ABSTRACT
Over the years, "accountability" in the human services has focused upon issues such as the legal framework, organizational management, financial responsibility, political concerns, and client inputs and expectations. Within the past decade, the meaning of "accountability" has been extended to the more dynamic organizational functions of "efficiency" and " effectiveness." Efficiency and effectiveness increasingly must be put to the tests of performance measurement and outcome evaluation. Forces outside the social work profession, including, among others, federal expectations and initiatives and the increased implementation of the concept of managed care, will ensure that efficiency and effectiveness will be central and highlighted concerns far into the future. This "new accountability" is demanded by the stakeholders in the nonprofit sector and by federal requirements built into the planning, funding, and implementation processes for nonprofits and for-profits alike.
Subject(s)
Social Responsibility , Social Work/standards , Total Quality Management/methods , Managed Care Programs/organization & administration , Organizational Objectives , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Social Work/organization & administration , United StatesABSTRACT
The increasingly precarious and vulnerable position of the private, nonprofit social service agency in an environment of government contracting and declining funding has been the subject of a number of articles over the past few years. Nonprofit agencies have been characterized as being controlled by powerful government agencies that dictate the terms and conditions of contracts, the types of services to be provided, the methods of delivery, and the price to be paid for services. One would expect to find nonprofits anxious to terminate their relationships with various units of government, and return to a more independent status. That is not happening. If anything, purchase of service contracting (POSC) with nonprofit agencies is increasing. This national study of nonprofit agencies explores the impact of declining funding from all sources (including POSC), and seeks to determine its impact on clients, staff, and organization.
Subject(s)
Contract Services/economics , Organizations, Nonprofit , Financing, Government , Health Services Research , Organizational Affiliation , Private Sector , United StatesABSTRACT
Important in the development of research-based practice models is the impact on them of program design. In this article, the concept of program design is reduced to elements that can be examined for their reliability, validity, relevance, and internal consistency. Defining these elements contributes to understanding what types of interventions have what effects on what types of clients with what types of problems.
