FRAMEWORK OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF 11 ENGLISH SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS (SSDs)

1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-36
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Kakabadse
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
The Social ◽  
Service Departments

Knowledge and Perceptions of the Social Services

1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Ann Glampson ◽  
Bryan Glastonbury ◽  
David Fruin
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Potential Client ◽  
Problem Situations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Service Departments

ABSTRACTThis article reports on an attempt to discover the attitudes of members of the public towards a range of personal and family problems, all of which could be seen as relevant to the work of social service departments. The data are drawn from two samples: one of current users of a social services department and the other from the general public.Our outline findings show that although users seem more aware of the potential of social service departments than other members of the community, there is nevertheless substantial confusion and disagreement over appropriate services for different problem situations. It was equally clear that for several quite important problems many people saw voluntary or neighbourhood involvement as more relevant than intervention by a statutory agency. On the basis of these findings we discuss the following suggestions for social service departments. Firstly, education programmes are necessary to improve general knowledge about the personal social services, but structured in such a way as to avoid stimulating demand which cannot be met – we are critical of the Seebohm report's analogy of personal social services with commerce. Secondly, more attention needs to be paid to relationships between social workers and other professionals who may be intermediaries in contacts between the potential client and the agency. Thirdly, social service departments should assess their own priorities with greater sensitivity towards the community viewpoint, since we found not only a significant willingness for people to get involved in social service but a keenness to participate in policy making.

Dissemination and Implementation in Social Service Settings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Curtis McMillen ◽  
Danielle R. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Dissemination And Implementation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Implementation Models ◽  
Complex Settings

Social service settings offer numerous complexities in their staffing, consumers, and payer mix that require careful consideration in designing dissemination and implementation efforts. However, social services’ unique access to vulnerable populations with health problems may prove vital in efforts to improve the health status of many of our citizens and reduce health disparities. While a number of well-developed, blended dissemination and implementation models are being used in social service settings, they all require additional documentation, research, and field experience. Nonetheless, the lessons learned in the social services may help organizations in other sectors better implement health interventions with complex consumers in complex settings.

An End to Incrementalism? The Impact of Expenditure Restraint on Social Services Budgets 1979–1986

1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Total Budget ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTThe theory of incrementalism is a long-standing and influential perspective on policy making and resource allocation in the public sector. Previous research on social services budgeting suggests that resources are allocated incrementally, although there has been some debate as to whether this would persist in an era of prolonged expenditure restraint. Incremental budgetary outcomes are operationalised as percentage changes in budgets pro-rata with percentage changes in the total budget, and as stable shares of total expenditure for each activity. Data for 99 English social service departments supports incrementalism in that budget shares change by only 1.8 per cent, but percentage allocations depart from pro-rata incrementalism by a mean of 74 per cent. The comparison of the two summary indices over time supports those who have argued that prolonged restraint would encourage non-incremental budgeting, but change in the agency's total budget does not consistently predict budgetary outcomes. The effect of restraint on incrementalism varies with the measure used and across the component activities of the measures, but there is enough evidence to suggest a significant decline in the level of incrementalism in social service departments. In particular, non-incremental budgeting is strongly associated with the growth of day centre expenditure on the mentally ill and the elderly before 1982–3, and after that with the pursuit of the ‘community care’ strategy within state provided services for the elderly and children. Incrementalism as a general theory of agency budgeting is limited in its ability to explain variations in the degree of incrementalism between agencies, between component budgets and over time. The conclusion suggests that further research should seek explanations for these variations in the varying balance of the competing forces which shape outcomes in welfare bureaucracies and in the relationship between these forces and the organisation's environment.

Team Managers in Local Social Service Departments in Israel as Bottom-Up Social Policy-Makers

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Psychosocial Services ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
New Policies

Following on Felice Perlmutter's work on the managerial role of social workers in social services, this article contributes to the still limited knowledge on the role of social workers in middle-management positions in formulating new policies `on the ground`. The study expands knowledge about policies determined by team managers in local social service departments in Israel. It occurs in the nexus between street-level bureaucracy, professionalism and managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews with 28 team managers revealed that they formulated `new` policies with regard to the provision of psychosocial services and material assistance (who gets what, when and how). This occurs when they resist official policy, when it is vague or non-existent. Most of their policy decisions are not documented and draw upon consultations with colleagues and superiors though not with clients. The team managers perceive these policies as a means for achieving balance between clients' well-being and budgetary constraints. Yet their decisions lack transparency, are decided upon without public discourse and may lead to greater inequity between clients

scholarly journals Social Service Centers as Agents of Digital Socialization of Elderly People: on the Example of Organizing Computer Literacy Courses

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-19
Author(s):  
Olga Vasilyevna Zayats ◽  
Nadezhda Vladimirovna Osmachko
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Municipal Services ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Older Citizens

The paper reveals the essence and significance of digital socialization of older people, the importance of overcoming social exclusion by older citizens in terms of access to digital technologies. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the role of social service centers for the population, which act as agents of digital socialization of older people (based on the materials of a sociological study). The objects of the study were elderly people receiving social services in the Primorsky Center for Social Services of the Population, and senior citizens who were trained in computer literacy courses. The authors set the fol-lowing tasks: to determine elderly people’s interest in mastering computer literacy and how effective the “Internet ABC” program is. In addition, it was sup-posed to establish the importance of integrated cen-ters of social services for the population in ensuring computer literacy of pensioners. As a result of a sociological study, it was found that older people show a significant interest in modern information technologies. Computer courses organized on the basis of the center for social services help elderly people to get information about state and municipal services, work with the websites of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insur-ance Fund, Public Services and Multifunctional Cen-ter.

scholarly journals Social Services Administration in Gwagwalada Area Council: Militating Factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irechukwu Eugenia Nkechi ◽  
Chima Paul
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Personal Observation ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rural Dwellers

This study attempted to determine the factors militating against effective social services administration and its unfolding empirical manifestations on the well-being of the rural dwellers in Gwagwalada Area Council in Abuja, Nigeria as well as its attendant effects on rural development. Based on the data generated from 200 respondents (rural residents and staff of the area council) using questionnaire, interview and personal observation, it was discovered that lack of involvement of the rural dwellers in decisions regarding the design and implementation of the social service programmes by the Council is one of the key factors. The paper recommends accordingly among others, that effective social services administration should reflect the wishes and aspirations of beneficiaries. 

scholarly journals The application of supply chain analysis to the evaluation of the effectiveness of social service organizations

Management ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-216
Author(s):  
Jacek Szołtysek ◽  
Aldona Frączkiewicz - Wronka
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Single Chain ◽  
Social Service Organizations ◽  
Joint Management ◽  
Chain Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Supply Chain Analysis

Abstract The application of supply chain analysis to the evaluation of the effectiveness of social service organizations The identification and analysis of value chains is a way to find the sources of an organization’s in-/efficiency, and an opportunity to explore how an organization is managed. Having in mind that an “organization network” is a form similar, in its functioning, to a separate organization, one may, using the value chain concept, investigate the management of local activity programmes, as of the networks they are. The researched partnerships introduced a management innovation, in that the social service provision organizations were brought together to form one chain. The researched organizations providing social services have introduced innovations in management that are supposed to unite organizations providing social services in a single chain. This kind of approach allows to obtain additional benefits, including the joint management of subjects composing the chain. In practice, it is also connected with sharing benefits between the participants in the chain, as well as replacing the elements of competition and suspicion with cooperation and trust. Delivering value to the beneficiary, under the provision of social services, is important not only from the point of view of humanity, but also in order to maximize the use of resources, usually insufficient to meet all the needs. The presented studies of supply chains of social services in Silesia showed, that some features of these newly created areas being subject of joint management, still crave for numerous improvements. What may help is logistics, in particular business logistics, having years of experience in the area of observation and active participation in the chain management. However, unconditional adaptation of these experiences is not possible due to the fact that developed methods are based on cost and maintenance compromises, which are insensitive to human needs when the service cost for the chain is not sufficiently profitable. Therefore, it is necessary to implement different methods of managing these chains, principles of which are described in the social logistics. The authors are convinced that combination of the efforts of the organizers of social services and experienced logistics professionals can bring a double benefit. In practical terms it may help to improve the delivery of services with no deterioration of their quality, and to increase the range of services (quantitative or qualitative) based on specific resources. In the epistemological dimension it may enable to develop rules to adapt the theory of logistics for the socially significant needs. Therefore, this paper can be considered as the beginning of the discussion in this regard.

The Corporate Role in the Not-So-Great Society

1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 151-159
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Rivlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Corporate Philanthropy ◽  
Great Society ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Social Service Delivery ◽  
The Social ◽  
Partial List ◽  
The Many ◽  
The U.S

Direct federal support and corporate philanthropy are two of the many mechanisms of social service delivery in the U.S. The ongoing federal retrenchment reflects both a public decision to reduce the overall level of spending and a pressure to reallocate responsibility for providing some social services from one source to another. The success of this reallocation depends on the match between provider abilities and incentives and the characteristics of the social programs demanded from that provider. The author draws from theory and recent history a partial list of criteria for policymakers to consider in deciding who should be responsible for providing various public services.

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