The decision cycle for the next fiscal year budget has begun and the department budget officer has asked each division chief to prepare requests for changes to the current year's budget. As a program manager in a government agency, your division chief has asked you to prepare next year's request, making sure to forecast revenue and control costs.

Prepare a proposal for program change consisting of four parts:

• Statement of the Problem: Describe the public nature of the issue or problem addressed by your request. Justify your case through measures of need or demand for services provided through the program, illustrated delivery gaps among for profit, nongovernmental, and other government agencies, and how the problem has changed during the recent past.

• Alternative Solutions to the Problem: Identify at least 2 different approaches to the problem described in part 1. Each alternative should be described in such a way that the reader understands that the particular choice is both feasible and reasonable. The staffing and budgetary requirements of each alternative must be clear.

• The Preferred Solution: The proposal should be justified in terms used in the problem statement. The outcome of the proposal should relate to the goals and objectives of the program, and illustrate the impact of the proposal and expected benefits to the public.

• The Budgetary Requirements of the Preferred Solution: The financial needs of the expanded or new program should be listed, and the proposed sources of funding for the proposal should be identified.