Scott W. Allard

Reconsidering the Urban Disadvantaged The Role of Systems, Institutions, and Organizations

The recent economic recession and a sluggish recovery have made conditions especially precarious for the most disadvantaged members of the urban poor population—those with criminal records, health conditions, undocumented status, or unstable housing. We argue that the fewer the resources to which people have access, the more their circumstances will depend on the organizations in which they participate, the systems in which these organizations operate, and the institutions governing the behavior of both. We call for a renewed focus on systems, institutions, and organizations among researchers who study urban disadvantage, and review a series of studies that show the promise of these perspectives.

Access to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services among Women Receiving Welfare in Detroit

Provision of social services that can help welfare recipients overcome barriers to employment has become an important challenge for welfare-to-work programs, yet there is relatively little understanding of how spatial proximity to social services varies across welfare recipients in urban America. In this study, the authors examine the spatial proximity of welfare recipients in the three-county Detroit metropolitan area to mental health and substance abuse service providers. They find that spatial proximity to mental health services varies by geography and race among welfare recipients in Detroit, with evidence indicating that spatial trends in service accessibility are shifting in favor of suburban areas.

The geography of need: spatial distribution of barriers to employment in metropolitan detroit

Although several studies examine the barriers to employment that limit the employability of welfare recipients, they have not analyzed how these barriers might be different for residents of central cities than for residents in surrounding suburban areas. We consider how the prevalence of barriers to employment varies by race and place in metropolitan Detroit. We find that the prevalence of mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence barriers is higher in suburban areas, and that structural barriers are higher in the central city.

LOCAL NONPROFIT WELFARE PROVISION: THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA

Provision of antipoverty and other social services by nonstate organizations is growing in importance in both the United States and the Russian Federation. The history of such provision in the United States may offer insights for the emerging system of nonstate provision in Russia. To illuminate these points, we provide historical overviews of both contexts and then we examine data from two surveys of social service organizations in the United States: the Multi-City Survey of Social Service Providers and the Rural Survey of Social Service Providers.We fid that nonstate actors strengthen social capital in poor neighborhoods and often link poor persons to public agencies. Nonstate actors strengthen other local institutions through programmatic partnerships and collaboration. However, financing arrangements of nonstate welfare provision may favor efficiency over concerns about equity, sustainability, and predictability. In addition, the primacy of nonstate provision leads to a welfare state that is more varied geographically than might be anticipated otherwise. Such variability appears to disadvantage highpoverty and predominately minority communities the most. Finally, politically, nonstate welfare provision may occur with little public discussion, debate, or reflection as it evolves over time. These findings invoke important questions for Russian policy-makers as they seek to develop an equitable and efficient means of providing assistance to their population.

Unforeseen Consequences: Medicaid and the Funding of Nonprofit Service Organizations

Medicaid reimbursements have become a key source of funding for nonprofit social service organizations operating outside the medical care sector, as well as an important tool for states seeking resources to fund social service programs within a devolving safety net. Drawing on unique survey data of more than one thousand nonprofit social service agencies in seven urban and rural communities, this article examines Medicaid funding of nonprofit social service organizations that target programs at working-age, nondisabled adults. We find that about one-quarter of nonprofit service organizations--mostly providers offering substance abuse and mental health treatment in conjunction with other services--report receiving Medicaid reimbursements, although very few are overly reliant on these funds. We also find Medicaid-funded social service nonprofits to be less accessible to residents of high-poverty neighborhoods or areas with concentrations of black or Hispanic residents than to residents of more affluent and white communities. We should expect that the role of Medicaid within the nonprofit social service sector will shift in the next few years, however, as states grapple with persistent budgetary pressures, rising Medicaid costs, and decisions to participate in the Medicaid expansion provisions contained within the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Nonprofits and Political Activity: A Joint Consideration of the Political Activities, Programs, and Organizational Characteristics of Social Service Nonprofits

ABSTRACT Nonprofit social service agencies are essential to the safety net assisting Americans with low incomes. These agencies also fulfill important civic functions through political activities such as policy advocacy and public education. To learn more about nonprofit political behavior, we analyze unique survey data drawn from 1,205 faith-based and secular nonprofit social service agencies across the United States. We distinguish between six different types of political activity while also considering program service areas. Our findings indicate that there is substantial variation in the type of political activity undertaken by social service nonprofits, and organizational characteristics can help explain this variation.

Employer Responses to a City-Level Minimum Wage Mandate: Early Evidence from Seattle

A growing number of cities and counties have recently raised their minimum wages. How employers respond to these mandates provides insight into the impact such policies might have on workers and local labor market. Drawing on two survey waves tracking initial responses to Seattle’s

Out of Reach: Place, Poverty, and the New American Welfare State

15 Minimum Wage Ordinance by 439 employers with low-wage workers, we show how employers adjusted to higher wages. Most commonly, firms raised prices (56% reported this); smaller percentages reduced employee headcount or hours, limited internal wage progression, or took other measures. Single-site Seattle employers responded similarly to those with multiple sites. Food and accommodation sector employers were more likely to raise prices than firms in other sectors. Relative to other ownership structures, franchises disproportionately reported reducing their workforces. Very few employers reported withdrawing from Seattle. Overall, initial employer responses to this city-level minimum wage law align with predictions from the literature, findings that highlight trade-offs that policy makers must consider in future local wage regulation.