THE NEED FOR HUMAN SERVICE AGENCIES TO BECOME SELF-EVALUATING ORGANIZATIONS--ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENGAGE IN CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF THEIR OWN ACTIVITIES, ASSESS WHETHER THEIR GOALS ARE BEING MET, AND EXAMINE THE RELEVANCE OF THOSE GOALS--IS POINTED OUT. PROBLEMS IN USING EVALUATION SUCCESSFULLY ARE DISCUSSED, AND TWO EXAMPLES OF PROGRAM EVALUATIONS THAT WERE PARTICULARLY USEFUL (ONE OF WHICH WAS CONDUCTED BY A STATE CORRECTIONS PROGRAM) ARE CITED. THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF A MODEL OF EVALUATION CAPABILITY--EVOLVING LEVELS OF EVALUATIVE ACTIVITY, INFORMATION CAPABILITY, AND FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF THE EVALUATOR--CONSTITUTE A FRAMEWORK FOR PRODUCING THE KIND OF INFORMATION THAT CAN MAKE EVALUATION AN EFFECTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. LEVEL OF EVALUATIVE ACTIVITY, THE FIRST AND CENTRAL DIMENSION, DESCRIBES THE PROGRESSION FROM NARROW CONCERNS OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TO BROAD ISSUES OF PROGRAM IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY. THE INFORMATION CAPABILITY DIMENSION SPECIFIES THE TECHNICAL TOOLS NEEDED TO MOVE ALONG THE CONTINUUM FROM UNPLANNED, UNCOORDINATED NATURAL DATA BASES TO PLANNED-ACCESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS SUPPORTED BY ALLOCATED RESOURCES. THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF THE EVALUATOR, THE THIRD DIMENSION, CONTRASTS THREE SELF-LIMITING ROLES (STATISTICIAN, RESEARCHER, AND TECHNICIAN) WITH AN ALTERNATIVE ROLE (THE EVALUATOR AS INTEGRATOR, COORDINATOR, AND DECISIONMAKER) THAT BRINGS THE EVALUATOR INTO THE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL CAN HELP MANAGERS AND EVALUATORS PLAN A FLEXIBLE, EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO EVALUATION WITHIN HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR INTEGRATING EVALUATION WITH ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONMAKING ARE LINKAGE METHODS, PROGRAM STRUCTURE, OPENNESS, CAPACITY, REWARD, PROXIMITY, AND SYNERGY. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)