In recent years the social service field has incorporated program evaluation. In this time of accountability, funding sources want to to know what they are buying. As they respond to this requirement, agencies often discover that they have been living with archaic record-keeping systems. Systems which are cumbersome, or do not collect needed information have become the focus for change. The context overview includes, first, information about the agency, Salem Area Family Counseling Service (SAFCS), second, about the catchment area from which it draws clients, and third, about the people it serves. The time perspective from which this is written is November, 1977, when the project began.