The Planning-Programming-Budgeting System in the Mental Health Field
Joe B. Alexander Ph.D.1 and
Judith L. Messal B.A.1
1 Southwest Mental Health Center Las Cruces, New Mexico
The planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS) was adopted by federal agencies in 1965 at the direction of President Johnson. It was intended to present decision-makers with a systematic and comprehensive comparison of the costs and benefits of alternative approaches to meeting an objective. The authors discuss the difficulties of applying the system in the mental health field, and examine the reasons behind the communication problems between mental health and budget specialists. They conclude that PPBS concepts in some form must inevitably be adopted by mental health programs, and offer suggestions for overcoming the difficulties.
