ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the issues and illustrates their utility for teaching administrative content in graduate schools of social work or other human service educational programs. It addresses three areas related to administration of family preservation services (FPS): program and organizational design; personnel management; and financial management, fundraising, and cost-benefit analysis. As with virtually all human service programs, FPS agencies or programs function within a political and organizational context, which heavily influences how the services are organized and delivered. There are a variety of program design issues that must be addressed and structural components that must be established when developing a FPS program. FPS programs provide a rich resource for assisting students in thinking about the tasks and skills required for selecting quality staff members, specifying performance criteria, choosing a worker performance appraisal method, and supervising workers. Implementing family preservation programs is a challenging process, especially given the political, financial, organizational and personnel management hurdles that must be overcome.
