Negotiating and contracting in a managed care environment: considerations for practitioners.

The world of integrated service provider networks, managed care providers, and preferred provider systems requires clinical social workers to become skilled in business negotiations, with specific attention to contracting for services. This article focuses on the components of negotiating and successfully competing for contracts to gain access to and participate in provider networks for the delivery of mental health services. The authors identify critical elements involved in contracting for services from the perspective of social work practitioners who are now working with or who plan to work with managed care organizations. This pragmatic approach recognizes the controversial nature of social workers' relationship with managed care organizations and the ethical dilemmas that affect both the quality and quantity of client services.

The credibility of nonprofit boards: a view from the 1990s and beyond.

The wrongdoings of nonprofit organizations have become grist for the media mill. The authors explore five of the more recently publicized cases of nonprofits gone wrong: the United Way of America, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Foundation for New Era Philanthropy, Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, and Upsala College, and their significance in regard to the role and functioning of the board. Discussion focuses on the implications of these cases in regard to nonprofits' credibility and strategic options for enhancing accountability. Unless governing boards address some of their deficiencies, tighter government regulations, increased donor skepticism, and greater demands and expectations upon them will result.

Reaganomics: its impact on the voluntary not-for-profit sector.

In seeking to diminish government's role in financing human services, the Reagan Administration has advocated increased responsibility for the voluntary sector. This analysis of data from a variety of voluntary not-for-profit agencies documents the initial effects of Reaganomics and considers projections for the future of those agencies.

The uses and misuses of central registries in child protective services.

A national survey questions the effectiveness of computerized central registry systems, as now operated, in acheiving goals. The potential for abuse of individual civil rights indicates the need for further study.