Levels and consequences of embeddedness among private human service organizations: National survey evidence from child welfare

ABSTRACT

Strong ties with and dependence on public agencies for service contracts can influence private human service organizations’ operations. Using data from the National Survey of Private Child and Family Serving Agencies (NSPCFSA), this study assesses the degree to which private child welfare organizations report fiscal and relational embeddedness with public agencies and the influence of embeddedness on organizational functioning overall and in four specific domains: finances, service programming, staffing, and performance. Results showed that embeddedness may positively influence organizations’ operations. The quality of private organizations’ relationships with their public agency counterparts, and collaboration frequency may be especially important for improving organizational programming and performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Embeddedness
• human service organizations
• nonprofit organizations
• child welfare

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted under the Quality Improvement Center on Privatization of Child Welfare Services funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by U.S. Children’s Bureau [Quality Improvement Center on Privatization of Child Welfare Services].