Strategic planning describes the future an agency wants to create. It is basic to an agency’s effort to allocate resources and measure results. Strategic planning makes it possible to align agency goals and strategies with customer needs in the face of an ever-changing environment, targeting scarce resources to most efficiently achieve desired results. An effective strategic planning process provides the framework for reviewing customer needs, identifying key organizational challenges and considering what opportunities might be leveraged to better achieve the agencies mission and vision. This document provides guidance to state agencies on how to develop their strategic plan.