Financial Capability and Asset Building With a Racial- and Gender-Equity Lens: Advances From the Field

Author(s):  
Christy Finsel ◽  
Mae Watson Grote ◽  
Margaret Libby ◽  
Cathie Mahon ◽  
Margaret S. Sherraden

This essay explores the enormous potential of social service organizations to contribute to people’s financial well-being. It is informed by the work of four pioneering organizations that use a racial- and gender-equity lens to advance financial well-being. It explores five strategies: (a) embedding financial development into social services; (b) focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood; (c) partnering with asset coalitions to expand financial opportunities; (d) partnering with financial institutions; and (e) developing fintech with equity. These approaches hold promise to help address the racial wealth gap and improve financial security.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
S. S. Memetov ◽  
S. N. Pusin ◽  
N. V. Budnik ◽  
Yu. V. Kobzev ◽  
V. N. Petrova ◽  
...  

The article analyzes the current regulatory and legal framework for the organization of social services for the elderly and disabled in social service institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation. The article reflects the shortcomings of legal documents regarding the organization of work of such institutions to improve the quality and accessibility of social care for patients receiving social services in social service organizations. The assessment of staffing standards is given.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-198
Author(s):  
Rukshan Fernando

Today's world faces unprecedented complexities. Governments, businesses, and nonprofits have far to go in solving these problems. The economic recession of 2007 exposed a significant decline in public and private support for social services (Pitt- Catsouphes & Berzin, 2015) and the need for social workers to facilitate new ways of addressing the complex, interwoven problems of poverty, racism, social inequity, and discrimination. Now more than ever, social workers need to understand how social services can utilize new strategies with new solutions to address these issues (Berzin, 2012). ). Shuman & Fuller (2005) coined the phrase “revolution will not be funded,” indicating that nonprofits all over the country must devise new incomegenerating strategies to empower disadvantaged groups. Although the media reports that the U.S. economy has rebounded, foundations and governments still expect social service nonprofits to leverage new forms of revenue to fulfill their missions. There is also some uncertainty about how nonprofits will be funded long term as local, state, and federal government dollars dry up. In addition, some claim that social service organizations develop complex programs that do not match the interests of funders (Foster, Kim, & Christensen, 2009).


Management ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-216
Author(s):  
Jacek Szołtysek ◽  
Aldona Frączkiewicz - Wronka

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 291 ◽  
pp. 06008
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Ogorodnikova ◽  
Andrey Plakhin ◽  
Konstantin Rostovtsev

The relevance of the study of the processes of training volunteers working in social service organizations is due to the massive use of labor of non-professional participants to provide social services to needy groups of the population. The purpose of this article is to substantiate a conceptual model for organizing regional systems for vocational training and certification of volunteers in the field of social services. The research was carried out on the basis of studying, summarizing and systematizing scientific literature, regulatory documents, training programs for volunteers, and social service standards. As a method of empirical research, a survey of 54 volunteers in the field of social services was used, which revealed the main issues of training for the subsequent provision of services in the field of social services. A review of theoretical sources identified the characteristics of two approaches to training social service volunteers. The first assumes a hierarchical model with a gradual expansion of a volunteer functions, depending on the training programs completed with the receipt of a attestation certificate. The second model involves the training of volunteers directly at the sites of providing social services with the involvement of students from specialized universities. Empirical research has shown that in Russia, in most cases, the training of volunteers in the field of social services is carried out by specialists from institutions in which volunteer activities are carried out in the form of short-term seminars and an oral survey on the presented material. Consequently, it can be stated that there are no full-fledged systems of professional training and certification of volunteers in the field of social services, the construction methodology of which is considered in the works of a number of foreign authors. The formation of such a system in Russia should become one of the target priorities for the development of the volunteer movement, since the specificity of the problems of social services requires special knowledge, skills and abilities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Fauzik Lendriyono

AbstrakGejala sekularisasi organisasi pelayanan sosial semakin masif. Sekularisasi ini disebabkan karena masyarakat semakin rasional pada realitas sosial yang menuntut kualitas pelayanan sosial lebih baik. Masyarakat yang rasional adalah masyarakat yang mampu mengorganisir dan melakukan peran serta tindakan atas dasar pertimbangan logis atas realitas. Hadirnya organisasi menjadi cirri masyarakat rasional. Organisasi adalah bentukan sosial yang berisi kesepakatan gagasan pemikiran, nilai, ideologi dan tujuan. Ketika agama menjadi bagian di dalamnya, maka organisasi menjadi lebih kuat dengan tatanan nilai dan aturan-aturan yang selalu merujuk pada nilai agama sebagai dasar keyakinannya. Keyakinan pada nilai agama menjadi spirit organisasi untuk merancang dan merealisasikan tujuannya. Maka organisasi yang berbasis keagamaan memiliki sensifitas dan orientasi untuk kesejahteraan yang lebih baik. Kesejahteraan tidak hanya bagi obyek, tetapi juga bagi subyek organisasi. Tesis Weber bahwa semakin menguatnya organisasi atau lembaga formal di masyarakat justru akan mempersempit ruang-ruang keagamaan, ternyata tidaklah demikian. Justru dengan hadirnya agama dalam organisasi, maka jangkauan organisasi semakin luas, memasuki sel-sel organisasi secara lebih dalam dan manusiawi.   Kata kunci: keagamaan, organisasi, strategi AbstractSymptoms of secularization of social service organizations are increasingly masiv. This secularization is caused by increasingly rational society in social reality that demands better quality of social services. A rational society is a society capable of organizing and performing action based on logical reasoning of reality. The presence of the organization became the cirri of rational society. Organization is a social form that contains agreement of ideas of thought, value, ideology and purpose. When religion becomes part of it, the organization becomes stronger with the order of values and rules that always refer to the value of religion as the basis of its belief. Confidence in the value of religion becomes the spirit of the organization to design and realize its objectives. Hence religious-based organizations have sensitivity and orientation for better welfare. Welfare is not only for the object, but also for the subject of the organization. Weber's thesis that the strengthening of formal organizations or institutions in society will actually narrow the religious spaces, it is not so. Precisely with the presence of religion within the organization, the scope of the organization increasingly widespread, entering the cells of the organization more deeply and humanely.Keywords: organization, religion, strategy


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-265
Author(s):  
Wendy Cadge ◽  
Michael Skaggs

Religious people and organizations have provided services to seafarers in the port of Boston for nearly 200 years. While Boston’s history and present circumstances are specific, the port’s services to seafarers are broadly representative of the history of such provision in ports across the United States. We show how local and global economic changes shaped who worked in the port of Boston. Protestant individuals and organizations provided services to these workers, although the motivation behind the services and their content changed. The overt evangelism of the first generations diminished as mission societies transitioned into religiously-motivated social service organizations. Comprehensive social services and lodging were replaced by services provided on board vessels during increasingly quick turnarounds. While today’s port chaplains describe their work in much different terms than those of generations past, they continue a tradition of Protestant-supported care that has been evident in the port for the past two centuries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-372
Author(s):  
Nuno Filipe Melão ◽  
Marlene Amorim ◽  
Frederic Marimon ◽  
Inés Alegre

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze from an adopters’ perspective the European Quality in Social Services (EQUASS) Assurance standard, a certification program to implement a quality management (QM) system specifically tailored to European social service organizations (SSO). Specifically, it analyzes the motives, internalization, impacts, satisfaction, and renew intentions of this standard. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey methodology with both closed and open-ended questions. Of the 381 organizations contacted, 196 responses from eight different European countries were considered valid (51.4 percent). Descriptive statistical techniques and content analysis were employed to analyze closed- and open-ended questions, respectively. Findings The results show that SSO typically implement the certification for internal reasons, internalize EQUASS Assurance principles and practices in daily usage, obtain mainly operational and customer benefits, and consider main pitfalls such as increased workload and bureaucracy. Around 85 percent of the respondents are very satisfied or satisfied with the standard, which suggests that it meets their needs. The intention to renew the certification is also encouraging, but the final decision may be contingent on several aspects. Overall, the results reveal a rather optimistic picture, though there are some reasons for concern. Originality/value Recent years have seen many social services implementing QM systems, but there have been few studies investigating this phenomenon. Social service managers, consultants, auditors, and the EQUASS certification body can find in this work valuable information to make their practice more effective. This is the first study to report the results of an EQUASS survey in a scholarly journal.


Author(s):  
Janina Čižikienė ◽  
Justas Urmanavicius

The aim of social service organizations that provide modern social services is to give quality social services that would help a person (family) to become independent and able to integrate into society. Successful operation of organizations is ensured by the ability of managers to lead, motivate employees to achieve the set goals, and promote cooperation with stakeholders. Therefore, managerial leadership is especially important to influence the activities of the members of the organization, creating conditions for continuous improvement and cooperation.  A leader must be able to bring employees into a team, evaluating achievements and facilitating social interaction between team members, and strive to continually improve employees’ ability to provide individual, customer-oriented services. The aim of the article is, based on theoretical analysis and empirical research, to highlight the peculiarities of managerial leadership in social service organizations and to define the influence of leadership in the process of providing social services to employees, service recipients, and stakeholders. The research revealed what the most important characteristics, personal qualities, and competencies of a leader in an organization are and what influence managerial leadership has when organizing and providing quality social services. The research identified the aspects of managerial leadership that would help ensure successful operation of organizations when providing effective support to those experiencing exclusion in the community. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Vuokko Niiranen ◽  
Joakim Zitting ◽  
Sanna Laulainen

The Finnish health and social care sector is currently undergoing numerous reforms. These reforms involve novel demands regarding the role of steering, decision-making, and management in health and social services. This article sheds light on some of the critical factors encountered by decision-makers and managers when implementing reforms to change health and social services. The article investigates cooperation between the steering ministries and different dimensions of management in local health and social service organizations. Interview data from the ministries were studied through content analysis, and quantitative survey data were analyzed using mean values guided by the model of multidimensional management. The co-operation between different ministries has intensified while implementing different reforms, but functional and cultural boundaries between them persist. The management dimensions in changing health and social service organizations stress the role of managers as facilitators and enablers, highlighting the significance of caring for the human resource dimension as one of the managers’ core tasks. The successful implementation of change should never be automatic. What emerges prominently is the skill essential to achieve cooperation which transcends the borders of both multiprofessional and traditional professional and administrative work both in ministries and local health and social service organizations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document