By Nicole Schoenborn, SSW PTTC Evaluator

Each year, the South Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (SSWPTTC) conducts a training and technical assistance (TTA) needs assessment to help us capture the training needs of the field and inform our overall process for creating the work plan for the region. Our first needs assessment was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic as we saw emerging T/TA needs in the workforce. After 5 years, it has expanded into a comprehensive assessment of needs across the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), with additional sections around onboarding, ACEs and trauma, and data literacy.

In the past year, the needs assessment informed the training series, Ditching the Discomfort with Data and the Prevention Coalition Affinity Group. Services in the South Southwest region had a stronger emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Themes that have strongly surfaced for next year’s services focus on policy change within prevention systems and the impact of structural racism, in addition to onboarding new prevention professionals.

SSW PTTC 2023 Needs Assessment Overview

In June and July of 2023, the SSW PTTC distributed an invitation via Constant Contact subscribers to complete an online needs assessment survey to assist the region with determining T/TA needs for the next fiscal year. The survey instrument was developed by the PTTC Network, and the instrument was adapted to include the SSW PTTC focus areas of ACEs and trauma. 

The SSW PTTC had 81 prevention professionals that responded to the survey and worked in the service region. Most respondents were from Texas (30%), followed by New Mexico (23%), Oklahoma (20%), Arkansas (17%), and Louisiana (9%), as seen in the map below.

Seventy-three respondents provided prevention services in locations outside the SSW PTTC service area. Respondent data without location or located outside the SSW PTTC service area was removed from the analysis.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents worked in rural or frontier settings, followed by 37% in suburban or metropolitan areas, 15% in tribal communities, and 9% included other areas of work not listed or unknown.

Across all topics, respondents indicated the quantitative items below as areas of greatest need.

1. Cultural competence, humility, and responsiveness in prevention
2. Building community understanding about the impact of trauma on the developing brain
3. Adapting prevention programming to be more trauma-informed
4. Prevention and social determinants of health
5. Evaluating prevention programs, policies, and practices
6. Developing prevention interventions that build resilience as an outcome.
7. Sustainability planning
8. Racial equity and inclusion
9. Identifying and addressing health disparities to improve health equity.
10.  Identifying and engaging diverse stakeholders or non-traditional partners.

Quantitative Needs by Topic Area and SPF Step

Additionally, the SSW PTTC analyzed the needs by topic area and the SPF. The table below outlines the results.

Qualitative Themes

The South Southwest PTTC also asked participants if they had other T/TA needs that were not listed as options in the quantitative portion of the survey. Respondents indicated further T/TA needs in the following areas:

1. Coalition Work

• Balancing Dynamics of Coalitions and Funders
• Coalition Engagement
• Promoting Sustainability in Coalition Work
• Evaluating Coalition Activities

2. Intersecting Systems

• Substance Use Disorder and Suicide
• Intersection of Substance Misuse and Mental Health
• Systems Thinking and Prevention

3. Onboarding the Prevention Specialist

• Prevention 101 for New Hires
• How to be a Mentor
• Program Coordination and Management (funding, reporting, budgets)
• Grant Writing for the Prevention Professional
• Certification Exam Prep
• Facilitation and Group Management

4. Effective Strategies

• Policy Change in Tribal Communities
• Substance Misuse Prevention School Strategies that Align with Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
• Effective Use of Media for Prevention Messaging

Further Information

For a walk-through of the results by major T/TA focus area, please watch the overview video narrated by SSW Evaluator, Nicole Schoenborn’s at 2023 Region 6 Training and Technical Assistance Needs Assessment Overview.

For further information, please contact Nicole at [email protected].

Check out our full list of products and services available on our website at https://pttcnetwork.org/centers/content/south-southwest-pttc

Thank You

We appreciate your feedback and thank you for taking the time to fill out our 2023 needs assessment. Let’s make it a great year!

Nicole Schoenborn

SSW PTTC Evaluator

[email protected]