Responding to global shifts in social work through the language of service user and service user involvement

'Service user' advisory representation is required by law and/or regulation in British social, health and educational programmes. This is similar to client counsels or consumer groups in the USA, which are required in some, but not all, US social service sectors. Often users of welfare services are excluded from citizenship – both formally and in terms of actual restraints on their citizenship rights. There remains uncertainty, however, about how best to identify and enable such individuals to participate in service user involvement without continued marginalisation. This study seeks to contribute to our emerging understanding of service user initiatives by exploring preferred terms of reference and service user involvement from the point of view of persons often categorised as service users by social policy, health and social care providers and academics, but who do not necessarily take part in self-organised service user groups.     

Responding to global shifts in social work through the language of service user and service user involvement

'Service user' advisory representation is required by law and/or regulation in British social, health and educational programmes. This is similar to client counsels or consumer groups in the USA, which are required in some, but not all, US social service sectors. Often users of welfare services are excluded from citizenship – both formally and in terms of actual restraints on their citizenship rights. There remains uncertainty, however, about how best to identify and enable such individuals to participate in service user involvement without continued marginalisation. This study seeks to contribute to our emerging understanding of service user initiatives by exploring preferred terms of reference and service user involvement from the point of view of persons often categorised as service users by social policy, health and social care providers and academics, but who do not necessarily take part in self-organised service user groups.     

对宗教组织之信任的探索性研究——以上海数据为例

本文利用上海市的调查数据,从宗教归属、人口学变量、社会经济地位因素、社会信任、社会参与和其他机构信任等方面对宗教组织信任进行分析,了解人们对宗教组织信任的现状及影响因素,并对相关的研究进行回应。结果显示,与对其它机构的信任相比,民众对宗教组织的信任处于一个较低水平;宗教归属、社会信任、组织参与和对世俗机构的信任对宗教组织信任的影响最大;阶层、社会参与也有一定的影响;性别、年龄、受教育程度和政治面貌等无影响。     

Individual- and Contextual-Level Factors Affecting the Use of Social Support Services among Older Adults

ABSTRACT

By 2060, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to more than double, while the number of Americans aged 85 and older is expected to nearly triple. As the nation's aging population grows, older adults will need to rely on social support services, such as transportation and housing services, in order to remain active and lead independent lives. In this study we use data collected from the elderly supplement of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey (SPHHS) (n = 3,042) to explore the relationship between the availability of elderly specific social service providers and utilization of social support services among older adults. We find that while the number of elderly specific social service providers can increase use of social support services among older adults, its impact is relatively minimal. We find that individual factors, instead, are stronger predictors of service use. This is a finding that should be particularly encouraging for elder care providers who may not have the resources needed to undertake large structural changes (like building new facilities). Still, future research should explore how the availability of a broader range of elderly specific social services (than explored in this study) impacts use.     

From Official Supervision to Self‐monitoring: Privatizing Supervision of Private Social Care Services in Finland

In October 2011, a new Act on Private Social Care Services came into force in Finland. The Act included a provision on a ‘self‐monitoring plan’. According to the provision, providers of private social care services are required to draw up a self‐monitoring plan and to follow its realization. The plan must be kept publicly on view so that clients and their relatives can also keep an eye on the realization of self‐monitoring. In this article, self‐monitoring is first explained and then briefly analyzed against the background of a wider theoretical discussion on accountability. It is argued that the introduction of client involvement in the supervision of private social care services represents a new mechanism of accountability that is typical of the Post‐Keynesian welfare state. Because public authorities are no longer able to supervise the growing number of private social care service providers, the responsibility has been partly shifted to service providers themselves as well as to clients. However, it is argued that the idea of self‐monitoring lends itself poorly to ‘delegated’ private social care services, i.e. to services that are outsourced to private service suppliers. Supervision of private social care service providers should not be too eagerly delegated to service providers themselves, or to clients, because we are here dealing with the constitutional right to adequate social care services. Client involvement also involves numerous practical problems, as shown at the end of the article.     

Identity and Government Funding in Christian Nonprofits*

Objectives. This article aims to understand if and how the expressed religious identity of Christian nonprofit organizations varies between those receiving and not receiving government funding and whether there is evidence that government funding produces such differences. Methods. I utilize a content analysis of narratives provided on tax forms of 1,900 of the largest national and international Christian nonprofits based in the United States. Results. Christian nonprofits receiving government funding are less likely to express a religious identity and tend to use more inclusive language when doing so. However, receiving government funding does not seem to be the direct cause of changes in expressed religious identity. Conclusions. Differences in expressed religious identity might better be understood as the result of long‐term changes that both alter the organization's identity and makes it more likely to acquire government funding.     

Personal Services in the Post-industrial Economy: Adding Nonprofits to the Welfare Mix

This article develops linkages between two separate fields of research, namely work on post‐industrial welfare states, and work on nonprofit organizations. It pays particular attention to the emphasis on personal services and the “cost disease” hypothesis found in the former, which places strong constraints on improving pay and job quality in the nonprofit sector. At the same time, it argues that the post‐industrial welfare states literature, despite its emphasis on personal services, has largely ignored the significant and growing role of nonprofits in delivering these services, and thus the potential of these organizations to shape their relevant labour markets. This poses the question about the relative weight of productivity‐related wage restraints in personal services versus the capacity for agency by nonprofits. The final section of the paper engages in a critique of the “cost disease” hypothesis to suggest that space exists to improve pay and job quality in nonprofit personal services, despite productivity‐related constraints.     

The role of the voluntary,community and social enterprise sector in Early Help: Critical reflections from embedded social care research

The independent review of children's social care (2022) has proposed a radical reset of England's children's services, shifting a remote, assessment heavy system towards one that works alongside communities to help prevent statutory interventions. However, notions around the harnessing of community resources to deliver Early Help are often underpinned by assumptions regarding the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and the ease with which such organizations can be integrated into preventative strategies. This paper reports findings from embedded research within a unitary authority in Southwest England during remodelling of its Early Help service to work more collaboratively with local VCSE organizations. The study generated data from ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 95 participants, including local parents, service providers, VCSE organizations and Council leaders. The findings illustrate that families value the compassionate, responsive and flexible support available within many VCSE settings. However, differences in practice cultures, regulatory pressures on statutory providers, the need to (re)build trust in communities and sensitivities around power-sharing and resourcing meant negotiating VCSE sector integration was fraught with complexities. Few studies have gained such privileged access to a Local Authority's remodelling of Early Help services, and this paper has significant insights for the debates surrounding the independent review of children's social care (2022) and its recommendation to bring services ‘closer to communities’.     

Impact of the Village Model: Results of a National Survey

ABSTRACT

Villages are a relatively new, consumer-directed model that brings together older adults in a community who have a mutual interest in aging in place. These membership organizations provide social and civic engagement opportunities, volunteer provided support services, and referral to vetted community providers to achieve their primary goals of promoting independence and preventing undesired relocations. This cross sectional survey of 1,753 active Village members from 28 Villages across the US measured members’ perceived impacts in the areas of social connection, civic engagement, service access, health and well-being, and ability to age in place. Results showed that involvement in the Village was a key factor associated with greater perceived impacts. Over half of members perceive that the Village has improved their sense of connection to others and their feeling that they have someone to count on. Though younger members in better health were more likely to perceive impacts in social connections, results suggest older women, living alone with some disability may be the most likely to experience improved health, quality of life, and mobility. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Human Service Organizations: Useful Category or Useless Jargon?

In recent years a growing body of literature has examined the peculiar features of human service organizations and the difficulties which these pose for their administrators. This paper begins by reviewing recent writings on this subject, noting the differing emphases emerging from social welfare and public administration backgrounds respectively. The definition of human service organizations is then reconsidered, suggesting that it is useful to examine their characteristics in terms of two clusters of features: one related to their public source of mandate and resources, and the other related to the nature of the services they provide. A proposed definition based on these two clusters of features makes explicit two characteristics generally assumed in previous definitions of human service organizations; their purpose of meeting socially recognized needs, and the relatively powerless position of their clients. The definition proposed, rather than setting categorical boundaries, provides a model against which the features of a variety of organizations which wholly or partly fit it may be examined. The implications of the identified features of human service organizations for their administration are considered briefly, with particular reference to such problematic issues as the clarification of goals, the rights of consumers and the evaluation of services. It is suggested that the training and development of administrators for human service organizations must be based on an understanding of the particular difficulties and challenges arising from the nature of these organizations.     

Micro‐provision of Social Care Support for Marginalized Communities – Filling the Gap or Building Bridges to the Mainstream?

As English social care services reconstruct themselves in response to the personalization agenda, there is increased interest in the contribution of micro‐providers – very small community‐based organizations, which can work directly with individuals. These micro‐providers are assumed to be able to cater for the ‘seldom heard’ groups which have been marginalized within mainstream social care services. This article reviews recent literature from the UK published in peer‐reviewed journals from 2000 to 2013 on support provision for people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. It considers the marginalising dynamics in mainstream, statutory social care support provision, and how far local community, specialist or small‐scale services are responding to unmet need for support and advice among marginalized groups. The review found that there is a tradition of compensatory self‐organization, use of informal networks and a mobilization of social capital for all these groups in response to marginalization from mainstream, statutory services. This requires recognition and nurturing in ways that do not stifle its unique nature. Specialist and community‐based micro‐providers can contribute to a wider range of choices for people who feel larger, mainstream services are not suitable or accessible. However, the types of compensatory activity identified in the research need recognition and investment, and its existence does not imply that the mainstream should not address marginalization.     

Factors Impacting Market Occupancy of Non‐profit Human Service Organizations in the Public Social Service Market: Focused on an Individual Level

This study aims to experientially verify which factors of non‐profit human service organizations affect market sharing activities in the public social service market. Due to market‐oriented government policies, non‐profit human service organizations, which used to enjoy stable financial resources, are now placed in a competitive position to provide their services. It is necessary to find out which organizational factors give a competitive advantage to various service providers in competition, including profit organizations, and apply them to the management and operation of non‐profit human service organizations. This is how this study started. Independent variables were organizational characteristics (organization age, total budget, number of employees), externally oriented culture (development culture, rational culture), and organizational structure (centralization, formalization), while dependent variables were the number of vouchers and total profits. Data was collected from 35 community welfare centers, rehabilitation centers, and senior centers (163 respondents) in Busan, Korea. Multiple regression analysis was conducted for data analysis. As a result of the analysis, the number of vouchers was found to be affected by development culture (+) and formalization (?), and total profit from voucher business was determined by organization age (?), total budget (+), and number of employees (+). Based on the results, this study suggests that non‐profit human service organizations should have an externally oriented culture and a flexible organization system to hold more market share in the public social service market.     

Users as Citizens: Collective Action and the Local Governance of Welfare

Self-organization amongst users of community care services preceded the consumerist developments of the 1980s and early 1990s, but can be considered to have been "legitimized" by top-down objectives relating to "user involvement". Nevertheless, the objectives and value bases of disabled people's organizations and organizations of users (or survivors) of mental health services have not always been consistent with those of consumerism, and user groups have experienced tensions in determining the extent to which they should respond to official agendas. Drawing on theories of new social movements and of citizenship, this paper considers the developing place of user organizations within systems of local governance. It looks at the way in which groups have sought to assert the legitimacy both of experiential knowledge and of their position as citizens in the face of official responses which have constructed them as self-interested pressure groups. It draws on empirical research investigating local groups of disabled people and of mental health service users conducted in the first part of the 1990s. It discusses the significance of shared identity as a basis for collective action alongside more pragmatic motivations to influence the nature of health and social care services. In the context of appeals to "community" and "partnership" which are starting to replace the discourse of markets and contracts as the key metaphor for both policy-making and service delivery, the article considers likely future roles for groups comprising people often excluded from community.     

The Impact of Church Activities and Socialization on African‐American Religious Commitment*

Objective. This article examines religious commitment (church involvement, private devotionalism, and religious salience) among African Americans as a function of being served by a religious congregation, perception of the historical role of the church in relation to the group, and religious and racial socialization. Methods. Drawing on traditional Christian expectations of the church, hypotheses are tested using the 1979–1980 National Survey of Black Americans. Three alternative models are tested that explicitly compare the effects of church activities with conventional socialization and demographic models of religious commitment. Results. The results show that the church's fulfillment of its normative roles of discipleship and ministry is profoundly important for understanding religiosity, even controlling for other conventional predictors. Conclusions. The analysis illustrates a central, and previously unaddressed, link between religious institutions and individual religiosity. The results have consequences for churches that might consider reprioritizing their activities in response to faith‐based initiatives because social‐service types of church activities influence religious commitment to a lesser degree than activities that emphasize spiritual growth.     

Keeping the Faith: The Impact of Human Services Restructuring on Catholic Social Welfare Services

Church related agencies are major providers of community services in Australia (Lyons, 2001:34‐35). While the history of church related welfare service provision is not well known in Australia it is asserted that many have a long tradition of outreach and service provision to marginalised groups regardless of the government social policy of the day (ACSWC, 2000; Mendes, 2003). This paper examines the current environment of human services restructuring and the impact of the shift to contractualism on one church related provider: Catholic social welfare provision in Australia. It explores the significance of the church's social teachings and history on concerns that service innovation, diversity and advocacy are currently under threat. Finally it calls for greater appreciation of the distinctive contribution of church related agencies and what they have to offer in service delivery and as contributors to the social policy discourse.     

过渡治理情境下的中国社会服务困境:基于Z市社会工作服务的研究

社会工作近十年来在创新社会治理的推动下发展迅速。本文将重点关注于社会服务组织的服务供给过程及其导致的社会服务困境。通过对治理情境的拓展分析,引入过渡治理情境概念,分析我国社会服务供给。在此情境下,本文以Z市家庭综合服务中心为例,围绕自由裁量权这一概念讨论社会服务组织的服务供给策略及其所导致的服务困境。在过渡治理情境中,消极的自由裁量权与社会工作的半专业化发展结合在一起,社会服务组织选择了“活动化”和“指标化”的服务供给,令社会服务处于创新和碎片化之间,而导致社会服务陷入困境。社会服务困境根源的解决在于建立合作的治理情境、强化本土化社工专业力量以及充分发挥第三方的社会服务供给效力。     

Practice Evaluation of Community Initiatives for Social Service Delivery in a Deprived Neighborhood in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Improving social service in local communities is a complex undertaking. Over the past few decades, the performance and sustainability of community initiatives have been questioned, while such factors as a lack of funding, insufficient community involvement, unsatisfactory community service, and lack of awareness of the impact of community initiatives have restricted community development. From a case study of community operations in Scotland, this article provides insights into how social service delivery is organized in the absence of public capital. This study utilized data from semi-structured in-depth interviews with a sample of 76 participants from a deprived area in Scotland, including community management team members (n = 6), local residents (n = 52) and community partners (n = 18). The findings illustrated how participants of all ages, local organizations, policy makers, funders and media came together to create a cohesive and responsive community environment. Residents' needs and funders' demands were identified. Results further revealed that a Community Partnership Mechanism helped strengthen the social service network and create flexible social services. Service benefits included improved resident wellbeing in the context of less government intervention. Future implications include suggestions for government and other stakeholders involved in community reform to focus on service recipient skill building and tracking changes between the indicators and service provision.     

跨国社会工作：全纳式模式

本文将对作为跨国社会工作模式的全纳式服务输出进行探索。全纳式模式（Wraparound Model）最初应用于社区儿童心理健康服务以及儿童保护行动中。这种模式可以有效的为需求复杂,并且需要多个服务提供者的客户及家庭进行服务规划。目前大多数社会工作属于国内或国际性输出,很少需要跨国完成,本文将就如何构建该模式以适应跨国移民的特殊需求（涉及非政府组织（NGO）和国际性非政府组织（INGO）的参与）进行概括,并说明其中主要的障碍和限制。     

Professionals’ Perceptions of Food Insecurity Among Their Low-Income Clients

Abstract

This research examines the awareness of social service professionals of the food security of low-income families in a community-based savings program. Based on survey data of 65 community agencies in seven states that offer the Individual Development Account (IDA) program, the study investigates program providers’ awareness of the food security of IDA program participants. Second, this study presents IDA program provider activities to alleviate food insecurity and summarizes their opinions about how food insecurity could be prevented among their program families. Results show that providers were aware that families did not have enough of the kinds of food they want to eat. This perception was most strongly related to IDA programs with longer durations. Program families’ reports of their children’s food insecurity aligned well with the extent of food hardship reported by the program providers. Access to food and nutritional wellness services was considered most relevant for alleviating food insecurity. Financial security, access to community resources, and direct access to food and family support networks were considered important factors for protecting families from the threat of hunger. Research is needed to identify the role of community organizations that do not provide nutrition assistance for helping low-income families overcome food hardship.     

Care, control and change in child care proceedings: dilemmas for social workers, managers and lawyers

This paper draws on findings from an interview‐based study of the ways that local authority social workers, social services managers and lawyers work together in child care cases in England. The study shows how stressful social workers can find care proceedings, and how much they look to the lawyers for support. It also shows how the lawyers’ involvement can bring new stresses and dilemmas. The managers are especially likely to resent ‘over‐involvement’ (as they see it) from lawyers, but lawyers are quick to defend their role and responsibilities. The paper shows how the complex, multifaceted dimensions of care, control and change interweave with professional differences in care proceedings: care for children, parents and social workers; struggles for control against the court, the other parties and sometimes the other professionals on one's own side; and responsiveness to change set against wariness about ‘lawyers’ deals’ and undue risk to children. The paper concludes that the valuing of difference, rather than its avoidance or suppression, is at the heart of effective inter‐professional work. It calls for greater recognition of this in current initiatives to promote interdisciplinary working in children's services in England.