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When developing and managing safety net programs, organizations will want to consider the future of those programs. Scalability is the ability of a program to grow or contract depending on community needs and the organization’s resources. Program scalability should be considered at the beginning of a program’s life. It is unfortunate when a successful program cannot be scaled up to serve more clients due to an external restriction that was not thought of in the initial planning. On the other hand, not all programs need to grow; successful programs may serve their clients well and meet the program goals without expanding. It is important to revisit the community landscape assessment when determining scalability. Just like impact measurement, this assessment should be regularly updated to identify changes that may drive a desire for scaling a program up or down, such as a growth in pet ownership, a loss or addition of services at the organization or community, and so forth. Examining program impact and usage within the framework of the community assessment will help organizations determine how, or if, to scale their programs.

Finally, organizations need to consider the program’s end‐of‐life. Is there a natural endpoint that would dictate the closure of the program? What resources are needed to sustain the program, and what happens if those resources are not there? Again, knowing the community landscape will help an organization with these decisions. Once the decision is made to end a program, a phase‐out plan must be developed and should include how to communicate the closure to existing and past clients, how to transition those clients from the program to other services, if necessary, and how to best support those clients during the transition. Staff and volunteers, too, must be considered, as they may grapple with mixed feelings related to the program closure as well as worries about employment and volunteer opportunities. Thinking of these issues well in advance will help make the process for determining program closure clearer and ease the closure process for all involved.