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Creating an alternative work culture in a public service setting
Abstract
Creation of an alternative management approach within a public bureaucracy requires strong leadership within the program and equally strong administrative support within the agency hierarchy. A case study is presented that documents an innovative alternative program established in one of the largest county departments of social service in the nation--the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services Child Sexual Abuse Program (CSAP). The program development and stabilization process offers guidelines for establishing an alternative program with a collaborative feminist-oriented organizational subculture within the structure and hierarchical culture of a massive bureaucracy. The program's focus on building a partnership with self-help client groups--chapters of Parents United--and its focus on treatment and empowerment of victimized children and their mothers demonstrate the efficacy of a collaborative service planning and delivery model in creating positive change in the lives of clients. The matrix management structure and staff interaction patterns illustrate one means to empower staff and humanize the work setting for social service professionals operating in an intensely demanding and stressful service area. Analysis of CSAP's development, its leadership succession, and creation of a functional, flexible, collegial culture reveals a model for effective alternative program development in the public sector. (This issue of Administration in Social Work has eight additional articles on alternative social agencies.) (Journal abstract, edited.)
Journal
(1988)
vol12
no2
pages69-82
Categories
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Nonprofit Organizations (Theory)
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Structures and Processes
