Multi-agency Partnership Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Arson-Reduction Strategies: Panel Data Evidence from England

In 2001, the UK government funded the introduction of a series of targeted situational preventive schemes and multi-agency partnerships to reduce deliberate fire-setting in vehicles. This paper explores the impact of these alternative arson-reduction strategies on vehicle arson in the areas served by fire authorities in England utilizing panel data for an eight-year period (1999–2006). The statistical results suggest that both forms of intervention have been successful in reducing vehicle arson, and that higher input intensity is also responsible for better outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

An analysis of County Sports Partnerships in England: the fragility, challenges and complexity of partnership working in sports development

The management, use and reliance upon multi-agency partnerships in the field of public sector sports development became increasingly important following the election of the ‘New’ Labour government in 1997. In this study one example of a multi-agency partnership – County Sports Partnership (CSP) – will be examined through a case study analysis of four CSPs in the East Midlands region of England. A review of the theoretical and conceptual literature around partnership working will inform an appraisal of the impact of CSP arrangements in this region. The theoretical framework of partnership dynamics is utilized to explore the reality of partnership working in sports development in conjunction with the findings of four in-depth interviews that were conducted with Chief Executive Officers and senior managers in each of the CSP regions. In particular, consideration will be given to the potential implications and issues of ‘working in partnership’ for public sector sports development officers and managers who negotiate the complex and challenging policy environment surrounding multi-agency working in sport. The key findings of the research include the extent to which there appears to be a misunderstanding of the CSP role amongst some CSP partner agencies; the fragility of partnership working; the importance of relationship management; and the complex shifting politics of sports development policy.

Rebuilding trust: a community, multiagency, state, and university partnership to improve behavioral health care for American Indian Youth, their families, and communities

American Indian/Alaska Native youth represent the strength and survival of many Nations and Tribes. However, the aftermath of colonialism has resulted in numerous health disparities and challenges for Native youth, including the highest rate of suicide in the United States. With the aims of elucidating the causes of behavioral health disparities, eliminating them, and improving behavioral health care for Native youth, a partnership of providers, community members, and university faculty and staff completed a comprehensive literature review; conducted advisory meetings with 71 American Indian youth, parents, and elders; surveyed 25 service providers; and engaged in ongoing consultation with traditional practitioners. Results from the multiple sources were synthesized and are reported with 20 policy, provider, and research recommendations that recognize the importance of moving beyond exclusive reliance on western models of care and that seek to foster transformation of individuals, families, communities, behavioral health service systems of care, and social structures.

Bridging the Urban Infrastructure Project Preparation Gap in Asia

The speed of Asia’s urbanization is without historical precedent. According to UN estimates 1.7 billion urban dwellers will be added to the urban population in the next 40 years. Faced with the forces of a globalizing economy and with the stress imposed upon urban infrastructure by migration and informal development, traditional approaches to urban planning and development are seen as inadequate. Existing urban development strategies and/or urban master plans in cities generally cannot be translated into medium-term structured infrastructure investment programs (constrained by realistic financing limitations), with prioritized projects. Governments, particularly of medium-sized cities, often have difficulties to match plans with financing. This article provides an introductory overview of an innovative regional development program which was created in response to these challenges. The Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) was created in 2007 as a multi-agency regional partnership program to assist medium-sized cities (with functional urban population ranging between 250,000 to 5 million) in the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Developing Member Countries to bridge the gap between their development plans and implementation of their strategic infrastructure investments. The initiative is an international partnership program based in Manila, Philippines co-managed by the ADB and German Technical Co-operation (GTZ).2 The article describes CDIAs rationale including information about its governance and operational structure, as well as initial operational experience in cities by focusing on expected developmental impacts. The article ends by presenting a reflection and probable scenario of CDIA beyond 2012.

Interpreting Multi-Agency Partnerships: Ideology, Discourse and Domestic Violence

This article examines local multi-agency responses to local domestic violence, in particular considering how the introduction of local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) in the UK in the late 1990s affected service provision. Using a longitudinal case study, the article considers how feminist ideologies have been supplanted by a combination of judicial processes and bureaucratic politics. These developments are represented by three dominant discourses: ‘criminal justice’, ‘managerialism’ and ‘equalities’; discourses that have had a number of consequences in the implementation of domestic violence policy. The first is that a one-dimensional criminal justice discourse has displaced a feminist political, power and control, analysis. Second, the ascendancy of managerialism has allowed prescriptive short-term performance measurement to prevail over long-term ‘sufferer-orientated’ responses, and finally an ‘equalities’ discourse prioritized perpetrator initiatives and discouraged dissent. The result has been the dominance of the statutory sector, a marginalization of voluntary agencies and a partial alienation of women’s groups; a process which has proved detrimental both to the interests of female sufferers (who form approximately 90 per cent of victims of domestic violence) as well as voluntary agencies.

Deciding Where to Burn: Stakeholder Priorities for Prescribed Burning of a Fire-Dependent Ecosystem

Multiagency partnerships increasingly work cooperatively to plan and implement fire management. The stakeholders that comprise such partnerships differ in their perceptions of the benefits and risks of fire use or nonuse. These differences inform how different stakeholders prioritize sites for burning, constrain prescribed burning, and how they rationalize these priorities and constraints. Using a survey of individuals involved in the planning and implementation of prescribed fire in the Onslow Bight region of North Carolina, we examined how the constraints and priorities for burning in the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem differed among three stakeholder groups: prescribed burn practitioners from agencies, practitioners from private companies, and nonpractitioners. Stakeholder groups did not differ in their perceptions of constraints to burning, and development near potentially burned sites was the most important constraint identified. The top criteria used by stakeholders to decide where to burn were the time since a site was last burned, and a site's ecosystem health, with preference given to recently burned sites in good health. Differences among stakeholder groups almost always pertained to perceptions of the nonecological impacts of burning. Prescribed burning priorities of the two groups of practitioners, and particularly practitioners from private companies, tended to be most influenced by nonecological impacts, especially through deprioritization of sites that have not been burned recently or are in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Our results highlight the difficulty of burning these sites, despite widespread laws in the southeast U.S. that limit liability of prescribed burn practitioners. To avoid ecosystem degradation on sites that are challenging to burn, particularly those in the WUI, conservation partnerships can facilitate demonstration projects involving public and private burn practitioners on those sites. In summary, an increased understanding of stakeholder perspectives can provide insight into the potential long-term consequences of current fire management and thus facilitate effective ecosystem conservation.

Evaluation of a multi-agency partnership approach to the development of sports safety policy in New South Wales, Australia

Previous Australian research indicates industry support for a state-wide, all-of-sport policy to promote a strategic, evidence-based, sustainable approach to sports safety. A multi-agency key stakeholder partnership, directed by a credible...

A strategic approach to disseminating sports safety guidelines: an application of the Diffusion of Innovations theory for New South Wales, Australia

Safety guidelines and risk management processes have little impact if no one knows about them, decides to use them, uses them in the way they are intended, or uses them...

One model of healthcare provision lessons learnt through clinical governance

Aim Clinical Governance describes a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care. Risk management includes a themes analysis of clinical incidents and positive interventions with the resulting information disseminated to staff through personal performance plans, and publication and development training workshops. Our model of healthcare provision utilises doctors, nurses and paramedics to assess individuals in custody and this paper discusses the implementation of clinical risk management within this setting. Method A description of the model of healthcare provision, together with a themes analysis was undertaken for all clinical incidents received by the clinical team. Each incident receives an individual response and is discussed within the clinical risk management committee. From the review of each event, learning outcomes are identified and the information captured on a database. The information is analysed for reoccurring themes and further measures are introduced to ensure a high standard of healthcare provision to all counties. Findings Of the 86,184 patient/detainee episodes from 11 county forces, from January 2009–December 2009, 159 clinical incidents and positive interventions were generated. These were categorised into C linical Near Misses – 39, P rescribing issues – 38, H ealth and Safety matters – 13, Organisational matters – 23, Positive Interventions – 21 and Professional issues – 25. Conclusion Risk management, with a regular review of clinical incidents is an essential part of clinical governance especially when working in a multidisciplinary team providing safe and effective custody healthcare. This analysis contributes to the knowledge base in clinical forensic medicine and supports the importance of identifying educational requirements for staff, working in a multiagency partnership and continuous monitoring of the quality of care for detainees.

A Study on the Constitution of Multi-Agency Partnership Network for Successful Community Policing Cooperation in Korea - Focusing on Activation of Local Policing Cooperation Committee

A Study on the Constitution of Multi-Agency Partnership Network for Successful Community Policing Cooperation in Korea - Focusing on Activation of Local Policing Cooperation Committee

Effective Multi‐Agency Partnerships: Putting Every Child Matters into Practice – By Rita Cheminais

Support for LearningVolume 24, Issue 4 p. 205-205 Effective Multi-Agency Partnerships: Putting Every Child Matters into Practice – By Rita Cheminais Diana Sutton, Diana Sutton Senior Advisory Teacher for Cognition and Learning, WakefieldSearch for more papers by this author Diana Sutton, Diana Sutton Senior Advisory Teacher for Cognition and Learning, WakefieldSearch for more papers by this author First published: 16 November 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9604.2009.01431_1.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume24, Issue4November 2009Pages 205-205 RelatedInformation

Supporting high-quality extra-curricular primary school sport in Wales: an evaluation of a university/community partnership initiative

The 20-year strategy for sport in Wales, Climbing Higher, established a target of getting all primary school children physically active for 60 min on at least 5 days of the week (Welsh Assembly Government); at the time of writing only 44% have achieved this target. An innovative, multi-agency partnership was created involving undergraduate students from the University of Glamorgan setting up and delivering extra-curricular sports clubs at local primary schools as part of a national initiative. During 2007/2008 more than 4300 participation sessions were delivered, with students contributing in excess of 1200 community volunteer hours. An evaluation of this programme highlights multiple student, community and university benefits. However, a number of key challenges were identified that may compromise the quality of such provision in the future, including, poor facilities, a lack of equipment and the training and recruitment of volunteers.

Effective multi-agency partnerships

The effectiveness and impact of multi-agency working is dependent on the quality and strength of the collaborative partnerships existing between services and the early years setting, says Rita Cheminais.

Leadership in public health: a view from a large English PCT co-terminous with a local authority

It is just under 2.5 years since I took up my appointment as the Joint Director of Public Health for Bristol and this has proved to be a professionally rewarding time to be practising public health in the city. It has been intellectually stimulating to work with others to think through the implications of this role, particularly for local authorities some of whom felt—though not in Bristol—that this was an appointment foisted upon them without adequate consideration of its implications or appropriate consultation. But the implications are almost as significant for the NHS, especially as Primary Care Trusts embark upon the World Class Commissioning voyage—a journey that poses questions regarding the distinctive contribution of the contemporary public health function and how it can be best discharged both within the NHS and more widely. The solutions to these emergent issues regarding the role and responsibilities of public health in today’s complex environment of continuous organizational change, evolving inter-organizational arrangements and the coming-of-age of working in multiagency partnerships are not straight-forward, which is precisely why committed and effective leadership in public health remains an important and rewarding professional role. Working with the local authority is a common experience for public health professionals, but when I started working for the City Council, I was surprised how much I had to learn—about local authority values and culture and methods of working—in order to be an effective member of the Strategic Leadership Team. It is a very considerable privilege to have the opportunity to fulfil this role, for this team, working for and with the political administration (the cabinet) of the Authority has the responsibility and opportunity to significantly influence the future shape and nature of the city; to a considerable degree the cabinet supported by the Strategic Leadership Team can determine the sort of place the city is and will be for its residents, including the richness or paucity of the opportunities citizens will have to make choices that are both healthy for them and for the planet. How can this opportunity of bringing a public health perspective to all the work of the council add real value to that work? This is the question that has and continues to challenge me on a daily basis. An important part of the answer is having public health directorate staff work closely on shared priorities with council staff in all of the major directorates of the council, especially as most people in the council, both members and officers, do not know what public health specialists and practitioners do. Our Health Our Care Our Say can be read to imply that the Joint Director of Public Health role is only or primarily about joint working with Directors of Adult Social Care and Children and Young Peoples Services; thus, the responsibility for the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment is given to these two directors and the Director of Public Health. These are indeed very important relationships, but spatial planning, economic, transport and housing policy, and environmental, culture and leisure services are major determinants of population health and health inequalities. I found that it was taken for granted that I would work closely with the Children and Young Peoples Directorate and the Health and Adult Social Care Directorate—though no great clarity about what my role would be or the added value I would bring even in these areas of work—but initially some surprise that I thought

Ionosphere‐thermosphere models at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

One of the ways to address the science needs of the research community and to enable science progress is to provide community access to modern space science models. The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) is a multiagency partnership based at the Goddard Space Flight Center that hosts a set of state‐of‐the‐art space science models ranging from the solar atmosphere to the Earth's upper atmosphere. The CCMC provides a Web‐based, no‐cost, Runs on Request system, by which the interested scientist can readily request simulations for time intervals of interest. CCMC also provides a tailored Web‐based visualization interface for the model output, including near‐real‐time results from select models. Model outputs have been specifically tailored for easy comparison with observational data to facilitate data analysis and model validation. This paper provides an overview of CCMC activities, with an emphasis on the ionosphere‐thermosphere models residing there.

Safety Matters: The Role of Partnership Working in Safeguarding Adults

Child protection has long been one of the core elements of children’s services. It is only relatively recently, however, that a similar focus on safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse has emerged; moreover the level of active collaboration and understanding across different professional groups varies considerably between localities. This column draws on the Safety Matters Change Project being conducted by research in practice for adults with its Partner agencies. Through detailed development and pilot work with practice teams, it seeks to provide a range of resources to enable development of high-quality practice. Reference to abuse is most likely to conjure up images of physical abuse, but this is only one of a number of forms of abuse that individuals may experience. The initial Department of Health guidance No Secrets (2000), currently under review, identifies in addition sexual abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse, neglect and acts of omission, and discriminatory abuse. By its very nature, identifying the extent of abuse is not easy. For older people, the recent UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People (2007) found that the proportion of people reporting mistreatment involving a family member, close friend or care worker in the previous year was 2.6%, broadly in line with other international research. This equates to 227,000 older people in the UK. When the definition was broadened to include incidents involving neighbours and acquaintances, the overall prevalence rate increased to four per cent, equivalent to a total of around 342,400 older people subject to some form of mistreatment. This figure is likely to be an underestimate, as a result of a conservative definition of abuse (it did not include neglect or discriminatory abuse) and the absence from the survey of people with severe dementia and those living in care homes, two groups particularly at risk. Currently the lead responsibility for responding to abuse lies with social services; indeed there is no statutory requirement for other agencies to be involved. Nonetheless, successful adult protection is critically dependent on multi-agency partnership working. The range of relevant agencies is wide: • police and criminal justice • a wide range of health professionals from GPs and emergency services to physiotherapists and dieticians • government agencies such as the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Health and Safety Executive • statutory and independent service providers such as domiciliary care, supported employment and independent living schemes Safety Matters: The Role of Partnership Working in Safeguarding Adults

Emotional engagement in strategic partnerships: grassroots organising in a tobacco control partnership in the North East of England

Multi-agency partnerships are often regarded as crucial for the planning and delivery of public health initiatives. A number of evaluative frameworks stress governance, structure and management as the fundamental factors contributing to partnership success. However, ethnographic research into the multi-agency partnership that sets the strategic direction for tobacco control in the North East of England revealed emotional engagement and positive personal relationships, factors that have largely been overlooked in the relevant literature, to be more important. The partnership coordinators have successfully used a model developed by grassroots organisers in the international tobacco control movement to create an environment where positive affect and mutual liking develop and underpin a dynamic and productive partnership. In some cases, this grassroots model directly contradicts the advice of partnership tools and analyses, but has proved highly effective in engaging with professionals.

Criteria of effectiveness in multiple cross-sectoral interorganizational relationships

As the popularity of interorganizational relationships (IORs) grows, the challenge of evaluating the effectiveness of achieving desired outcomes has emerged as a concern for both practitioners and academics [Atkinson, M., & Maxwell, V. (2007). Driving performance in a multi-agency partnership using outcome measures: A case study. Measuring Business Excellence, 11(2), 12–22; Callahan, K., & Kloby, K. (2007). Collaboration meets the performance measurement challenge. The Public Manager, 36(2), 9–24; Coulson, A. (2005). A plague on all your partnerships: Theory and practice in regeneration. International Journal of Public Sector Management 18(2), 151–163.]. The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare the effectiveness criteria used by a nonprofit Canadian sport organization and its partners embedded in multiple cross-sectoral relationships. To that end, three levels of effectiveness criteria were investigated: the community, network, and organization levels. A qualitative case study was conducted on the nonprofit sport organization and its multiple cross-sectoral partners. The results suggest that some criteria for measuring IOR effectiveness among partners were highly interrelated, some reflected competing values, some were shared across all partners, and some were ambiguous in the measures of effectiveness of IOR outcomes. Implications for future research and for practice are discussed.

Multi‐Agency Work on Sexual Violence: Challenges and Prospects Identified From the Implemenation of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)

The current policy climate in Britain requires that agencies work together to improve their performance and provide a better service to clients. This is especially apparent in recent initiatives designed to improve the services afforded to victims of crime. Whilst there is an established literature dealing with both the potential benefits of, and challenges posed by, multi-agency work (for example, Crawford 1997; Hughes 2007; Maguire 2004; Pearson et al. 1992; Taylor 2003), the unique issues arising from multi-agency partnerships dealing with sexual violence have received less attention, even though the interface of criminal justice and health is a relatively new and unusual phenomenon warranting scrutiny. For the current study, interviews with professionals working together to develop a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) were conducted to address this gap. Positive aspects of multi-agency work identified by the respondents included: a shared concern over the poor quality of existing arrangements; a shared vision for a better response to victims; sharing a broader view of the victim; and having experience with, and commitment to, multi-agency work. Continuing challenges were noted as: sustained multi-agency participation; diverse agency cultures; competing agendas and priorities across agencies and systems; funding and staffing issues; and future responsibility for, and ownership of, the SARC. Implications of the research are discussed.

Author index to Volume 32, Supplement 1

The Governing body for aquatic activity in the UK (the ASA) has initiated a number of health initiatives during the past two years. These initiatives are in response to modern health problems, including rising levels of obesity. Regular aquatic activity offers significant potential to reduce the prevalence of obesity, as it is affordable and widely available. ‘Swim for Health’ is a multi-agency partnership in two local authority districts in the North of England. It aims to decrease health inequalities in four key groups; pre-school children and their families, people in full time employment, people with a range of health needs, including obesity, and people aged over 50 years. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate the success of the ‘Swim for Health’ initiative in achieving its stated aims. Methods were based upon a programme theory evaluation model. Attendance figures were analysed by session and by local authority. 82 Semi-structured interviews were completed with organisers, participants and non-participants. 269 Questionnaires were completed to augment interview data. ‘Swim for Health’ has increased aquatic participation in specific groups. Participants belonged to the intended groups, suggesting target populations utilised services as intended. Participants were largely female. Self-reported physical activity levels were higher in participants than non-participants. Perceptions of risk and of participants’ bodies were key barriers to participation. ‘Swim for Health’ is meeting many of its aims, including increasing participation and offering a range of aquatic services. However, a number of weaknesses remain, particularly a failure to engage with male participants.