Operational planning may occur at any time a problem, condition, or issue is identified and there is sufficient agreement that change is needed. This is not always easy, as some members of the organization may see a need for a change while others do not. Some members may have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. For example, in the Johnson City situation, it may be more difficult to begin the planning process if some of the Probation Officers are single mothers with school-age children, and they prefer to be home in the evenings. Sometimes, resistance to change may come from managers or administrators and might involve an array of motives, such as monetary issues, power and control, and ideological differences.
Operational planning is needed and used throughout juvenile corrections.
Detention, probation, residential facilities, and aftercare programs all will encounter problems and conditions that need to be addressed in the near term. For example, a detention program may modify security, a residential facility may enhance its educational program, and an aftercare program may start a relapse prevention program. For any of these changes, success is likely to be enhanced by following a systematic planning process that will be discussed later. A special type of operational planning is specific to projects that are time limited. These may include projects undertaken with grants or other time-limited funding or projects developed in response to a special need that will not be ongoing.