Definition and Application to Drug Abuse Treatment Programming Needs Assessment Data Collection Strategies: Table 1 Structure of Paper Needs Assessment Strategies: Survey Strategies Needs Assessment Strategies: Problem-Oriented Measures of Drug Use Needs

Needs assessment is a practice used to understand the nature and extent of a health or social problem in a community where there is the intent to ameliorate or otherwise respond to that problem. The findings from a needs assessment are used to inform decisions regarding policy, program, budget, or all three. Needs assessment strategies are grounded in research and therefore permit planning, programming, and the expenditure of resources to be guided by data rather than subjective judgments or political considerations. Needs assessment is also the term given to strategies used to clarify the issues to be addressed in the treatment of individuals and relates specifically to the process of determining individual needs and functioning at intake into treatment. For the purposes of this report, however, attention will be focused on needs assessment undertaken by and for the community in regard to drug abuse treatment. In that spirit, the strategies described will be those employed to clarify the direction and urgency of drug abuse treatment nationally and within a community. With particular regard to drug abuse treatment, needs assessment strategies examine how well or how poorly the current service delivery system is providing for the treatment needs of the community. Typically, the questions asked are concerned with understanding whether the existing drug treatmen