Lesson 17: Using the Needs and Resources Analysis Form

Objective

Welfare committee members will be able to help members who have long-term welfare needs develop a self-reliance plan using the Needs and Resources Analysis form.

Materials for This Lesson

Copies of the Needs and Resources Analysis: Self-Reliance Plan (32290), one for each participant.

Copies of Completing a Needs and Resources Analysis Form, one for each participant.

Copies of an example of a completed Needs and Resources Analysis form Case Study No. 1 and Case Study No. 2, one for each participant.

Statement from the Church Handbook of Instructions

Invite a participant to read the following statement:

A bishop considers the causes of members’ needs when determining what welfare assistance to render. He also helps needy members evaluate what they have done and may do for themselves and their families. If he feels that welfare assistance is justified, he helps needy members complete a Needs and Resources Analysis form. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics [2006],17–18).

Key Points

Help participants understand the following points, and discuss them as necessary:

1. “When Church members are doing all they can to provide for themselves but still cannot meet their basic needs, they first should turn to their [extended] families for help. When this is not sufficient, the Church stands ready to help” (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 256).

2. The Needs and Resources Analysis form is useful and necessary in most cases. The primary purpose of the form is to help people make plans that lead to self-reliance.

If needed, review with the participants the information in the Self Reliance lesson

3. A bishop should never withhold urgent, immediate, life-sustaining care from an individual or family while awaiting the completion of the Needs and Resources Analysis form. The needy member and the bishop can complete the form after the urgent needs are met. He should not let bureaucracy stand in the way of extending aid and kindness, food and succor to those in distress. It is better to make a small mistake on the side of liberality than to leave those in need hungry and destitute. A bishop and other Church leaders must reach out in kindness and be prayerful in all that is done.

Distribute copies of the Needs and Resources Analysis form. Review it with the group, emphasizing the following:

• The bishop helps the individual with immediate, life-sustaining needs.

• The bishop may assign the Relief Society president to visit needy families or individuals in their homes to determine welfare needs. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “It is imperative that bishops work closely with Relief Society presidents in administering Church welfare. This is normally accomplished in the monthly ward welfare committee meeting or, on occasion, in the ward council meeting. But emergencies arise, or there may be circumstances where greater confidentiality is required, in which case the bishop and the Relief Society president should consult together. Wherever there is material need in a family, the Relief Society president is best qualified to go into a home and assess the family’s needs” (“Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 2004, 21). See the lesson on Welfare Duties of the Relief Society for more information on family needs visits.

• Members of the ward welfare committee, including the priesthood quorum and Relief Society leaders, assist the needy member to develop and implement a plan leading to self-reliance.

• On the front of the form, the bishop (with the assistance of others he may assign from the ward welfare committee) and the needy member:

(1) Identify the immediate needs (such as food, clothing, housing, money for medical bills, and other needs).

(2) Identify existing resources of the needy individual, those of his or her extended family, and other resources that could help to meet the individual’s needs.

• On the back of the form, the bishop (or others he assigns from the ward welfare committee) and the needy member:

(1) Determine what is needed for the member to become self-reliant (such as employment, education, job training, and so forth).

(2) Determine a plan to obtain needed resources to become self-reliant.

(3) Record the assignments the bishop has given family members to work to the extent of their abilities for the assistance received.

• Work is physical, mental, or spiritual effort. There are many creative ways to provide work opportunities. The bishop strives to give work assignments that are meaningful and that help needy members serve others and learn to provide for themselves and their families. Bishops may include the ward welfare committee in compiling a list of work opportunities.

Ask participants who can help bishops seek out and care for the poor and needy.

4. The bishop should wisely use the ward welfare committee, priesthood quorums, and the Relief Society to do much of the work of caring for the needy, preventing welfare needs, gathering fast offerings, fostering self-reliance, and resolving long-term needs.

If needed, review with the participants the information in these lessons, Providing Effective Welfare Assistance and Helping Others Become More Self-Reliant

Case Study

From the two case studies accompanying this lesson, Case Study No. 1 and Case Study No. 2 , choose the one that would be most meaningful to the participants. Present the case study for participants to discuss. If the group is large, divide participants into smaller discussion groups.

(Note: You may adapt the case studies to fit the local situation of the participants, including the money denomination and amounts.)

Invite the participants to discuss ways to help the family in the case study to develop their own self-reliance plan. Distribute copies of the handout “Completing a Needs and Resources Analysis Form,” and ask the participants to use it to guide their discussions. Ask the participants to complete the back of the Needs and Resources Analysis: Self-Reliance Plan

Invite participants to report on the ideas generated in their discussions.

Examples of completed Needs and Resources Analysis forms for both case studies accompany this lesson. Distribute copies of the example that corresponds to the case study you chose, and review it with the participants.

Practice

Ask participants to make specific plans to consistently use the Needs and Resources Analysis form to help people help themselves.

Bear testimony of the blessings that come to both the giver and the receiver when caring for the poor and needy in the Lord’s way.