Columbia University School of Social Work
T7122 Social Planning and Program Development
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Overview and Rationale
The design, implementation and funding of programs is an increasingly complex endeavor. The various stakeholder groups often have competing and divergent interests; funders have begun to demand measurable and measured outcomes consistent with funding priorities; program design options are increasingly constrained by third party reimbursement and regulatory requirements; programs are being required to consider research evidence in their choice of program models and intervention approaches; consumers of services are being brought into the design, staffing and management of programs; programs are expected to be culturally competent, meeting the linguistic and cultural needs of diverse groups of clients; funding often fails to keep pace with costs and is often significantly reduced; funding sources find new favorite social problems and methods, leaving existing programs and approaches to scramble for resources; and other conditions leading to planning and resource complexity. To meet this challenge, social work administration students must have a full set of planning and resource acquisition skills and the knowledge of how and when to use them.
This course will assist students to develop the knowledge base and core competencies needed to design social service interventions to meet contemporary needs and to acquire the resources they need. In planning groups, students will utilize case examples to plan interventions utilizing the skills presented in the class. They will also have the opportunity to critique a formal program plan, again utilizing the skills and knowledge attained in the class. Students will also gain skills in grantwriting and other forms of fundraising through formal workshops and grantwriting exercises. Finally, students will learn how to modify programs and program plans to meet various exigencies that an organization might face due to funding reductions or other difficulties. |
Learning Outcomes
In this course, students will learn to . . .
- Identify how various organizational theories provide options for planning and decision-making in designing social service interventions.
- Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the different organizational forms available for hosting social service programs, e.g., public, nonprofit, for-profit, grassroots, self-help, volunteer-based, community-based and others.
- Describe the different organizational architecture/design options available for adding new programs to existing organizations, or for forming new organizations.
- Plan at the individual program level, the agency/organizational level, and the system level, and describe the relationship between these.
- Identify the various approaches to needs assessment and how to decide which approach is appropriate in specific circumstances.
- Identify and avoid the potential hazards in planning programs, including competency traps, groupthink, planning without involving key stakeholders, and others.
- Describe the role of different funding and regulatory bodies in research and design (R&D) in human services, and how innovation occurs.
- Utilize evidence-based practice and other practice and research-based evidence in the design of social service interventions.
- Identify the issues surrounding the external constraints on program design and innovation.
- Benchmark existing programs in the design of new program approaches.
- Design programs from different paradigmatic assumptions, especially those that include the standpoints of non-dominant culture, racial, gender, and economic groups, and the clients directly served by the programs.
- Utilize new and emerging approaches to planning, especially those that use the knowledge-base of non-traditional fields such as human and economic geography.
- Describe the different types of funders and funding, and be able to identify the strategic advantages of each for various program needs.
- Conduct grant searches, including how to use FC Search, Guidestar-based IRS 990 forms, various print, Internet, and database sources of information, and how to read corporate annual reports.
- Identify the different sections of typical grant proposals and the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of completing those sections.
- Write each of the major sections of typical grant applications.
- Develop logic models.
- Develop a grant budget in accord with practices learned in the Financial Management course.
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Council on Social Work Education Core Competencies
This course contributes toward mastery of the following core areas of social work competency identified by the Council on Social Work Education.
Social workers . . .
- Identify as professional social workers and conduct themselves accordingly.
- Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.
- Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
- Engage diversity and difference in practice.
- Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
- Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
- Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
- Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being, and to deliver effective social work services.
- Respond to contexts that shape practice.
- Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
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Core Content Themes
- Different types of social service programs and options in their design
- Organizational theory as it relates to planning, including organizational structure
- How race, ethnicity, culture, class, and gender affect options and choices in organizational structure and program design
- Needs assessment options
- Avoiding problems in the design of programs
- Research and development (R&D) in the human services: pilot projects and demonstrations and diffusion
- Ethics and responsibility in designing programs
- Using research in designing programs: evidence-based practice, best practices and benchmarking
- Paradigmatic assumptions and alternative paradigms: race, ethnicity, gender and client perspectives in program design
- How social service programs are funded
- Different types of funders: who they are and what they are looking to fund
- The grant process
- Requests for proposals/guides for applicants/requests for applications
- Grant Searching
- Moving from program plans to fundable program ideas, including utilizing logic models
- Grantwriting skill development: experience in writing all of the major parts of a grant
- Understanding the distinction between goals, objectives and outcomes, and how to develop measurable goals and outcomes
- A review of fundraising options other than grants
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