Project plan - social work Year 4 core subject - Leading and Managing in Human Service Organizations

  PROJECT DESCRIPTION You are required to write a project description for a grant application. When an agency decides to apply for grant funding for a new project, it is required to write a clear, concise and compelling project description which details the aims, outcomes, importance and benefits of a project. In practice, the information included in a project description varies according to the guidelines of the funding provider. However, for the purposes of this assessment, your project description should include the following information: • Describe the problem your project is seeking to address. You must convince the grant assessment panel that the issue you want to address is important and worthy of funding: o What is the need, issue or problem? o Who is the need, issue or problem affecting? o What are the underlying reasons and/or causes for the need, issue or problem? o What will happen if the problem is not addressed? Will there be a cost to the client group, the organisation applying for funding, and/or the broader community if funding is not received? o How does the project complement rather than duplicate other work in the area? • Explain what your project will entail. You must explain what you want to do with the funding in enough detail that the grant assessment panel can evaluate what you are proposing to do. o How will you address the need, issue or problem? Be specific - what exactly are you proposing to do? • Identify who your project will target. Consider: o Number of participants o Age range o Gender breakdown o Cultural background o Geographical location o Any other relevant information • Describe the expected outcomes of your project. Outcomes are the results, impacts, benefits and/or change that will occur as a result of your project. Funding providers are increasingly requiring agencies to develop SMART outcomes to assist them to understand the impact their grants have in the community. SMART stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. In your project description, your outcomes must be SMART. Further instructions • You may be wondering where to get your project idea from. Don’t worry, we will discuss this in class. • In your project description, make sure you fully answer the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “how” questions which relate to your project. Do not leave questions in the minds of the grant assessment panel – they will not fill in your missing information. • Word limit: 1800 words (maximum – in practice, tighter word limits generally apply) • References are not required unless you are citing statistics, research or other relevant sources to support the need for your project. EXAMPLE PROJECT DESCRIPTION The project description below is a real example from the field - it is for illustrative purposes only. It does not necessarily represent an HD nor is it necessarily an ideal project description.  It is just an example to give you an idea of what is required. I have used headings in keeping with the guidelines above so that you know what should be included in your project description. Many funding providers do not have a strict format for their grant proposals so you are free to use no headings, these headings, or any other headings that you wish. What is the need, issue or problem? Mobility is widely recognised as a determining factor of wellbeing and a basic human need. It facilitates access to education, employment, community services, social participation and the ability to meet personal, family and work obligations. A driving licence is a key facilitator of mobility. It is widely recognised that young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, particularly new arrivals, face numerous barriers to obtaining their driving licence including language and cultural barriers to the driving licencing system, lack of awareness of Australian road rules and etiquette, and economic hardship. With respect to the latter, the high costs associated with obtaining a driving licence are well outside the reach of many young people who often arrive in Australia with few possessions and no financial resources. Many live in large families which are dependent on welfare payments as their primary source of income. Limited resources are committed to day-to-day survival, with nothing left over for anything else. For some CALD young people, travel by car is the only viable option. Some live in areas where public transport is either intermittent, unreliable, or scheduled at times which do not correspond with employment, school or other life commitments. For young parents, a lack of access to public transport also means a lack of access to child care. While some young people can rely on others for transport, this hinders their independence and ability to orient themselves to their local community. Additionally, CALD young people often lack support from their families to obtain their driving licence. Unlike many young Australians who have family and friends to log their 75 hours and supervise them, there are very few people in newly arrived CALD communities with cars and licences who can supervise young people. Very few can afford driving instructors but even if they could, they face language and cultural barriers. Increasingly CALD young people, many of whom have very limited driving experience, are driving without obtaining a valid licence. This not only places them and others at increased risk of car accidents, but it also brings them to the attention of the police, with some acquiring a criminal record as a result. Without a targeted program which overcomes these barriers to obtaining a driving licence, many young people will continue to be seriously disadvantaged in their ability to participate in education, employment, community services, and social opportunities. What will the project entail? A not-for-profit community-based driving school will be established for disadvantaged CALD young people aged 16-30 years living in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide. Young people will be provided with Australian road rules and etiquette training, culturally and linguistically appropriate driving lessons leading to a provisional driving licence, and vehicle ownership information sessions. The proposed model is based on the very successful social enterprise “Access Services Incorporated (ASI) Driver Training School”, which has been operating in Queensland since 2006. The ASI driving school was established to address the same concerns highlighted in this submission, the only difference being that it is adult-focussed. The driving school will purchase two vehicles and will recruit, train and employ 10 males and females from CALD communities as accredited instructors to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate driving lessons to young people in a supportive and developmental environment. The community driving instructors will receive training leading to casual employment within the driving school itself and elsewhere - an opportunity which would not otherwise be available due to high entrance costs associated with instructor training. The driving school will enable disadvantaged CALD young people to access driving lessons at a subsidised rate based on a low cost overhead. Young people will be required to contribute to the cost of the lessons to cover instructor time, relevant insurances, maintenance of the vehicles, and general administration of the driving school. A tiered system of assistance will be established, with the most disadvantaged young people (e.g., young single mothers) given priority of access to driving lessons. Young people without financial means will be able to access the driving lessons free of charge through donations from the charity fund. As this model is based on a “giving back to the community” philosophy, young people will however be required to undertake a certain amount of volunteer work to qualify for the free lessons. The driving school will be the first of its kind in South Australia. Its innovation lies in its focus on community development and community capacity building where the skills of the community are used to address the needs of the community. We will also establish a charity fund to run alongside the driving school to enable the broader community to make donations to the project. This will ensure the sustainability of the project well beyond the funding period. The ASI Driver Training School in Queensland, referred to above, was self-sustaining 12 months after it was established. Who will the project target? This project will initially target 100 disadvantaged CALD young people (50 male, 50 female) aged 16-30 years living in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide who are currently living in working poor and welfare dependent households. What are the expected outcomes of the project? NOTE: notice how the outcomes below are SMART - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. In order to develop time-bound outcomes, you will need to nominate a start and end date for your project. The start date for the project below was January 2015 and the end date was December 2015 (12 month pilot project). • At least 80% of the 100 young people participating in the Australian road rules and etiquette training workshops will demonstrate an understanding of Australian laws and culture as measured by pre - and post-workshop evaluations (March 2015). • By the end of June 2015, 10 male and females from CALD communities will have been recruited and trained as driving instructors. Of these, at least six will be employed by the driving school. • By the end of July 2015, at least 75% of young people will have received their learner’s permit. • By the end of October 2015, 100% of young people will have received 75 hours of driving lessons to meet the requirements for gaining their provisional driving licence. • By the end of December 2015, at least 70% of eligible young people will have obtained their provisional driving licence, leading to: (a) increased opportunities to study or enter the workforce, including in areas previously closed to them e.g., shift work, forklift driving, delivery driving, and so on; (b) increased opportunities for social and community participation (e.g., sport and recreation) ; and (c) a greater sense of belonging, social connection, purpose, structure, achievement, financial security and personal development. • Of the 100 young people participating in the project, at least 80% will remain active until completion. • The end of project evaluation will indicate that at least 80% of the young people were satisfied with the service they received.