Comparative Approaches to Program Planning

"I found this book helpful in giving structure and organization to my thinking about program planning, prioritizing my goals in planning, and decreasing wasted planning time. Comparative Approaches to Program Planning recognizes the delicate balance of planning programs that are accessible and acceptable to the participant while maintaining a focus on accountability." (Psychiatric Services, November 2008)

This book will demonstrate its value among students and practitioners alike. I imagine using it with undergraduates in community practice courses, in a graduate advanced practice seminar as well as with leaders in local nonprofits....This is the book I’ve been waiting for. It provides not only a linear approach to program design, but gives language to the tacit knowledge many planners have of the circular nature of their work. Both linear and circular thinking are important to planning processes and now we have a resource for teaching.
—Jon E. Singletary, Ph.D., M.S.W., M.Div., Baylor University, School of Social Work

As a practitioner in the field for over 30 years, I have been exposed to endless "planning" sessions that are prescriptive to the point of being oppressive. This text allows for and "gives permission" to the practitioner to allow for emergence, uncertainty, and ambiguity in the planning process. Comparative Approaches to Program Planning provides a guide for the manager, administrator, executive director, strategic planner, and CEO to embrace multiple planning strategies and the understanding of each. This is extremely worthwhile in a dynamic environment and an ever changing landscape and worldview.
—Paul D. McWhinney, ACSW, Director of Social Services, City of Richmond, Richmond, VA