Services
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
REACH helps clients lay a solid foundation for their work by assisting them to gather information about the current conditions and resources that exist within a target area. REACH believes that a comprehensive and meaningful needs assessment is an essential first step before effective planning, implementation, or evaluation can occur, and allows clients to:
- Define the extent of unmet needs or the demand for services
- Learn more about suspected needs and uncover new ones
- Identify populations and/or neighborhoods with the most pressing needs
- Assess existing resources available to address the needs
- Obtain baseline data that can be monitored for changes over time
- Assess community readiness to respond to the needs
- Develop and articulate a clear and convincing set of problem statements
REACH designs custom needs and resource assessments that enable focus and clarity. We can concentrate on specific, localized areas within communities or widen the scope to assess needs within larger areas such as counties, regions, or states. We work with clients to determine what data are currently available, what data still need to be collected, and how best to proceed.
Our multidisciplinary team can mine large public data sets to identify relevant indicators and detect trends, work with client databases to extract service delivery figures, or create new data gathering strategies to obtain the information most valuable to clients. Once the relevant data are collected and analyzed, REACH creates a high quality report that includes attractive and easy-to-understand graphs, charts, and maps, produced with the latest graphic design applications.
PLANNING
REACH organizes collaborative planning endeavors that work to improve the welfare of people and their communities. REACH helps both organizations and communities achieve their vision through needs assessment, technical analysis, goal-setting, and the systematic design of programs and projects. Specific services include:
- Health and Human Service Planning
- Comprehensive Planning
- Strategic Planning
- Small Area Planning
Health and Human Service Planning - REACH works with governmental, not-for-profit, for profit, and philanthropic entities to make community services and supports more accessible. REACH assists service providers in the development of well-organized service delivery systems. REACH has particular expertise planning for the integration of systems of care, and in efforts leading to systems level change for health care and social services programs.
Strategic Planning - REACH provides strategic planning services for programs, projects, and development plans. The full package of services includes meeting facilitation, strengths and needs assessment, visioning, determination of goals, formulation of strategies, action planning, and resource allocation.
Comprehensive Planning - Comprehensive planning deals with the physical, economic, social, and aesthetic issues of a community. As a partner in the comprehensive planning process, REACH can help your community set goals and objectives, analyze and interpret the data, identify the most promising long-range development scenarios, and develop implementation guidelines.
Download our Planning Services PowerPoint Presentation. (5.8 MB)
EVALUATION
REACH designs and conducts evaluations of projects, programs and policies. REACH develops evaluation protocols that improve the quality of services and contribute to social betterment. We strive to provide timely, relevant and credible information to program managers, funders, and policy-makers in order to assist sound decision-making at multiple levels. Over the years, REACH has built a strong reputation for developing practical evaluations that focus on the unique information needs of clients. Evaluation services include:
- needs and readiness assessments
- process, outcome and efficiency evaluations
- qualitative evaluation design
- statistical analysis and interpretation
- management information system design
- formal reporting and presentation
SURVEY RESEARCH
REACH has experience working with everything from large survey data sets that include over 100,000 survey respondents, down to much smaller projects with samples of less than 100 people.
We employ a multidisciplinary team of research professionals with expertise in research methodology, survey design, data collection, and analysis. Using the most up-to-date software, REACH has the capability to conduct a broad range of descriptive, correlational, and inferential statistical analyses, including high-level multivariate techniques.
Depending on the needs of the client, REACH can administer paper or electronic surveys. To conduct online surveys, REACH utilizes a web-based program called “The Survey Shuttle”. With the Survey Shuttle we can easily and quickly create custom online surveys suited to the specific needs of your project. The system is designed to handle hundreds of thousands of surveys, but is also ideal for small surveys.
Our reports and presentations include attractive and easy-to-understand graphs, charts, and maps. In addition to having our own in-house ‘print-shop’, REACH’s graphic design professionals can work with you to create a custom designed report for your audience.
GRANT WRITING
REACH works in partnership with program administrators or community entities in securing funds that will enhance the quality of life for individuals, families and their communities.
We have the greatest experience in writing and administering grants that fund a program initiative, and we have particular expertise in the implementation and evaluation of systems of care. However, the breadth of skill and experience among our staff also enable us to prepare proposals that meet the scientific rigor of research grants. Particular areas of interest are health and human services, education, community planning, and violence and crime prevention.
We work within a participatory framework to identify the problem to be addressed and to formulate a strategy that is responsive to the terms and expectations of the funders and to the needs and culture of the target community/population. Because of the diversity of our staff, we bring to the process the practical knowledge of having run direct service programs, the professional background associated with group facilitation and interviewing, the experience of conducting needs assessments and turning data into information, and the advanced knowledge of sophisticated statistical analyses.
DATA ANALYSIS & MANAGEMENT
REACH’s multidisciplinary team of researchers and planners employs a host of standard and advanced techniques that create practical information from raw data. REACH employs professionals in the fields of database management, statistics, geographic information systems (GIS), and the visual display of data.
