Programming Change Among Nonprofit Human Service Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Administration in social work Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 285 - 304
• Main Authors: Ma, Yinglin, Beaton, Erynn E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 26.05.2024; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Changes; COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; Human service organizations; Pandemics; programming change; Service industries; strategic change; Supply & demand
• ISSN: 2330-3131; 2330-314X
• DOI: 10.1080/23303131.2023.2228854

Research shows that nonprofit human service organizations are nimble in times of crisis. The surprising nature of the pandemic posed unique challenges to both the supply and demand sides of the human service sector. One way that nonprofit human service organizations responded to the pandemic environment was through programming change, including adding new programs, serving new populations, and discontinuing previous programs. Drawing from a two-wave statewide survey, our results indicate that a sizable proportion of nonprofit human service organizations engaged in these changes within the first five months of the pandemic. Such decisions were associated with both resource and mission considerations. Extant research shows how strategic change made in response to environmental shifts often leaves an imprint on organizations. As such, pandemic-era programming change may have a lasting impact on the human service sector, further evidenced by leaders' intentions to sustain them in the years to come. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a number of nonprofit human service organizations (NHSOs) to change their programming. Many NHSOs added programs, added new service populations, and discontinued programs. NHSOs seem to have balanced resource and client needs as they enacted programming change, but as pandemic resources wane NHSOs will need to change further. Programming change enacted during the pandemic was intended to persist after the pandemic ends. This may exert a toll as NHSOs recognize that the pandemic has required them to increase their programming load.