Hillel Schmid

Advocacy Activities in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations Implications for Policy

The article describes political and advocacy activity in nonprofit human service organizations for children, elderly people, women, and people with disabilities. On the whole, the level of their political activity was found to be moderate, as perceived by the directors of the organizations. The main findings reveal a significant positive correlation between advocacy and political activity in nonprofit organizations and their perceived influence on setting the public agenda. Analysis of the findings indicates that the larger the number of volunteers in the organization, the greater the organizations political influence. In addition, it was found that the more dependent the organizations were on funding from local authorities, the lower the level of advocacy and political activity. The effectiveness of strategies used to attain political influence was also analyzed. The most effective strategy was exerting pressure on decision makers, both on the national and local levels.

Advocacy Activities of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations A Critical Review

Policy advocacy is widely regarded as an eminent feature of nonprofit organizations’ activities, allowing them to represent their constituencies. The article presents a literature review of research on nonprofit policy advocacy that has been published over the last decade, focusing on advocacy by nonprofit human service organizations (NPHSOs) and its unique characteristics and contributions. The review focuses on several key topics, including: the definitions and origins of the term advocacy and its current uses in studies related to NPHSOs; the current situation and prevalence of NPHSO advocacy activities; organizational and structural variables as they relate to policy advocacy; dependence on external funding sources and policy advocacy; strategies, tactics, modes of operation, and the effectiveness of NPHSO policy advocacy. The article presents and discusses the implications of this research and suggests directions for future research.

Organization-Environment Relationships

Abstract The article discusses lessons for executive directors in human service organizations, for managing organization-environment relationships. The first section reviews the three main theories of organization-environment relations: ecological theories, institutional theories, and adaptation theories (with emphasis on the political-economy and resource-dependency perspectives). Following this presentation, the article discusses the lessons derived from each of the theoretical approaches for executive directors in human service organizations. Emphasis is placed on several types of organizational behavior: passive and reactive organizational behavior, accepting environmental constraints; strategic behavior that conforms to the demands of the government and funding sources; and, alternatively, proactive strategies as expressed in new initiatives and attempts to identify threats and opportunities that will change the power-dependence relations between the organization and its environment. As regards the lessons for executive directors in human service organizations, given the rapid changes in their environments, it is important for them to develop an external organizational orientation and manage the environment just as they manage the organizations internal environment. In this way, they attain the legitimacy and resources needed for the organizations survival.

Organizational Dilemmas in the Provision of Home-Care Services

Home care for the frail elderly is in a state of crisis. While demand is rapidly increasing, the home-care industry is beset by organizational problems that undermine its ability to respond effectively. We have identified and analyzed four sets of problems. First, home-care services exist in a turbulent fiscal and political environment that undermines organizational stability. Second, service effectiveness depends on close interpersonal relations between worker and client, which cannot be readily attained with a nonprofessional work force. Third, because the service is delivered outside the organizational boundaries, there are serious issues of quality control. Finally, the home-care organizations rely on an unskilled labor force characterized by high turnover and staffing instability.

The Role of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in Providing Social Services

Summary The essay presents the recent developments in nonprofit human service organizations that belong to the “third sector.” The author describes and analyzes the changing context of human services, in which a new division of labor has emerged between the government and nongovernmental organizations, including nonprofit and for-profit service providers. “Demand and supply” theories are presented, in order to explain the mission, goals, and roles of nonprofit human service providers and their contribution to the state economy. Finally, the author explores the extent to which these organizations actualize their ideology in a society characterized by growing inequality, and by widening social and economic gaps between “haves” and “have nots.”

Nonprofit Human Services: Between Identity Blurring and Adaptation to Changing Environments

The article addresses identity blurring in nonprofit organizations. Each of the environments in which they operate—government, business, and philanthropic—can lead to identity blurring and affect major characteristics of those organizations. The implications of identity blurring for the ideology and mission of these organizations are discussed.

Israel's Long-Term Care Insurance Law After a Decade of Implementation

ABSTRACT Israels Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) law has been in effect for a decade. It is timely to review the effects of this legislation with a view to identifying possible directions for reform and lessons for other countries considering the introduction of a similar social insurance scheme. The paper considers the laws effects in terms of the size and characteristics of the beneficiary population, the coverage of the scheme, its financial standing, the rate of institutionalization of the elderly, the caregiving burden, the service delivery system, and the overall scope of long-term care services for the aged. Israels experience has lessons for financing arrangements, target efficiency, service delivery arrangements, and the construction of the burden of care.

The Community Center as a Human Service Organization

The community center, a central feature in Israeli community life, is a product of organizational and environmental factors that distin guish it from other human service entities.

Ownership and Age in Nonprofit and For-Profit Home Care Organizations

Summary The article examines the question: What makes the difference between nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations providing home care services? The organizational properties examined are type of ownership and age of the organization. Multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the relationships between these properties and process variables such as training workers, growth of clientele, and increase in income and expenses. The results reveal that structural properties such as age indeed affect the difference between nonprofit and for-profit home care organizations. Findings also indicate that type of ownership generates the differences between the organizations as well as the dynamics between them.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING HOME CARE SERVICES FOR THE ISRAELI FRAIL ELDERLY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The article presents a longitudinal study on the behavior and functioning of voluntary nonprofit organizations (VNPOs) and for-profit organizations (FPOs) providing home care services to frail elderly persons in Israel according to the Long Term Care Insurance Law, which was implemented as of 1988. The study examined differences and similarities in the strategic, structural, administrative, and human behavior of VNPOs and FPOs over a 10-year-period. The main findings point to blurring distinctions between organizations in both sectors, which can be attributed to their high dependence on governmental resources, adoption of similar service technologies, and transmission of professional norms. In light of the above, the article seeks to shift the focus of research from the question who provides to how services are provided and what structural and organizational properties may contribute toward improving service effectiveness.