| Abstract: | Correspondence to Jackie Powell, Department of Social Work Studies, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. Summary Drawing on a wider study of community care arrangements forvisually impaired people in England and Wales, this paper exploresthe implementation of contractual arrangements as part of thedeveloping formalization of partnerships between local authoritysocial services departments and voluntary organizations. Itargues the importance of conceiving contract management as acomplex set of social processes involving a diversity of interestsand inequalities of power, where skills in negotiation are centralto promoting greater participation in community care policyand practice. It concludes with a brief discussion of the relevanceof social work to the implementation of this key area of contemporarycommunity care arrangements. |
