Mentors

Definitions and Scope

Identify and define your target group, and state who is included or excluded.Look at research reports, national guidelines, laws , etc.
You want to get it just right; not too broad that it includes those you may not want to include, and not too narrow that it excludes those you want to help.
- You might be too exclusive: e.g. defining ‘vulnerable’ seniors as ‘low-income’, but you may want to include those without family support. Therefore, you may want to define vulnerable as ‘poor and/or with low family support’.
- You might be too inclusive: e.g. ‘latchkey kids’ may include those who have working parents, or those with serious behavioural problems.

Identify more specific types of clients where necessary from research or national guidelines, e.g. children from low-income families, children of single parent families, especially where each sub-type's needs are different

Ideally, it would be the total number of people in your target group, identified by national censuses, surveys or research
Often, such data isn't available - choose the best available proxy, e.g., children receiving services and those on waitlists

State what are the ideal outcomes for this target group are, and what they mean.
- Outcomes measure actual change tangibly and are not the same as outputs - a programme serving a large number of clients (output) may not mean that all clients saythat they have benefitted from it (outcome).
For example, if an ideal outcome is that 'Children are resilient', look for research that defines what resilience entails (e.g., psychological resilience)
Knowing outcomes helps determine whether our policies and services are performing well.
Other examples include having a ‘good death’ for the terminally ill, ‘social inclusion’ of people with disabilities, or ‘engaged youth’.

A need should be defined from the perspective of the target group, and not others such as the people or services serving them.
Needs should not be identified in term of its specific solutions, e.g. youths need mentoring, seniors need hospice care, people with disabilities need day care. Instead, they should be defined in more ‘perennial terms’ because the solutions can change where needs remain
- For example, I don’t need a CD player, or even an mp3 player, I need ‘portable music’ and currently the best solution seems to be Spotify.
Where data is available, indicate the size of this specific need & projected demand, e.g., there is 1 million children, with 1.2 million projected in ten years time. You can locate such information through research, using proxies or getting inputs from key stakeholders where data is unavailable such as the government, community agencies, legislators etc.
Include a synoptic statement - a summary of how existing resources (if any) have been meeting the need, and gaps that still exist
- For example, "Even though there are 1,510 childcare centres across Singapore^[1], 80% of low-income single mothers cannot afford them as they earn less than $1,500 a month.

STATISTICS 7,000 children aged 6 and below have developmental difficulties as of 2015^[2] Between 2010 and 2014, KKH and NUS screenings show a 76% increase in children 6 and below with developmental issues such as development delays, speech and language delays, learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorders (ASD)^[3]

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. Some gaps could be due to: 1) capacity of solution to meet size & projected demand, 2) quality of solution (effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, scalability etc.), 3) accessibility (geographical, cost to client)]	Based on the specific gaps and reasons for those gaps, what might be solutions that can help? Insert existing but untapped resources, or new ideas that have not been considered yet.

STATISTICS (e.g., there are 1 million children in Singapore - please cite)

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. Some gaps could be due to: 1) capacity of solution to meet size & projected demand, 2) quality of solution (effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, scalability etc.), 3) accessibility (geographical, cost to client)]	Based on the specific gaps and reasons for those gaps, what might be solutions that can help? Insert existing but untapped resources, or new ideas that have not been considered yet.

STATISTICS (e.g., there are 1 million children in Singapore - please cite)

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. Some gaps could be due to: 1) capacity of solution to meet size & projected demand, 2) quality of solution (effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, scalability etc.), 3) accessibility (geographical, cost to client)]	Based on the specific gaps and reasons for those gaps, what might be solutions that can help? Insert existing but untapped resources, or new ideas that have not been considered yet.

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