Video 4: Identify the Condition

Video 4: Identify the Barrier

This section describes the Current Condition and how to write a Condition Statement. An example is provided.

The foundation of a well-designed project is based on the effective identification and analysis of current, measurable community barrier preventing the community from achieving the identified long-term goals. Using a community-based assessment process is the starting point for identifying the specific community barriers to be addressed by a project. The community identifies those barriers through the community planning processes and is documented in: community meeting minutes, surveys, focus group and other engagement activity documentation. Next a specific barrier is identified to work on through a project. A statement is written to describe the barrier.

  • Welcome to the ANA "Project Planning and Development" on-demand training series.
  • This is video four, "Identify the Barrier."
  • Your barrier is the most significant problem that you are wanting to address with your project. As the statement is the key to your entire application or project, you'll want to stir up some emotion with this statement. When crafting your problem statement, avoid referencing a lack of or need for something. Describe only what the barrier is. Once you've identified the barrier for your program, you'll want to craft a barrier statement. This one sentence statement should identify the barrier, the data supporting it, and an analysis for the root cause that contributes to it.
  • Here's an example of a well-defined barrier statement. You can see here that it directly relates to your long-term goal. It's specific, it provides connected data, and it shows a root cause contributing to it.
  • There are many ways to find evidence to support your barrier statement. Just try to make sure the data is reliable. It's a good idea to use information pertaining to your specific community when possible. Local community data is best, but if that's not available, then you can utilize data from larger areas such as state or federal data. This can help illustrate how effective your community is in comparison to others. If you don't have this, then you will need to find it. It's also helpful to use preexisting data when possible, this is going to save you some time.
  • For activity three, we're going to create our barrier statement. Create a list of barriers that stand in the way of reaching your long-term community goal, and then rank those. Choose the most significant barrier standing in your way, and then write a one sentence condition statement using the concepts discussed in this video. Remember, include relevant data, local population, and root cause contributing to that barrier. Also, avoid using "lack of" or "need for" statements, convey what the real problem is.
  • Thank you for viewing video four of the "Project Planning and Development" on-demand training series. If you have any questions regarding project development or the administration for Native Americans, please feel free to contact us at anaalaska.org.

Up next

Video 5: Project Goal

Video 5: Project Goal

Training episodes

Video 1: ANA Funding Opportunities
Video 1: ANA Funding Opportunities
Video 2: Community Led Planning
Video 2: Community Led Planning
Video 3: Long Term Community Goal
Video 3: Long Term Community Goal
Video 4: Identify the Condition
Video 4: Identify the Condition
Video 5: Project Goal
Video 5: Project Goal
Video 6: Objectives
Video 6: Objectives
Video 7: Data Metrics of Success
Video 7: Data Metrics of Success
Video 8: Resources and Partnerships
Video 8: Resources and Partnerships
Video 9: Approach and Workplan
Video 9: Approach and Workplan
Video 10: Contingency Planning
Video 10: Contingency Planning
Video 11: Sustainability
Video 11: Sustainability
Video 12: Developing a Project Budget
Video 12: Developing a Project Budget
Video 13: Organizational Capacity
Video 13: Organizational Capacity
Video 14: Next Steps
Video 14: Next Steps