Understanding the association between supply-demand factors and the size of nonprofit capacity building organizations

Digital services in healthcare and social services have increased due to national promotion and Covid19 pandemic. However, the regional differences may exist. Successful implementation and sustainability of digital services requires that attention is paid to addressing barriers and supporting facilitators at all levels in health care provision.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of employee status, form of organization and organizational size on the views related to current state and the role of digital services, development barriers, development plans and the support needed for development in welfare, social and health service organizations operating in the South Ostrobothnia region. The study was carried out in the era of exceptional circumstances created by the Covid19 pandemic in the summer of 2021. The study was a quantitative cross-sectional study using an electronic survey. Respondents (n = 121) were managers, entrepreneurs and employees of welfare, social and health service organizations operating in the South Ostrobothnia region.The results suggested that in more than four out of five welfare, social and health service organizations operating in the region of South Ostrobothnia, part of the services were already digital in the summer of 2021. These services had been extensively developed during the previous year, which was lived in exceptional circumstances caused by the Covid19 pandemic. Digital services were seen to function especially as enablers of customers in exceptional circumstances. However, managers or entrepreneurs also saw digital services as reaching new customers more important than employees. The acquisition of technology and human resources were felt to be the most significant barriers in the development of digital services, regardless of the employee status, form of organization and organization size. Regarding the use and development of digital services, information was felt to be necessary, especially about the characteristics of digital services, and financial support was also felt to be necessary for the development. However, the support needs were significant in many aspects related to digital service development. In particular, large organizations needed information on the cost-effectiveness of digital services.The results can be used to support welfare, social and health service organizations in digital service development.

• Summary: Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been gaining acceptance and momentum in the social services professions. As evidence related to specific programs and interventions mount, social service practitioners and organizations around the world have increasingly begun to implement evidence-based programs as a strategy for creating better outcomes for children, families, and adults. Unfortunately, the science of evaluating efficacious and effective programs and interventions has far outpaced the science of implementing them. A gap exists between what we know works and being able to utilize what works in practice. This article will examine the challenges facing social service organizations in implementing evidence-based programs and explore an organizational theory to address those challenges. • Findings: The implementation of EBPs has proven to be a complex and challenging process, with organizational factors coming to the forefront as important in bridging the gap between science and service. The complexity of translating what we know from research into practice requires an organizing theory to help guide implementation efforts in the context of an organization. • Applications : This article proposes the use of a theoretical framework, the learning organization, by social service organizations. By transforming social service organizations into learning organizations, social service organizations will be able to more effectively meet the challenges of implementing evidence-based programs and function as a bridge, rather than a barrier, between science and service.

Social service organizations have developed quickly as a result of the Chinese government outsourcing services in recent years. The policy of government outsourcing services has been successful in developed countries and is transferred to China mainland. However, there are critical differences between China and these areas. The precondition for success in outsourcing services in Western countries is that the nonprofit organizations are relatively independent and strong. In China, however, the relationship between the government and social organizations is fuzzy, and social organizations are still quite weak. Thus, the effectiveness of social service in the West depends on collaboration between the government and nonprofit organizations (NPOs), during which the boundaries are eliminated and partnership is built. The preexistent boundaries make sure that the government and NPOs could cooperate independently and equally. In China, boundaries should be produced first to assure the effectiveness of the government purchases of social services. This paper focuses on the family integrated service centers in Guangzhou and analyzes the production of boundaries in the process of service delivery strategies. It aims to respond to the partnership theory and theoretical issues regarding the development of social organizations in China.

Kompetenzanforderungen an Führungskräfte in Organisationen des Gesundheits- und Sozialwesens: Ergebnisse einer Delphi-Studie

This research examines faith-based services at Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung to address its relationship with the development of faith-based organisations. Capacity building in social service organisations is an important part of fulfilling roles and goals to achieve a good level of quality in providing benefits to many people in accordance with Islamic law. The research method used is a qualitative method, in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of social phenomena in faith-based organisations, in relation to organisational development. So that the approach used is a case study of the Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung institution, to explore the dynamics of development in it. To get informants who are relevant and have special characteristics for research purposes, the informant selection technique is purposive sampling by sorting out informants who are considered to have knowledge and experience in development work at Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung. Based on this description, this research aims to analyse the capacity of religious-based social service organisations in Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung, such as opportunities, strengths, and challenges faced. Then, it can identify the development of the capacity of religion-based organisations in Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung. The results of the analysis found that Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung was able to optimise organisational development through individual and collective cooperation in it. So that the social services provided are quality and effective, this cannot be separated from the success of processing the resources owned through the values and religious bases used in Baitulmaal Muamalat Bandung

BackgroundDespite research and funding, the understanding of organization’s capacities of knowledge utilisation remains incomplete in health and social field.ObjectivesTo better understand organisational determinants of research result utilisation.MethodBetween 2009 and 2012,...

Nonprofit and voluntary organizations are part of the political economy that add to the services of public and private sectors by addressing civic interests, participation in democracy and providing social programs that improve quality of life. This sector is mostly comprised of small organizations whose impact is more than their budget size. At the advent of this study, information existed about the needs and capacity challenges of Oregon nonprofits in general but lacked specifics on smaller organizations, especially differentiating the urban rural distinction. The aim of this research was to explore the financial and human resource capacity of small nonprofit and voluntary organizations in Oregon to fulfill their objectives and thus provide policymakers, nonprofit capacity building organizations and key leaders in the third sector in Oregon an assessment of what these organizations need to achieve their missions. The study through telephone interviews specifically sought to find a) what core capacities do small urban and rural nonprofits in Oregon currently possess in the financial and human capacity domains, and b) how should capacity builders and policy makers customize capacity building initiatives for small urban and rural nonprofits separately to help them achieve sufficient competencies. In general, the study found that there is a deficit between demand and supply of finances as well as human resources in small nonprofits in both urban and rural areas. The demand for services is always more than what can be supplied. Urban nonprofits struggle to provide the level and diversity of services required in areas where populations are not homogenous and have distinct issues at stake. While rural areas demand less, they have limited pools of volunteers and donors and hence the supply side gets constrained. Not only that, rural organizations struggle with finding representative voices in their boards and workforce even as the communities they serve become more diverse. Absence of diversity often translates to needs of the minority not being understood or catered to. An emergent research that cropped up in this study was that current definitions of urban and rural are based more on geography or demographics. While those are important and not to be dismissed, they are insufficient in understanding how "location" and "impact" of the nonprofit organization classifies them as either urban or rural. The methodology proposed in this study helps to overcome the limitation of overestimation of ruralness that arises using the traditional definitions. The small size of nonprofits posits

This qualitative two-site case study examined the capacity building practices that Children’s Services Councils (CSCs), independent units of local government, provide to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) contracted to deliver human services. The contracting literature is replete with recommendations for government to provide capacity building to contracted NPOs, yet there is a dearth of scholarship on this topic. The study’s purpose was to increase the understanding of capacity building provided in a local government contracting setting. Data collection consisted primarily of in-depth interviews and focus groups with 73 staff from two CSCs and 28 contracted NPOs. Interview data were supplemented by participant observation and review of secondary data. The study analyzed capacity building needs, practices, influencing factors, and outcomes. The study identified NPO capacity building needs in: documentation and reporting, financial management, program monitoring and evaluation, participant recruitment and retention, and program quality. Additionally, sixteen different types of CSC capacity building practices were identified. Results indicated that three major factors impacted CSC capacity building: CSC capacity building goals, the relationship between the CSC and NPOs, and the level of NPO participation. Study results also provided insight into the dynamics of the CSC capacity building process, including unique problems, challenges, and opportunities as well as necessary resources. The results indicated that the CSCs’ relational contracting approach facilitated CSC capacity building and that CSC contract managers were central players in the process. The study provided evidence that local government agencies can serve as effective builders of NPO capacity. Additionally, results indicated that much of what is known about capacity building can be applied in this previously unstudied capacity building setting. Finally, the study laid the groundwork for future development of a model for capacity building in a local government contracting setting.

Managers in nonprofit human and social service organizations are increasingly tasked with the design of performance measurement systems in an attempt to monitor aspects of their day-to-day operations. Monitoring key performance areas is said to improve the chances of sustainability and to provide early warnings of managerial and operational problems in tough fundraising environments. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) modeling framework described by this research was created for social service organizations that operate a network of field offices and are spatially distributed but provide similar services under the same managerial format. We define and assess multiple performance dimensions and more specifically, fundraising efficiency, capacity building, service quality and effectiveness (outcome achievement). The performance with respect to each of the four dimensions is represented as a separate stage where a DEA formulation is provided at each stage. Central to each formulation is the need to account for the influence of key environmental socio-economic factors and for the incorporation of the customer’s voice that is obtained through service quality and effectiveness questionnaires. Results from the implementation of the proposed framework in hundreds of field offices of one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the United States, suggest that social service nonprofits have a harder time being efficient in the fundraising area than in any of the other three areas of activity but that efficient fundraising is not a guarantee for efficient and high quality service delivery, nor it is guarantee of client outcome achievement (effectiveness).

ABSTRACT:In addition to providing a wide range of essential services in local communities, service-providing nonprofit organizations play an important role in shaping de facto local social policy through their participation in community-based planning processes that guide or determine the distribution of federal funding for health and social services. This social policy role has become increasingly important in the United States as the federal government continues to privatize health and human services through providing grant funds to states and cities that are ultimately used to support local nonprofit health and social service organizations. The important role of service-providing nonprofits in shaping local social policy has been understudied, as most studies on nonprofits and policy-making focus on citizen advocacy organizations and their lobbying and protest activities, primarily at the national level. This study uses the case of the New York HIV Planning Council to address this gap in the literature, highlighting the benefits and pitfalls of an urban community planning process dominated by service providers from local nonprofit social service organizations whose own organizations are affected by the planning group’s decisions. Factors that contributed to nonprofit providers’ dominance as well as factors that limited their self-interested behavior are reviewed. The relationship between the HIV nonprofit service system and the AIDS social movement is explored in light of theory on new social movements to help explain why nonprofit providers were sometimes able to promote attentiveness to the general public good while also advocating for their more self-interested organizational needs.

<h3>Context:</h3> Primary care organizations are increasingly implementing technologies to facilitate referrals of patients to social service organizations (SSOs). For these technologies to be effective, they must be adopted by SSOs as well as health care organizations. <h3>Objective:</h3> In this project, we aimed to explore facilitators and barriers to community resource referral technology uptake among SSOs in Trenton, NJ and among other ‘bright spot’ communities, and identify strategies that might increase SSO uptake. <h3>Study Design and Analysis:</h3> Qualitative semi-structured interviews. Recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes and patterns. <h3>Setting or Dataset:</h3> 39 interviews among 16 Trenton organizations and 9 ‘bright spot’ communities. <h3>Population Studied:</h3> Staff and leaders from SSOs in Trenton, NJ that had been invited to use a referral platform (NowPow) and represented a range of adoption patterns. Bright spot communities were outside Trenton, had been implementing a referral platform for at least 1 year, and were considered by external experts to have successfully engaged SSOs. <h3>Intervention/Instrument:</h3> Semi-structured interview guide. <h3>Outcome Measures:</h3> N/A. <h3>Results:</h3> The main barrier to platform uptake among Trenton SSOs was low perceived usefulness. Though most expressed support for the tool conceptually, in practice it did not offer sufficient benefit to motivate SSOs to invest the energy needed for adoption, especially in SSOs with low tech savviness or where the tool was duplicative. A preference for warm hand-offs among some also limited adoption. The few SSOs that found the platform useful provided case management and had staff unfamiliar with local resources. Suggested strategies to increase adoption include better communicating tool value, targeting outreach to SSOs most likely to find value in the tool, and improving functionality to better meet SSO needs. Financial incentives were not attractive to SSOs as it conflicted with their sense of mission. Likewise, successful engagement in bright spot communities hinged on implementing the tool in a way that made it valuable to SSOs. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> Primary care organizations seeking to use referral platforms need to both better understand and better articulate the value these tools can provide to SSOs. Technology platforms should find ways to better meet the needs of SSOs, not just those of HCOs, if these tools are meant to be adopted by SSOs as well as HCOs.

This article proposes a framework for determining strategies in nonprofit social services organizations. A review of the literature concerning strategy choice models is combined with an analysis of the unique characteristics of nonprofit social services organizations to develop the proposed framework, which improves on existing models by encompassing a wider array of strategic factors and being applicable to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. The author provides examples of the model's applications, discusses the usefulness and limitations of the model, and concludes with suggestions for future research.

Unmet social needs (e.g., housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers) impact a patient’s ability to participate in health-seeking behaviors (e.g., physical activity, routine preventive care) and to achieve optimal health. A rapidly growing number of health care systems are incorporating social needs screening and assistance into clinical workflows, yet many implementation and sustainability challenges exist and require collaboration with social service organizations. This review highlights implementation approaches used within this rapidly changing US landscape and uses implementation science frameworks to systematically identify multilevel barriers to and facilitators of implementing and sustaining social needs care. Policies and economic investments are necessary as they determine critical barriers and facilitators within the clinical and social service contexts. Implementation may be further strengthened by cross-sector engagement, evidence-based implementation strategies, and capacity building within clinical and social service organizations. Successful, sustained implementation of social needs care may improve the quality of health care, population health, and health equity.

The article examines the important issue of human resource management in social service organizations in the current working environment characterized by a large flow of migration, military operations and shelling, the emergence of new categories of clients in need of assistance, and high levels of stress. The article substantiates the importance of maintaining the emotional state of employees along with the introduction of new methods of personnel management to reduce the impact of negative factors on the activities of social service professionals. The purpose of this article is to identify the peculiarities of personnel management in social service organizations under martial law in Ukraine, to characterize human resource management practices, and to determine their shortcomings in order to outline relevant directions for development. Based on the results of the qualitative analysis of the reconnaissance sociological study “Human Resources Management in Social Service Organizations in Kharkiv Region”, the main problems in the system of human resources management of such organizations are identified, and the main needs for changing the methods of human resources management are outlined. The author's of the article consider the features of the personnel management system in social service organizations, namely its components (planning, personnel selection, personnel adaptation, motivation, training, personnel certification and evaluation, dismissal). The article also analyzes the methods of working with personnel in organizations of the social sphere. On the basis of the presented material, a conclusion is made about the importance and necessity of improving the personnel management system in social service organizations, namely in the modernization and adaptation of the system of motivation, adaptation and selection of personnel to modern working conditions. And maintaining the emotional state of employees in the conditions of martial law should also occupy a priority position among personnel management methods.

BackgroundTo improve integration across health care and social needs, California’s Medicaid transformation initiative, CalAIM, depends on partnerships between health care entities and social services organizations (SSOs). Given the potential for power imbalance both within the landscape of SSOs and between SSOs and healthcare entities, monitoring and elevating SSO perspectives during implementation is paramount.MethodsWe report the results of the SSO subgroup within a statewide survey conducted eighteen months into CalAIM implementation (July-September 2023, following CalAIM’s January 2022 launch) among a diverse convenience sample of SSO respondents who were familiar with CalAIM. Results were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression models with CalAIM participation and six measures of perceived improvement as outcomes.ResultsThere were 355 SSO employee respondents representing 51 of 58 California counties, 66% of which worked in SSOs contracted as CalAIM providers. CalAIM participation was negatively associated with operating in a single county (OR 0.47, 95%CI 0.24–0.95), and positively associated with pilot participation (OR 6.4, 95% CI 2.5–16.4) and prior managed care contracting experience (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.4–4.7); pilot participation was negatively associated with fewer employees and non-profit status, indicating a possible mediation effect. Across all six models with outcomes of perceived improvement in health care-social services integration, CalAIM participation was strongly associated with increased odds of perceived improvement (OR 2.28 to 4.97), as was being frontline staff or a manager compared to senior leadership (Manager OR 1.76 to 2.85; frontline OR 1.92–3.35), and being a housing services provider (OR 1.80 to 2.15).ConclusionsOur analysis suggests that among SSOs familiar with CalAIM, smaller SSOs were less likely to be contracted CalAIM providers, possibly mediated by lower rates of prior Medicaid contracting experiences (e.g. pilot participation). Contracted SSOs perceived improvements in health care-social services integration at both the patient and organizational levels, suggesting CalAIM is functioning as intended in the perception of SSOs. We demonstrate a feasible method for ongoing monitoring of the SSO perspective that can inform near-term policy directions to ensure small SSOs with close community ties are fully included as partners in CalAIM.