Coordination and Welfare Reform: The Quest for the Philosopher's Stone

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1994

Publication Title

Public Administration Review

Volume

54

Issue

4

First Page

341

Last Page

348

Abstract

How can managers blend the essential ingredients of complex public programs in fragmented service delivery systems and over- come the specialized concerns of disparate organizations to create systems that work effectively? Edward T. Jennings, Jr. and Dale Krane identify both the barriers to successful coordination of social service programs and the approaches that managers in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program have taken to establish coordinated service delivery. They report considerable variation in the degree to which JOBS has been successfully Coordinated with other programs. Various barriers hinder coordination, but effective managers have wed diverse mechanisms and approaches to overcome those barriers. Leadership and interpersonal relations are the primary ingredients of effective coordination in JOBS. When these are combined with a vision of client service and agreement over the functional division of service responsibility, public agencies can work together to deliver effectively coordinated services.

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