Social Work Community

Education and Training –

Planning and Programming
Course of action for reaching a goal
beginning now

 May be short range/medium term, long

range/medium term or long range/ long term
 Process of anticipating goals or targets and
then preparing a plan for reaching them
 Unit of planned purposive action
Process of preparing or setting up the
program involving a specific period of time of
services
 In order to achieve the objectives he stresses
the plans that:
 Must be consistent with the human needs
 Must be based on the philosophy of the
profession and the agency
 Must be based on research
 Must be flexible enough to give room for
whatever changes have to be made
 Must be easily communicated and understood
 Must contribute to the improvement of service
As the saying goes “We plan or We perish”.
Planning is needed in all levels of operation
and every worker should do this as part of
hi/her daily routine
 according to him, the reasons for planning
are:

1. Efficiency - achieve goals with minimum of

cost and effect

2. Effectiveness – achieve the desired result

which is to help people in need
3. Accountability – planning is needed for
evaluation and accountability to the public, to
families and to clients
4. Morale – every staff member needs to
understand what to do and how to do the job.
These can be achieved if the administrator and
staff members jointly plan the total operation.
Their feelings will make the difference in the
social service delivery and contribute to high
morale.
 according to him a plan must contain the
following elements:
1. Goal or the what
2. Resources, means, procedures, and the
method or the how
3. People involved for achieving the goal or the
who
4. Method of evaluation and review
5. Conditions under which the plan will be
implemented
 Substantive - designed to achieve program
objective. It calls for the formulation of broad
issue confronting the program

 Procedural Plan -designed for the

organizational structure within which are
embodied the various administrative
mechanisms such as rules, guidelines,
standard operating procedure, reporting
requirements and the like
According to him the major types of planning
in any organization is resource planning
which includes finances, facilitates,
equipment, supplier and personnel
1. It should be based on clearly well-defined
objectives or goals
2. It should be simple and easily to understand
3. It should be flexible
4. It should be easily analyzed and classified
5. It should be able to maximize existing or
limited resources such as funds and personnel
 Planning should grow out of the
experienced interest and needs of the
person who comprise the agency

 Those who will be directly affected by the

results of planning should have a share in
the making of the plan

 Planning must have an adequate factual

basis
 The most effective plans have come out of a
process which combine face to face
methods with more formal methods of
committee work

 Planning process must be individualized or

particularized because of the difference in
situations

 Planning requires professional leadership

 Planning requires the efforts of volunteer, non-
professionals, community leaders as well as
professionals. It is necessary to allocate and
coordinate these responsibility between these
groups is a pre-requisite to a satisfaction
prosecution of a program
 Planning calls for documentation are full
recording so that results of discussions and
deliberations will be preserved to provide
direction and continuity
Planning should make use of existing plans
and resources. It is fundamental to build upon
that which we already have, provided it is
sound and furnishes a firm foundation

 Planning is dependent upon thinking prior to

action
❶ Select Objectives – objectives are destination,
goals or targets. They relate to the purposes and
policies of the agencies
(Two kinds of objectives)
1. Over all and Long range – based on aims and
purposes of the agency charter and policies
2. Specific and Short range – involves the present
and immediate future. Planning an anticipatory
process should have targets which are specific
and attainable
INPUT ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

Beginnings, The actual doing Results

Resources, and achieving
Goals, Objectives
and Related
Operations
Skidmore state that social work has also
developed a strong interest in MBO.
“Management by objective is a system
approach to improving approach”

(Two main kinds of goals and objectives)

 Strategic Goal- concerned with developing
new ideas and with overall or long range
planning
 Operational Goal – Specific and Measurable
❷ Consider agency resources – consider the
agency economic (budget and monies
available) the physical resources (agency
facility) the personnel and staff (number
available, the quality or competencies,
attitudes and feelings)

❸ Enumerate the alternatives – consider

numerous paths carefully describe these and
anticipate each
❹ Anticipate the outcomes of each alternative
– anticipate and estimate what is likely to
happen, when an action occurs, look at
various vantage points what is likely to
happen, weigh sources come up with what is
best
❺ Decide on the best plan – setting the
priorities is needed
❻ Plan a specific program for action – to reach
upon targets a blueprint or mapmaking
should be prepared when the step by step
action is outlined and recorded

❼ Be open to change – the original plan should

be followed. However, change often occurs as
planning is programmed and implementation
takes place
“Although rooted in casework, group work and
community organization the approach is
unique. Case management is likewise
considered as a way to achieve better cost
effectiveness and cost control”
Case management is a method of providing
services whereby a professional social worker
assesses the needs of the client and the
client’s family and when appropriate,
arrange, coordinate, monitors, evaluates and
advocates a package of multiple services to
meet the specific client’s complex needs
1. Client classification and outreach
2. Individual and family assessment and
diagnosis
3. Planning and resources identification
4. Linking client’s to needed resources
5. Service implementation and coordination
6. Monitoring service delivery
7. Advocacy to obtain services
8. Evaluation
Carefully formulating and designing a project
it is equally important to what a proposal
where will attract the necessary funding.
Proposal writing it requires knowledge and
practice.