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Administration of diversity
Abstract
Many social agencies can be described by the services they provide (e.g., the family service or adoption agency, the hospital or the mental health agency). By contrast, with more than 70 different projects ranging over numerous fields, Resources for Human Development, Inc. (RHD), in Ardmore, PA, cannot be adequately described by the projects it supports. Rather, as an administrative mechanism it is unique in the combination of its diversity, structure, and particular value system. RHD demonstrates the viability of an organization model that is designed specifically to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, social responsibility, and creativity of individuals and groups in the community. After 16 years of development and with a current yearly revenue of over six million dollars, RHD is a model for other human service organizations. RHD is interested in demonstrating an effective humanistic new model for corporate structure. As a diversified nonprofit organization it administers a broad range of units, including: outpatient mental health; methadone and alcohol services; residences for the retarded, mentally ill, homeless, and alcoholic; transportation for the handicapped; workshops for the retarded; concerts in homes for the elderly; and a federal Head Start program. A study highlights the underlying value system and structure of RHD so that other corporations can embrace the model as a means of ensuring their own success at a time when the human service field is under stress. (This issue of Administration in Social Work has eight additional articles on alternative social agencies.) (Journal abstract, edited.)
Journal
(1988)
vol12
no2
pages83-94
Categories
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Diversity
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Communities and Organizations
