CCAP Needs Assessment 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Asset mapping in a community needs assessment is used to identify:
- The total dollar value of federal grants received
- Existing resources, strengths, and capacities within the community (Correct answer)
- The number of residents living below the poverty line
- Gaps in state-level policy funding
Correct answer: Existing resources, strengths, and capacities within the community
Asset mapping, rooted in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), catalogs existing strengths like organizations, skills, and facilities to complement gap analysis.
Question 2: A CAA discovers that transportation is a top barrier based on its needs assessment. The NEXT most appropriate step is to:
- Immediately launch a new transportation program
- Prioritize the finding within the community action plan and identify potential strategies (Correct answer)
- Discard findings not aligned with current funded programs
- Report the finding only to the board's finance committee
Correct answer: Prioritize the finding within the community action plan and identify potential strategies
Needs assessment findings should feed directly into the community action planning process to align strategies with documented community priorities.
Question 3: Which method is MOST effective for reaching homeless individuals during a needs assessment?
- Online survey distributed via email
- Street outreach interviews conducted by trained community workers (Correct answer)
- Mailed questionnaires to residential addresses
- Phone interviews using random-digit dialing
Correct answer: Street outreach interviews conducted by trained community workers
People experiencing homelessness are best reached through in-person street outreach, since they typically lack stable internet, phone, or mailing addresses.
Question 4: In a needs assessment, a 'key informant interview' is conducted with:
- A random sample of 500 low-income residents
- Individuals who have specialized knowledge about community conditions (Correct answer)
- Local business owners exclusively
- State legislators responsible for poverty policy
Correct answer: Individuals who have specialized knowledge about community conditions
Key informant interviews target people with expertise or unique insight—such as service providers, faith leaders, or community organizers—to gather informed perspectives.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of a SOCIAL determinant of health that a CAA needs assessment should capture?
- A resident's cholesterol level
- Access to safe and affordable housing (Correct answer)
- The number of hospital beds in the county
- A state's Medicaid reimbursement rate
Correct answer: Access to safe and affordable housing
Social determinants of health—like housing, education, food access, and economic stability—are core areas Community Action Agencies address through needs assessment.
Question 6: A needs assessment that uses both a community survey AND focus groups is applying which research design?
- Longitudinal design
- Experimental design
- Mixed-methods design (Correct answer)
- Cross-sectional design
Correct answer: Mixed-methods design
Mixed-methods design combines quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group) approaches to provide a more complete picture of community needs.
Question 7: Which entity is responsible for approving and overseeing the community needs assessment process at a CAA?
- The federal Office of Community Services (OCS)
- The CAA's tripartite board of directors (Correct answer)
- The county department of social services
- The state CSBG lead agency
Correct answer: The CAA's tripartite board of directors
The tripartite board—which includes low-income representatives, elected officials, and private sector members—governs CAA operations including the needs assessment process.
CCAP Needs Assessment 3
Asset mapping in a community needs assessment is used to identify: