Community Service Organizations Research Articles

"What's Good for Boyle Heights Is Good for the Jews": Creating Multiculturalism on the Eastside during the 1950s

Two magazine articles published in the mid-1950s pointed to the Boyle Heights neighborhood in East Los Angeles as an “example of democratic progress” to a national audience. The first, published in October 1954 in Fortnight, focused on the diverse group of Boyle Heights residents and organizations that gathered together to fight the proposed $32 million Golden State Freeway that would invade Hollenbeck Park and destroy some of the oldest mansions and social service agencies headquartered on Boyle Avenue. This article claimed that “few districts in America are as ethnically dynamic, religiously and politically tolerant, and community proud” as Boyle Heights. Its population was depicted as more civic-minded than the residents of any other neighborhood, with more than a hundred coordinating councils, fifty community centers and associations, and “probably more social workers per cubic feet of sorrow than anywhere else in the world.” While this article and a similar one that followed in Frontier in 1955, “U.N. in Microcosm,” both saw the Mexican-American dominated Community Services Organization (CSO) as the most vibrant organization in the Boyle Heights scene, they credited the Jewish community for first instilling a spirit of working together across ethnic lines. “It was the Jews who supplied the initial energy to create ethnic understanding and work-activities on the Heights,” reported Fortnight, while Frontier proclaimed that “the Jews have worked hard for the advancement of the area as a whole.” Both articles referred to the support of the Jewish community for Mexican-American Edward Roybal for city council, even when he ran against “one of their own.” Joe Kovner, publisher of the Eastside Sun and member of the Eastside Jewish Community Center Board, was highlighted as having campaigned vigorously for Roybal and quoted as saying, “Eddie was the best man. What’s good for Boyle Heights is good for the Jews. We keep pounding away on the theme of sticking together. An injury to one is an injury to all.”

Third Sector In Transition – A Question of Sustainability for Community Service Organizations and the Sector?

Third sector organizations are transitioning towards entrepreneurial and managerial models as a result of quasi‐market strategies. This paper reports on the research findings of a survey of nonprofit disability organizations in Queensland and Victoria impacted upon by quasi‐market reform. Enterprising organizations were found to have made substantial change to organizational structures and systems, whilst more traditional organizations made few changes. All organizations demonstrated commitment to a social justice ethos. However across the organizational archetypes there were reports of an organizational ‘fragility’. It is argued that the problems of sustainability of community service organizations that existed prior to quasi‐market reforms remain. This implies community service organizations will experience ongoing difficulties in the post‐market era without further rationalization and change. A conceptual framework for sustainability of the community service sector is presented at the policy and organizational level.

University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine.

University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine.

The Changing Identity of Federated Community Service Organizations

Summary Organizational identity is that which is central, distinctive, and enduring about an organization. Clarity and consensus about organizational identity is an essential element in setting successful long term strategy in nonprofit organizations. At the same time, changing environmental conditions require that identities, and concomitant strategies, be revisited over time, in order to ensure survival and growth. This paper examines the experiences of an important subset of nonprofit organizations-community-based federations in the United States as they have evolved from the end of the 19th century to the present day. These organizations originally emerged as vehicles for the more efficient collection and distribution of charitable contributions and provision of related services, but over time their identities have evolved in important ways. The differential experiences of United Ways, alternative funds, Catholic Charities, and United Jewish Communities illustrate various possible identities for such federated organizations. The future success of these organizations depends on successful adaptation of their identities to contemporary conditions, and the implementation of new strategies consistent with, and supportive of, those identities.

Borderless Academe: "Families in Crisis" and A Lie of the Mind

This article traces the ways in which theatre production, sociology, formal scholarship, teaching, and interdiscipinary thinking fused in a project called "Families in Crisis"-an interdisciplinary study in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and dramaturgy for a production of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. Here, we draw on our original interviews with eighteen men and women who have experienced IPV, as well as on materials from the play, from the sociological literature on IPV, and from student-actors' responses to the work with these materials. We also detail our class-a service learning course in theatre and sociology-that fused all elements of the study, as well as funneling energy back into the community services organization that provided us with access to battered women and women who batter.

Looking for and replicating model programs for ‘at risk’ children and families

At the present time there is a need for a new generation of programs to address the needs of ‘at risk’ children and families. This is an issue that is exercising the minds of service planners in both government and non-government community service organisations. This need arises from the fact that many existing programs have yet to be rigorously evaluated and are of questionable effectiveness. This lack of evidence of effectiveness does not sit well in the current climate of accountability. It also runs contrary to the increasingly strident calls for evidence based practice.Many new programs arrive in Australia from the US as this country is often the source of program innovation as illustrated by the importation in the 1980s and 1990s of family preservation and family reunification programs. In the US, promotion of ‘model programs' has taken another step and a systematic effort at program replication is now in evidence. The question is, how might model programs from overseas be successfully replicated in Australia? And what is required, if anything, to replicate these models effectively taking account of our different cultural traditions?

Gambling participation and problems among South East Asian refugees to the United States.

Gambling is common among South East Asian refugees, but no known studies have evaluated the prevalence of pathological gambling in these populations. The purpose of this study was to assess rates of gambling participation and gambling problems among South East Asian refugees. Ninety-six immigrants to the United States from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam who attended community service organizations for these ethnic groups in Connecticut were asked to complete the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), which had been translated into their native languages. Demographic information as well as data on recent gambling activities were also obtained. The SOGS retained high internal consistency in the sample, with a Cronbach's alpha of .90. The lifetime prevalence of pathological gambling was 59 percent. Rates of gambling problems did not differ across the three ethnic groups. However, being male, divorced or separated, and younger were significant predictors of pathological gambling. More than half of all the respondents had gambled within two weeks of the interview, and 42 percent had wagered more than 500 US dollars in the previous two months. These data call for more research into the social, environmental, and cultural context of gambling among South East Asian refugees. Ethnically sensitive prevention and intervention strategies are needed to address the extraordinarily high rates of gambling problems in this population.

Lessons from a Community's Response to the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, resulted in an international phenomenon of grief rarely seen. In South Australia, research was undertaken on one aspect of public grief that has received little study—the impact of such an event on the utilization of grief support and counseling services. A survey of 65 community service organizations revealed a pattern of increased service requests in the three weeks following Diana's death, particularly among grief-related organizations. The study identified persons who appeared more vulnerable to this public loss event, how community members tried to cope with their grief, strategies used by community organizations to assist, the impact on helpers, and suggestions for improved responses to future public loss events. The findings of this study are seen as important in helping service providers and community leaders to prepare for reactions to other public loss events.

Unfounded assumptions and the abandonment of ‘at risk’ youth

At a recent New South Wales forum about the future of residential care, various speakers cited what they thought were the key themes that should guide thinking about the development of future residential programs for ‘at risk’ youth. The themes were that these programs must be small, local and, somewhat less confidently, that they should only be used as a ‘last resort’ when all other ways of addressing the care and treatment needs of these young people have been tried. It was also noted that funding for programs should reflect the level of staff expertise required when programs are treatment rather than accommodation focussed, although what this might mean in practice was not explored. These are all themes that are part of any discussion about the future of the residential component of the out-of-home care system.The contention of this paper is that these themes are based on unfounded assumptions. When used in service planning to guide future services these assumptions contribute to the abandonment of ‘at risk’ youth to either no service or services that are less than adequate. The themes are explored by applying them to services in other sectors that also deal with ‘at risk’ youth, namely, health, education and criminal justice. The conclusion is that these themes should be replaced with others that will enable community service organisations to develop more appropriate services for ‘at risk’ youth.

Health Science Learning Academy

The objective of the Health Professions Partnership Initiative is to increase the number of underrepresented minority Georgia residents who become health care professionals by (1) creating a pipeline of well-qualified high school and college students interested in health care careers, (2) increasing the number of well-qualified applicants to medical and other health professions schools, and (3) increasing the number of underrepresented minority students at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). The Health Professions Partnership Initiative at MCG was created in 1996 by collaboration among the MCG Schools of Medicine and Nursing, two Augusta high schools attended primarily by underrepresented minority students, three historically black colleges and universities, the Fort Discovery National Science Center of Augusta, community service organizations, and MCG student organizations. The project was funded by the Association of American Medical Colleges and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The high school component, the Health Science Learning Academy (HSLA), was designed to strengthen the students' educational backgrounds and interest in professional careers as evidenced by increased standardized test scores and numbers of students entering college and health professions schools. Additional goals included a system to track students' progress throughout the pipeline as well as professional development sessions to enrich faculty members' knowledge and enhance their teaching expertise. The HSLA began with ninth-grade students from the two high schools. During its second year, funding from the Health 1st Foundation allowed inclusion of another high school and expansion to ninth grade through twelfth grade. The HSLA's enrichment classes meet for three hours on 18 Saturday mornings during the academic year and include computer-interactive SAT preparation and English composition (tenth grade); biology, algebra, calculus, and English composition (eleventh grade); and advanced mathematics and biology (twelfth grade). The ultimate solution to the paucity of underrepresented minority physicians resides largely in successful pipeline programs that expand the pool of well-qualified applicants, matriculants, and graduates from medical schools. Intermediate results of the HSLA support the success of the program. Since its creation in the 1996-1997 academic year, 203 students have participated in the HSLA and all 38 (from the original two schools) who completed the four-year program have enrolled in college. The mean SAT score for students who completed the HSLA program was 1,066, compared with a mean of 923 for all college-bound students in the participating schools. The mean increases in SAT scores for students who completed the four-year program were.5% (1,100 to 1,105) for students attending a magnet high school and 18% (929 to 1,130) for students attending the comprehensive high school. The mean overall increases in SAT scores for students in the two high schools were 1% (1,044 to 1,048) and 9.1% (765 to 834), respectively. The HSLA is accomplishing its goals and, while it is too early to know if these students will participate in MCAT preparatory programs and apply to medical and other health professions schools, their sustained commitment and enthusiasm bode well for continued success.

The use of public education in practice.

1. Miriam E. Bar-on, MD* 1. 2. *Professor of Pediatrics, Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital, Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL Dr Bar-on also is Chair, Committee on Public Education, American Academy of Pediatrics. Objectives After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the primary goals of patient handouts. 2. Describe the primary goals of group education for patients who have specific disease processes. 3. Delineate the advantages of pediatrician involvement in the community. 4. Describe quality issues related to patient education on the Internet. 5. List the advantages of developing media contacts and providing information to them. Public or patient education is one means of attaining the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults, as stated in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) mission statement. By definition, patient education is the process of influencing patient behavior and producing changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills required to maintain or improve health. This usually is addressed on an individual basis and includes teaching and counseling to enable patients to stay healthy and manage illness better when it occurs. Public education, on the other hand, is a broader term that includes the pediatrician’s role in influencing the health status of the public through involvement with community groups and the media. Both types of education are important and merit pediatrician involvement. Questions arise as to the best and most effective ways to provide this education within the constraints of busy practices or other commitments. Public education can be incorporated into pediatricians’ daily activities in a variety of ways both inside and outside the office. Studies in the medical literature have reviewed the outcomes of public/patient education programs and their effectiveness in practice. This article examines various methods of public/patient education that may enhance pediatricians’ promotion of health and well-being for their patients. Although many of the methods discussed will be familiar, there is evidence in the literature that public/patient education is not adequately provided to patients. The office is the primary …

'Surf Lifesaving Owes No Person a Living': A Third Sector Case Study

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is one of Australia's largest community service organisations. Since the 1980s, the volunteer ethos and character of this movement has been threatened by both internal and external forces that reflect broader historical changes in Australian society in the late twentieth century. This case study examines two issues that have been at the centre of this challenge the professionalisation of surf lifesaving competition and the expansion of professional 'lifeguard' services. Through its examination of these issues, this study raises more general themes about the nature of volunteering in Australia in the early twenty-first century.

Genital Prolapse Repair: Pubovaginal Sling Sacrospinous Ligament Suspension With Cadaveric Fascia

the urinary tract in pregnancy. In the treatment section, there is a great chapter on applied pharmacology, which is exhaustive and contemporary. Plevnik and Vodusek cover electrical stimulation from a vantage point of 30 years of experience. The chapter on bladder drainage is excellent. In addition, there are chapters on laparoscopy, a well illustrated chapter on urinary diversion and undiversion, an excellent guide to urinary protective devices and pads, and a good chapter on physiotherapy. In the last section of the book are some excellent chapters on education, organization of community services for incontinence and where we stand now in urogynecology. There are also chapters on standardized terminology for urodynamics, urogynecology, pelvic floor evaluation and urodynamic tests. This large undertaking is well done, and will be useful as a reference and for immediately applicable clinical information. Edward J. McGuire, M.D. Department of Urology University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan

Bingo Games: Turning Student Intuitions into Investigations in Probability and Number Sense

Bingo is a game enjoyed by all ages. Community centers, schools, churches, and service organizations often have regularly scheduled bingo nights. Although bingo is sometimes called a game of chance, it has been used to raise money for special causes; to provide an enjoyable evening out; and in the classroom, to teach vocabulary, listening skills, mathematics facts, geography, language, and so on. Its history begins with the eighteenthcentury Italians, who played a similar game called lotto; a variation of the game, known by that name, still exists. In the nineteenth century, this game became popular in the United States and England, with the British renaming the game housey-housey. People in the United States began playing the game but called it keno, which comes from the French word quine, meaning set of five (Wykes 1964). In these games, the numbers selected for making the cards, as well as the shape of the grid, have varied. In the United States, a bingo card is a five-by-five grid displaying numbers from 1 through 75, with a free space in the center, as shown in figure 1

Ready to Read

Summary In 1997, Kalamazoo Public Library and Bronson Methodist Hospital along with several other community organizations collaborated to create an emergent literacy program. The program provides volunteer readers at community sites, pediatricians' prescription of reading aloud for healthy child development and giving books to children at well-baby visits, providing a cloth book for every child born in Kalamazoo County, offering workshops on reading and book sharing skills for parent groups and providing book collections and volunteer readers to child care centers. This program is unique in its widespread collaboration of twenty community service organizations to provide county-wide services.

Who Learns from Service Learning?

This article examines service learning in the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. The authors show that students who complete their two courses—Poverty, Homelessness, and the Urban Underclass as well as Field Experience—make significant contributions to the community service organizations they serve. Not only do their students learn, but the organizations benefit from the knowledge the students bring. Furthermore, through service learning, many of the students develop a long-term commitment to social justice and continue to work for social change years after leaving the university.

Management Students as Consultants

Service-learning is an emerging pedagogical tool in management education. Service-learning educators, however, have varying reasons for incorporating these projects into their courses. This article provides an alternative argument to Godfrey's "moral authority" perspective on service-learning integration. The argument put forth in this article describes the underlying rationale for, the constituents involved in, and the potential benefits of students serving as professional consultants to community service organizations. The student-as-consultant framework is founded on the notion that students gain insight into the potential for long-term business/community partnerships through "exposure to and understanding of" community issues. Implications for students, faculty members, university administrators, and community members are discussed.

The Children's Health Council: a community foundation/state government partnership.

The Children's Health Council: a community foundation/state government partnership.

Nonprofit Decision Making and Resource Allocation: The Importance of Membership Preferences, Community Needs, and Interorganizational Ties

Data on 12 local chapters of a high status women’s community service organization and their communities are used to assess the relative impact of community needs, members’ perceptions and preferences, and interorganizational ties on decisions about how to allocate volunteers and funds among 17 community problem areas. Quantitative analysis indicates that the distribution of volunteer time and funds was unrelated to community needs as measured by objective indicators. Instead, members’ and leaders’ perceptions of the severity of community problems and their willingness to work in some problem areas more than others were the most important determinants of resource allocation. Qualitative evidence also suggests that members’ ties to other organizations played a role in the chapters’ decisions about project selection.

Organisational dilemmas in community neighbourhood organisation: the Jerusalem experience

Recounts the merger of Jerusalem’s Neighbourhood Self Management Organizations (NSMOs) and Community Service Organizations (CSOs) into the Joint Community Neighbourhood Management Organization (JCNM). Refers to literature on institutional theory and the process of decentralization. Focuses then on the NSMOs and CSOs, providing some background information on how and why they were originally set up and what their goals were. Compares the differences between the organizations, as well as the basic principles they have in common – hence the merge into one organization. Discusses the problems the JCNM has faced over the years, including issues such as identify, legitimacy, composition of board of directors, professional or political values, and restructuring the organization. Draws a quadrant model of patronage and centralization, suggesting that the NCNM aims to occupy a particular quadrant but is being hampered in doing so because policy makers prefer to keep things the way they are.