcomes: A Practitioner's Guide to Effective Prevention, developed by the National Center for the Advancement of Prevention (funded by the HHS SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention), Conference Edition 2002.