Oscar A.

Rivera Figueroa

10-24-2016

Public & Nonprofit Management

Case Analysis 2: Preventing child abuse
Preventing child abuse is a case analysis base in the Department of Welfare and
the new separate Department of Social Services to assume the social services
component of the DOW. This case has a variety of issues, but I will select three of the
issues; first the agency did not have enough professionally trained people as MSW;
second the excessive and unreasonable case-load in the agency that were affecting the
social workers; and third the union was more as an antagonist in terms of the best
interest of the agency.
A number theoretical concepts and frameworks can be applied to this case . In
terms of enough personnel professionally trained people as MSW a conclusion that a
private social service agency did in a major study. To this point the Department of
Welfare was just an agency whose staff served both functions of providing money and
social support services to welfare recipients. Connecting with the case study of Casa de
Esperanza, here we have an organization that is dealing with an identity issue. The
mission and the work that the agency was doing wasnt specific, as I mention before.
The Competing Values Framework (Grabowski, Neher, Crim, Mathiassen 2014) is
particularly relevant as they establish organizations effectiveness also depends on how
its activities are organized and governed. Although it may be debated exactly how,
several factors influence board effectiveness including clear roles and responsibilities,
appropriate mix of skills and experience, sufficient availability of time, a common vision
with management.
In Structure Rules and Regulations (Hill, Lynn 2014) we have another theoretical
concept relevant to this case. Regulation is concerned with conduct by individuals and
organizations that affects lives or livelihoods of others. The actual and potential reach of
regulation in vast because it could conceivably cover any conduct with social
implications. In order to optimize this new agency, regulation is a key to ensure that
national goals are met.

In addition to these theoretical concepts (Rainey 2014) in The impact of political

power and public policy talked about legislative bodies and said, legislative bodies
have substantial formal powers, including authority to control agency budgets, to pass
legislation that authorizes and directs agency actions, and to oversee agency activities
through hearings, investigations, and other means. This concept is relevant with these
in this case in terms of the Union and the lobbying campaign supported by the State
Representative George Whalen to protect all their members.
There is a variety of qualitative data that can be applied and analyzed in this
case. The most relevant qualitative data are The department shall establish a
comprehensive program of social services at the area level. Some of these services are
strengthen and encourage family life for the protection and care of children, assist and
encourage the use by any family of all available resources to this end, and provide
substitute care of children only when preventive services have failed and the family itself
or the resources needed and provided to the family are unable to insure the integrity of
the family and the necessary care and protection to guarantee the rights of any child to
sound health and normal physical, mental, spiritual and moral development.
The department shall: Formulate the policies, procedures and rules necessary for
the full and efficient implementation of programs authorized by the laws of the state and
federal laws in the area of social services; Administer the services, funds, and personnel
necessary for such social service programs throughout; Establish and enforce high
standards of social service and strive to elevate such standards.
The department shall be under the direction, supervision and control of a
Commissioner of social services. Commissioner shall be qualified by training and
experience to perform the duties of the office and shall at the time of appointment have
received a doctorate or other degree beyond the level of the baccalaureate in the field
of business, economics, education, government, law, medicine, psychology, public
administration, public health, public policy, social work, urban planning. The
Commissioner shall establish reasonable caseload rates and shall report the same to
the general court in the budget estimates of the department. The Commissioner shall
develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for all social

services under the control of the department and shall collect the necessary program
and fiscal data annually.
There is a small amount of quantitative data that can be applied and analyzed in
this case. The most relevant quantitative data are the Department of Welfare with a
budget of 2.6 billion and 6,000 employees, have 275 millions and 2,000 employees in
the area of social services. The Commissioner shall receive a salary of eighty-five
thousand dollars and shall devote full time to the duties of the office. This State does not
have any comprehensive system of employee evaluation. The laws are written so that
inaction by appointing authorities results in automatic tenure or step increases for the
employees. In terms of the Plan for Department of Social Services we found that this
one propose Reward systems: career ladder(s); compensation: other possible rewards
within framework of civil service. Time: attendance; vacations; sabbaticals; sick leave;
part-time alternatives.
With this evidence accumulated we can conclude that the needs of this
organization are more structural and managerial than financially. The qualitative data
showed that the basis of issues are the lack of regulation, clear mission and
accountability. Furthermore, the union lobbying is not supporting regulation for high
performance in social services.
Alternative actions that the new Secretary can make are; first accept the
legislation. This means that the agency will receive the transferred employees, also, this
means that they will continue having pressure of the union and their politics of
ineffectiveness in work. However, if he approved the legislation new regulations in terms
of accountability, clear purpose and reduce of case-load will be part of the agency.
Second; the Secretary can deny the legislation and prolong the changes of the agency,
this will cause more insecurity in the organization furthermore, more stories of child
abuse injuries and deaths.
Recommendations that comes out of this analysis are; the agency need to be
only for Social Services. The agency need to evaluate the personnel to see if they are
prepared as social workers, those who are prepared would continue working and those
who are not, need to be trained to continue working as social workers. Furthermore, the
agency need to establish, that new employees need to have MSW degree or equivalent,

also the agency need to reduce the case-load that overwhelm social workers. The
action plan that I preferred is basically the one that I mentioned before in short terms
steps. In addition, as medium term I will suggest a second evaluation for those who
received training to measure progress. I will suggest the agency to hire new social
workers if the number of cases increase. As long term steps the agency need to have a
high accountability process in the organization. This accountability process will provide
with data to see the efficiency of the organization; furthermore, to incentive workers by
effectiveness.