ASSIGNMENT 2 – THE STATEMENT OF NEED, PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE, AND GOAL AND OBJECTIVES (10 Points)
Please submit this assignment as an attachment (not in the text box) and with a cover page with your name and the title and number of the assignment to the Assignments Tab of BB. This Assignment has 3 sections:
- The Statement of Need
- Project Significance
- Goal and Objectives
A minimum of 4 pages, double spaced, is required for this assignment. Use headings for each section within the Assignment so they are clearly identified.
THE STATEMENT OF NEED (2 pages)
This is a very important part of your proposal. Your goal is to show the potential funding source (the foundation where you will send your proposal) that you have done your research and you know with certainty that your mental health program is needed. Needs can be identified in a variety of ways ranging from information found in websites, journal articles, government document information, book, newspapers and magazines, to surveys of potential participants, community meetings, interviews, and speaking with community leaders. THE PROJECT’S NEEDS MUST BE IDENTIFIED BEFORE THE PROJECT IS DESIGNED, NOT AFTER.
Please note that any information used in a grant proposal that is obtained from the web, journals, books, magazines and other sources MUST BE CITED AND REFERENCED IN APA STYLE. Failure to do so may be considered plagiarism, which is a serious academic offense. A citation is what you use in the text of the proposal to indicate where the information was found and, in the References section of the grant proposal, you present the list of citations (so we call these “references”. Please use APA Style to avoid loss of points. (See www.apastyle.org for more information.)
Demographic and Statistical data must also be used in terms of incidence of the disorder you will be addressing. For example, if you are going to write a proposal to address domestic violence, what is the recent incidence (within five years) of domestic violence nationally? In your community? For whom? The information may be available in websites that can be cited and referenced.
The following topics should be clearly addressed in the Statement of Needs section:
- What types of needs will be met? Describe them in detail.
- Whose needs are they? This should go beyond the individual needs to community needs.
- How were the needs identified? List and cite all sources of need identification.
PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE (1 page)
This is the section is where you will communicate clearly why the project is important (integrated care approach) and why it differs from current practice. The funding source will want to know if it is unique or if it is a replication of a previously implemented project. You are also required to use APA style for supporting information and statistics that are used in this section. You can include “interviews” with potential participants and community experts, such as judges, directors of major organizations, and other community leaders where they indicate the significance of the project.
If you already have an idea of the foundation that you will ask for the money to fund your project (the funding source), you should look at their website and ensure that their mission matches your project. For example, if their mission is to improve the environment, and your project is to prevent bullying, then the two missions don’t match!
The following topics should be clearly addressed in the Project Significance section:
- Why is this project important?
- Who is it important for? Who will benefit from it? Individuals, communities?
- How does the project differ from current practice? Integrated Care?
- How does the project meet the mission of the funding source (if you already know who that will be? If not, it should be included in the final proposal).
GOAL AND OBJECTIVES (1 page)
This section of your proposal is one of the most important, as the goal of the project and the objectives, or action steps, will guide the rest of the proposal. The goal of the project will be the MAIN PURPOSE, and the SMART objectives will also include related ACTIVITIES. In the Plan of Operation, you will describe all the activities of the project within each objective. Therefore, each activity planned for the project must be aligned to meet a specific objective. Please do not confuse the GOAL with your OBJECTIVES!
For example, if one of your objectives is to increase the social skills of children with autism, then your Plan of Operation will list evidence-basedactivities that will result in the improvement of social skills for the participants.
In addition to discussing your objectives in your Plan of Operation, you will also address the objectives in the evaluation section (in Assignment 3). Your objectives must be SMART, whether qualitatively or quantitatively, and their successful achievement and desired impact will be discussed in the evaluation section of the grant proposal.
For this assignment, please see the suggestions below for writing your goal and objectives:
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- The goal should be one single, overarching, goal. Multiple goals are confusing and reviewers may feel that the project is too broad. Keep it tight because if you include too many activities in the goal, it will be viewed as “too broad” and you will not get funded.
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- The goal should be holistic and have one purpose. Example of a Goal: The goal of this project is to develop and implement a prevention program for adolescents who have exhibited signs of, or the potential for, substance use.
- The SMART Objectives of the project should be actionable which use action-oriented verbiage. You should have no more than 3-4 objectives, otherwise your project may have too few or too many activities. The objectives are the main efforts of your project that will produce the changes/impact to meet the goal.
- SMART Objectives should be aligned to the outcome measures in the evaluation section.
- Use action words, such as identify, create, implement, provide, evaluate, etc.
- Example of a SMART Objective:
PLEASE USE ASSIGNMENT 1 AS THE BEGINNING AND ASSIGNMENT 2 WOULD BE THE CONTINUATION
