When an organization sticks to a particular plan for years, a plan that was perfect at the beginning becomes outdated. Thus, change is needed to preserve the company’s efficiency. A plan can be defined as “a set of decisions made on actions to be taken to reach a goal” (Homan, 2016, p.229). Thus, this paper suggests certain steps that make a strategic plan for the Indian Creek Foundation, which is a local non-profit organization. It has been successfully supporting adults and children with different disabilities for more than forty years (Indian Creek Foundation, n.d.). However, at present, their activity plan does not meet the demands of time and has to be changed.
Major Issues to Anticipate and Changes to Address Them
Indian Creek Foundation has been helping citizens with mental and physical disabilities for over forty years. The activity of the foundation is focused on providing a comfortable and friendly environment for people with disabilities. However, the issue is that the current operational plan is not efficient because it is not appropriate for new programs and services of the foundation. Thus, the changes are necessary to increase the productivity of the provided services and improve customers’ satisfaction.
To address these issues, a new strategic plan should be developed. It will combine previous successful experiences and consider contemporary demands. For example, new plan activities should be aimed at the creation of a client and family-centered experience and development of an engaged care team able to deliver exceptional care to individuals with peculiarities. Moreover, the necessity of maintaining optimal finance responsibilities should be considered. It will also promote social change and social acceptance.
Applicable Change Theory
A theory of change suitable for the Indian Creek Foundation should include planning, managing, assessing, and scaling interventions (Mayne, 2015). Planning or designing, in this case, presupposes the development of a plan for at least five following years. It should include ways to improve existing services and opportunities for the creation of new ones to satisfy the various needs of people with disabilities. Managing includes the process of plan implementation. It should be carefully managed to put the plan into practice. Activity assessment is a crucial component of change theory. It allows evaluating the efficiency of a strategic plan.
In the case of low or no effect, service delivery should be monitored, and the plan should be reviewed. Finally, the scaling of the theory is executed. It presupposes the generalization of the theory and its distribution to other locations (Mayne, 2015).
It is important to make a flexible strategic plan. There can be a necessity to change some of its points during the implementation process. The theory can be integrated into the work of the foundation. It can be necessary to organize additional training of the staff to encourage their work according to a new plan. After six months of implementation, it is advisable to evaluate the efficiency of new initiatives. Systems orientation and foundational theory can be used for the assessment (Wasserman, 2010). One of the primary components to measure is the need for satisfaction.
Ethical Principles and Issues
The organization of work in a foundation such as Indian Creek should follow Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals (National Organization for Human Services, n.d.). They include the responsibility to clients, the public and society, colleagues, employees, profession, self, and students. One of the major ethical principles related to clients is their right to privacy and confidentiality (National Organization for Human Services, n.d.). This principle should be strictly followed unless there is a risk of harm to a client or another person. Another significant principle is related to the public and society. It presupposes equal delivery of service and care without discrimination to any individual who needs help. It gains more importance in the context of globalization and multinational societies.
As for the first principle, the professional code of ethics states that “Human service professionals protect the client’s right to privacy and confidentiality except when such confidentiality would cause serious harm to the client or others when agency guidelines state otherwise, or under other stated conditions (e.g., local, state, or federal laws) (National Organization for Human Services, n.d., para.7). As for the second one, it is mentioned that human service specialists work “without discrimination or preference in regards to age, ethnicity, culture, race, ability, gender, language preference, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or other historically oppressed groups” (National Organization for Human Services, n.d., para.14).
Conclusions: Opportunities and Challenges
The suggested change theory provides some opportunities for both clients and employees of the Indian Creek Foundation. First of all, it extends the range of services provides. It will help to meet the needs of citizens with physical and mental disabilities and result in an increase in their satisfaction. From a distant perspective, it will contribute to the improvement of their life quality. The opportunity for employees is the development of personal and professional qualities. Participation in new activities will add to their professional experience. However, there can also be some challenges. For example, new services can attract more clients. Then the stuff can serve. Thus, careful planning is important to implement changes efficiently.
References
Homan, M. S. (2016). Promoting community change: Making it happen in the real world (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
Indian Creek Foundation (n.d.). Web.
Mayne, J. J. (2015). Useful theory of change models. The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 30(2), 119–142.
National Organization for Human Services. (n.d.). Ethical standards for human service professionals. Web.
Wasserman, D. L. (2010). Using a systems orientation and foundational theory to enhance theory-driven human service program evaluations. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33(2), 67–80.