advanced needs statements

Advanced Needs Statements

How Data and Research Can Strengthen Grant Proposals

4th Annual Funding Resources ConferenceOctober 22, 2008

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Goals for Workshop

Understand the role of data and research in proposals

Learn four strategies to strengthen your needs statement

See some specific examples

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Needs Statements

Invitation to the Funder

Opportunity for the Agency

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Invitation to the Funder to …

Engage with us in caring about our clients

Take action through funding

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Opportunity to the Agency to …

Create solid building blocks for your program

Present a strong, compelling proposal

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Role of Data and Research

Old View – Nice but not necessary

Current View – Foundation for your program, strategies, outcomes, and evaluation

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Four Strategies

Be as specific and local as you can

Present your data so that it is easy to follow

Use research for additional data and to justify your model

Help the reader follow your argument and draw the right conclusions

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Strategy #1: Specific and Local Data

Geographic Area

Target Population to be Served

Extent of Need Among the Target Population

Other Compelling Factors

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Specific/Local Data: Geographic Area

Type of area – urban/rural

Population – size, race/ethnicity, age

Land size (square miles)

Location

# of …. abandoned buildings, parks, liquor stores, grocery stores, farmers’ markets, recreation centers, businesses

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Specific/Local Data: Target Population Size

Race/ethnicity

Age

Location/residence

Core values/beliefs

Behaviors

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Specific/Local Data: Extent of Need

Number of target population who face the problem

Lack of services to address the program

Trends e.g. increasing rates of the problem

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Specific/Local Data: Other Compelling Factors Poverty

Unemployment rates

Literacy rates

Rate of teen pregnancies

Single parent households

School drop-out rates

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Example: Geographic Area

Detroit is the largest city in Michigan and has a predominantly African American population. Many of its residents, particularly its children, are poor.

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Example: Geographic Area

Detroit, a city of approximately 836,000 people, is mostly African American, while the surrounding communities are predominantly White. One-third of its residents and nearly half of its children live at or below the poverty level.

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Example: Geographic Area

Located in Wayne County, Detroit spans 139 square miles, bounded by the Detroit River on the south and east and stretching north to Eight Mile Road and west to Telegraph Road. The city is home to approximately 43% (836,056) of Wayne County’s 1,966,909 residents. Its racial composition and poverty status are drastically different than Wayne County and neighboring Oakland and Macomb Counties, as noted below.

Population African American

White Hispanic Poverty: Individual

Poverty: Family

Detroit 836,056 82% 11% 6% 31% 27%

Wayne County 1,966,909 41% 52% 5% 20% 16%

Macomb County

820,599 6% 89% 2% 9% 7%

Oakland County 1,200,531 12% 80% 3% 7% 5%

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Example: Target Population

The proportion of older persons living with HIV has continued to increase.

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Example: Target Population

In just six years - from 2000 to 2006 - the proportion of older persons living with HIV/AIDS in the region had increased from 14% to 27% of all persons living with HIV/AIDS. The number of HIV+ older adults living with HIV/AIDS had nearly tripled as well, from 857 to 2,205 in that same five-year period (MDCH, 2006).

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Example: Compelling Need

A high number of persons with HIV will experience some type of mental health problem.

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Example: Compelling Need

A 2005 study of adults receiving care for HIV found that nearly half screened positive for a mental health disorder. Over 33% screened positive for major depression and 25% screened positive for a less severe form of depression called dysthymia. The proportion of people in this study who screened positive for mental health disorders was considerably higher than those in the general population (see Figure 3 below).

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Exercise

Children in our community need places to play.

List the kinds of data that could support this statement.

Re-write it using (fictional) data.

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Strategy #2: Easy-to-Follow Data

Tell a story with your data ...

Cluster the data

Set the context by going from “big to small”

Use a variety of charts and tables for data, and narrative for explanation

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Cluster the Data

Put related data together

Create threads that tie each cluster together

Health Data- Overweight- Diabetes- Sexually transmitted diseases

- MEAP tests- Drop out rates- Suspensions

Access to Services Data- Health clinics- Recreational facilities- After-school programs

School Data

Example: Youth Program

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Go From “Big” to “Small”

Example: Mental Health Services for HIV+ Youth

Overall mental illness in the community

Rates of mental illness among youth

Rates of mental illness among youth with HIV

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Use Charts and Tables

XXXXXX Funding By Source: 2002 - 2008

$0

$1,000,000

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

$4,000,000

$5,000,000

$6,000,000

$7,000,000

$8,000,000

$9,000,000

$10,000,000

% Change 8.90% 5.87% -8.15% -16.59% 7.84% 3.41%

Total 1 $676,717 $736,963 $780,212 $716,602 $597,700 $644,567 666,538

% Change 7.78% -7.27% -1.23% -0.16% -38.67% -16.05%

Total 2 $3,429,708 $3,696,369 $3,427,813 $3,385,645 $3,380,311 $2,073,152 1,740,345

% Change 1.78% 1.13% 2.76% -1.18% 26.92% 0.00%

Total 3 $4,257,451 $4,333,198 $4,382,256 $4,503,416 $4,450,466 $5,648,743 5,648,743

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

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Use Charts and Tables

Services Percent Needing but Unable to Access

Food 43%

Dental Care 37%

Emergency Financial Assistance

32%

Legal Services 29%

Support Groups 28%

Mental Health Services 23%

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Use Charts and TablesClinic Location Services

Herman Kiefer Family Health Center

1151 Taylor Street

Detroit, MI 48202

Dental

Adult Medicine

Healthy Kids Medicaid Enrollment

Pregnancy Testing

Family Planning/Birth Control Services

WIC Food Supplement Program

Social Work

MDCH Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program

Grace Ross Family Health Center

14585 Greenfield Road

Detroit, MI  48227 

Pediatrics

Healthy Kids Medicaid Enrollment

Immunizations

Pregnancy Testing

Family Planning/Birth Control Services

Prenatal Care

Focus: HOPE Food Supplement Program

WIC Food Supplement Program

Social Work

Northeast Family Health Center

5400 East 7 Mile Road

Detroit, MI   48234

Pediatrics

Healthy Kids Medicaid Enrollment

Immunizations

Pregnancy Testing

Family Planning/Birth Control Services

Prenatal Care

Focus: HOPE Food Supplement Program

WIC Food Supplement Program

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Strategy #3: Use Research

Journal and other articles

Best practice and model programs

Original research

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Journal and Other Articles

Provide additional evidence to support your need.

Example:

Despite the prevalence of mental disorders among older adults, research shows that the stigma of having a mental illness has gotten worse, not better (SAMHSA, 2005).

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Journal and Other Articles

Example:

Several studies have found that many older adults who commit suicide have visited a primary care physician very close to the time of the suicide – 20% on the same day, and 40% within one week of the suicide (American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2004).

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Journal and Other Articles

Useful when local data is not available.

Example: There is a serious national shortage of mental health professionals with adequate training to meet the mental health, substance abuse and psychosocial needs of a growing aging population and their family caregivers (Policy Committee of the White House Conference on Aging, 2005).

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Journal and Other Articles

Example from Business Journal:

Michigan lost 80,000 jobs in 2007, and was the only state in the union to see both a drop in median household income and an increase in its poverty rate during that time.1

iFlesher, John. “Incomes rise in Michigan, but more in poverty.” Crain’s Detroit Business August 26,2008

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Journal and Other Articles

Example from Scientific Journal: The average cost of Interferon for treatment of Hepatitis C is $20,000/year.i i “Benefits, Risks and Cost-effectiveness of Early Hepatitis C Treatment Uncertain.” July 8, 2003. <www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/strocy.php?article_id=673>

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Best Practice

Researched and/or sanctioned by funders (e.g. SAMHSA, CDC)

Tied to specific populations or specific situations (e.g. Hispanic women)

NOTE: Program modification might or might NOT be allowed

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Original Research?

Tied to your program

Linked to your need

Examples: Counting the number of burned out street lights or

abandoned buildings in a specific area Walking tour of neighborhood to assess physical

conditions of sidewalks Surveying older adults who attend the senior center

about their access to physical exercise

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Use of Client Stories?

Make the data come alive

Can be descriptions of typical clients, or comments scattered throughout

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Strategy #4: Help the Reader ….

Follow your argument using the opening sentence of each paragraph

Draw YOUR conclusions by explaining the meaning of the data

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Help the Reader ... Follow Your Argument

Example: The proportion of older persons living with HIV has continued to increase.. The most recent trend data, available for all persons currently living with HIV/AIDS in Michigan, show that in just six years, from 2000 to 2006, the proportion of older persons living with HIV/AIDS had increased from 14% to 27% of all persons living with HIV/AIDS. The number of HIV+ older adultounty has 54% of all cases of older adults being diagnosed, it is safe to assume that this increasing proportion of older adults living with HIV is taking place in Wayne County as well. This increases the likelihood of infection among the older heterosexual population because, despite stereotypes, older adults (including those infected) continue to engage in unprotected sex.

The impact on older Minority women is considerable.. Women comprise approximately 25% of older persons with HIV/AIDS, but African American women carry a disproportionate burden. A total of 1,938 persons age 50 and older were living with HIV/AIDS in Wayne County as of 1/1/2008; 522 (27%) were women. Of these, 89% are African American while only 42% of Wayne County’s population is African American. Combined, African American and Hispanic women comprise 91% of HIV/AIDS cases

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Minority women are dying of HIV/AIDS at higher rates than any other group. With widespread use of effective antiretroviral therapy since 1995, HIV-related mortality has dropped for all four major race/gender groups. From 1995 to 1998, white men, white women and Black men all saw sharp declines in death rates (72%, 83% and 55% respectively) while Black women experienced only a 35% decline. There have been sizeable declines in deaths over the last several years (2000 – 2004) among white women (50%) and Black men (40%) yet Black women have only seen a slight decrease in HIV death rates (8%) (MDCH, 2006).

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Help the Reader ... Follow Your Argument

Example (continued) There is no research published to date on how older Minority women define HIV risk. As a result, the particular aspects that enter into their risk-related decision making are unknown. Studies have been done regarding perceptions of risk among older adults, showing that despite being sexually active, many older adults do not perceive themselves as at risk for HIV and as a result, do not use condoms or get tested for HIV (MDCH, 2006). In one study, almost 60% of older single women who have been sexually active during the past 10 years had engaged in sex without a condom.

This lack of understanding of how older Minority women make risk decisions is critical for effective prevention programs. Epidemiology data shows that Black and Hispanic women overwhelmingly acquire HIV from heterosexual sex. When taking into account known risk, plus those having heterosexual sex with a partner whose risk is unknown (presumed heterosexual risk), fully 78% of all Black women and 69% of Hispanic women in the Detroit area were infected from heterosexual sex (MDCH, 2006). Contrary to the stereotype that older women do not engage in sexual activity, Figure 4 below shows that 82% of women ages 50-59 and 70% of women age 60 and older are being infected via heterosexual sex, including presumed heterosexual risk Further, 25% of women ages 50-59 and 17% of those age.

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Help the Reader … Draw YOUR Conclusions

Example 1(a):

African-Americans are 14% of the state’s population and 23% of the region’s population yet they account for 68% of all reported HIV/AIDS cases. Their infection rate - 782.4 per 100,000 - far exceeds the rate of any other racial/ethnic group (White, Hispanic, and Other Races).

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Help the Reader … Draw YOUR Conclusions

Example 1(b): HIV/AIDS is devastating the African American community. African-Americans are 14% of the state’s population and 23% of the region’s population yet they account for 68% of all reported HIV/AIDS cases. Their HIV infection rate - 782.4 per 100,000 - far exceeds the rate of any other racial/ethnic group (White, Hispanic, and Other Races). In fact, the infection rate of African-Americans is over seven times higher than the rate for Whites and nearly three times higher than the rate for Hispanics.

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Final Thoughts

Avoid “street-light” research Be accurate Cite sources

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Thank you!