FIVE LEVELS OF EVALUATION CRITERIA--EFFORT, PERFORMANCE, ADEQUACY, EFFICIENCY, AND PROCESS--ARE IDENTIFIED. A CHART SHOWS TYPICAL CRITERIA, INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS, AND METHODOLOGICAL TOOLS, PROCEDURES, AND INDICES ASSOCIATED WITH EACH LEVEL. THE MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES TO BE CONSIDERED IN APPROACHING THE EVALUATION OF SERVICE PROGRAMS ARE NOTED, AND SHORTCOMINGS OF EARLY APPROACHES TO EVALUATION THAT WERE TOO DEPENDENT UPON A LIMITED RANGE OF PERSPECTIVES ARE POINTED OUT. THE GROWTH OF MULTIPLE BUT FRAGMENTED HUMAN SERVICE PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES IS TRACED, AND THE EMERGENCE OF CONCEPTS AND MODELS OF INTEGRATED HUMAN SERVICE SYSTEMS IS DISCUSSED. THREE BASIC CONCLUSIONS ARE DRAWN: THE CATEGORICAL APPROACH TO DELIVERING HUMAN SERVICES RESULTS IN FRAGMENTED, POORLY INTEGRATED PROGRAMS AND RESTRICTS THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF SERVICES, PARTICULARLY FOR CLIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SERVICE NEEDS; PROGRAM EVALUATION MUST BE VIEWED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT THAT PROMOTES ACCOUNTABILITY TO CITIZENS, CONSUMERS, AND FUNDERS AND MUST FUNCTION AS A LINKAGE MECHANISM FOR THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN SERVICES; AND PROGRAM EVALUATION IS PRIMARILY A PROCESS THAT MUST OCCUR WITHIN ONGOING ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT, DECISIONMAKING, AND PLANNING. THE FOLLOWING WORKING DEFINITION IS OFFERED: PROGRAM EVALUATION IS (1) A PROCESS OF MAKING REASONABLE JUDGMENTS ABOUT PROGRAM EFFORT, EFFECTIVENESS, EFFICIENCY, AND ADEQUACY; (2) BASED ON SYSTEMATIC DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS; (3) DESIGNED FOR USE IN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, EXTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY, AND PLANNING; AND (4) FOCUSED ESPECIALLY ON ACCESSIBILITY, ACCEPTABILITY, AWARENESS, AVAILABILITY, COMPREHENSIVENESS, CONTINUITY, INTEGRATION, AND COST OF SERVICES. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED. (LKM)