Growing Some Backbone? Network Governance and the Washtenabe Regional Homelessness Assistance Network

Abstract

Public service leaders in communities across the United States (and even across other parts of the world) have a growing interest in the development and implementa-tion of collaborative community networks, usually including large numbers of organi-zations and agencies from each of the three sectors (business, nonprofit, and govern-ment), for the purpose of tackling specific, complex community issues or problems that they have found are not possible for any one, two, or even a few organizations to address or resolve successfully. The kinds of problems these networks emerge to ad-dress tend to be perceived as “wicked problems”—problems that are very resistant to resolution because they are complex and multifaceted, involving multiple institutions, organizations, actors, and decision makers, typically from different sectors and profes-sions, each bringing to the problem a set of heuristics and perspectives that reflect a myriad of competing and conflicting values, interests, knowledge bases, and expertise (Churchman, 1967; Weber & Khademian, 2008)...Purchase this special issue to continue reading