Mitigating disaster losses through insurance

Losses from natural disasters have increased in recent years due to growth of population in hazard-prone areas and inadequate enforcement of building codes. This article first examines why homeowners have not voluntarily adopted cost-effective protective measures and have limited interest in purchasing insurance. It then proposes a disaster-management program which utilizes insurance coupled with well-enforced building codes to reduce future damage. Banks and financial institutions play a key role in this program by requiring inspections of homes as a condition for a mortgage. New forms of reinsurance coverage against catastrophic losses from natural disasters are necessary to protect insurers against potential insolvency from the next mega-disaster.     

Helping oneself by helping others: evaluation of a service credit banking demonstration

Between 1987 and 1990, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded six service credit banking demonstration programs among the elderly in which participants delivered services in return for credits, entitling them to later service. This evaluation of the demonstrations found that these six sites successfully attracted elders for the delivery of household support services to a relatively old, frail population with potentially limited social networks. Evidence on the significance of the "credit" in attracting volunteers was mixed, but the programs have attracted new volunteers, and have not substituted for other volunteer activities. Program development has entailed considerable staff investment in volunteer support; programs are better understood as community membership organizations than as mechanical exchanges.     

The communal construction of the “outsider” in a Quaker community in Costa Rica

This paper attempts to capture the process of exclusion in a Quaker, rural farming community in the rain forest mountains of Costa Rica. The outsider is defined as a member of a close community, whose voice is not part of the communal dialogue. The silenced voice is investigated through the lives of four members — an authoritarian founding father in a community of the fraternal, an entrepreneur and his wife among the uncommercial, and an inarticulate man among the persuasive.     

The power of boards in service providing agencies: three models

Tensions in the relationship between boards and staff are a common feature of voluntary and nonprofit agencies which deliver services. Many of the difficulties reflect lack of clarity about the power of boards. The author describes three models of governance: traditional, membership, and entrepreneurial. Each model has different implications for the power of a board in relation to staff. Practitioners in nonprofit service delivering agencies in the UK have found the models to be a useful tool for explaining the practical difficulties they experience.     

The changing structure of food retailing in europe: the implications for strategy

European food retailers have increased their scale and scope while concentrating sales into large stores. Strategic implications include the need for scale to compete and organisational relationships to move from supply push to demand pull retailing. Consequences are different for private label and for branded manufacturers, who must respond to the demands of retail supply chains whilst retaining control of product development. Further concentration in both sectors is likely. Consumers are more mobile, but more captive to the retailer in store. Public policy makers are challenged to find new measures of retail power and both allow for innovation and ensure equitable shopping opportunities.     

The service system challenges of work with juvenile justice involved young people in the Hunter Region,Australia

Current policies suggest that collaborative approaches are core to working effectively with juvenile justice involved young people. However, there is little research examining the workings of multi‐agency and collaborative endeavours in this field, or the experiences of the human service workers facilitating these connections. This paper reports on qualitative research that resulted from the Juvenile Justice and Education Equity in the Hunter Region project. Thirty‐eight human service workers were interviewed about their perceptions of the workings, strengths and challenges of the service system that supports young people who come into contact with the Children's Court in the Lower and Upper Hunter regions of New South Wales. Data analysis revealed three key themes related to (1) service gaps, cycles and maelstrom; (2) pursuing authentic service engagement; and (3) insider–outsider dynamics in service provision. Findings are discussed in relation to emerging practice and research agendas.