An organizational view of privatization: Is the private foster care agency superior to the public foster care agency?

    Authors

    J. A. Steen;S. Smith

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Child. Youth Serv. Rev.

    Keywords

    Child welfare organization; Child welfare workforce; Foster care; Privatization; Systems theory; CHILD-WELFARE SERVICES; MANAGED CARE; CASEWORKER CHARACTERISTICS; PERFORMANCE; OUTCOMES; PERSPECTIVES; DISPARITIES; COMMITMENT; CLIMATE; SYSTEMS; Family Studies; Social Work

    Abstract

    Foster care privatization is emerging as an increasingly popular policy option. One of the assumptions behind this movement towards privatization is a belief in the superiority of the private foster care agency. In an effort to assess this assumption, literature regarding public and private foster care agencies was reviewed with a special attention to the organizational and environmental factors derived from systems theory. Overall, the evidence did not support this assumption, as both public and private foster care agencies had their own areas of relative advantage. Recommendations are offered for future study of organizational characteristics in the foster care field. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Children and Youth Services Review

    Volume

    34

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2012

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    851

    Last Page

    858

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000301912600032

    ISSN

    0190-7409

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