'''Community-based program design''' is a social programmethod designfor methoddesigning programs that enables social service providers, organizers, designers and evaluators to serve specific communities in their own environment. This program design approachmethod depends on the participatory approach of community development often associated with [[community practice|community-based social work]], and is often employed by [[Community organizing|community organizations]].<ref name="Delgado">{{Cite book|url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112481.001.0001/acprof-9780195112481|title=Social Work Practice in Nontraditional Urban Settings|last=Delgado|first=Melvin|language=en|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195112481|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112481.001.0001}}</ref> From this approach, program designers assess the needs and resources existing within a community, and, involving community stakeholders in the process, attempt to create a sustainable and equitable solution to address the community's needs.
Similar to traditional program design, community-based program design often utilizes a range of tools and models which are meant to enhance the efficacy and outcomes of the program’s design. The difference between traditional design and community-based design, when using these tools, is in the dynamics of the relationship between the designers, the participants, and the community as a whole. It evolved from the [[Charity Organization Society]] (COS) and the [[Settlement movement|settlement house movements]]. Formally, community-based program development has been professionalized by such disciplines as [[urban studies and planning]] and [[social work]].
