Managing the Challenges in Human Service Organizations : A Casebook

by Michael J. Austin

• ISBN13: 9781412941273
• ISBN10: 141294127X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-08
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

Managing the Challenges in Human Service Organizations: A Casebook offers current and aspiring human service managers a view into the kinds of experiences they will likely encounter to better prepare them for the world they are about to enter. The cases are inspired by real situations and are designed to encourage students to determine how they would act and work towards a resolution of the dilemmas presented. Key Features    Simulates administrative dilemmas through cases that offer different aspects of agency administration and replicate aspects of actual practice Levels the learning field for students entering graduate human service management programs with different managerial experiences Orients students to the challenges of management by helping them develop mental models linked to the values of client-centered administration Helps students develop a beginning sense of competence and understanding of managerial work while refining their analytic skills Offers the opportunity for repeated learning opportunities using different analytical frameworks Supplements fieldwork by providing more time to reflect and consider a broader array of alternatives than is found in most field experiences Intended Audience    This book is ideally suited as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in social work and counseling, as well as a much-needed reference for human services supervisors and practitioners.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overview

The Uses of Case-Based Learning

The Value and Benefits of Case-Based Learning

Conceptual Frameworks

Managerial Roles

Competing Values

Management Functions

Summary

Case Assessment and Debriefing

Case Debriefing

Use and Organization of the Casebook

Summary

Governance, Environment, and Structure

Governance

Meddling Trustees

KidsCan

Dorchester House Board of Directors

The Perfect Storm

Poor Leadership Boundaries

Environmental Relations

The Cabal

Cost of a Tuxedo

Choosing a Director

Collapse of the Coalition

Structure

Merging Colossal and Grassroots Agencies

Poor Interdepartmental Communication or Competing Service Ideologies?

Whose Interests Are Being Served?

Greenvale Residential Treatment Center

Chapter Exercises

Leadership and Ethics

Leadership

Empowering Staff: Real or Imaginary?

Caught in the Middle: Mediating Differences in Gender and Workstyle

To Talk or Not to Talk?

Agency Director Uses a Personal Coach to Address His Leadership Style

Founder's Syndrome

Executive Leadership

Marian Health Center

Mosaic County Welfare Department

Project Home

Ethics

Damage Control

Philosophy Versus Economics

What? Me worry?

Chapter Exercises

Planning and Program Design

Planning

Mallard County Private Industry Council

Be Careful What you Wish For

Decisions on Resource Allocation

Rational Versus Political Decision Making

The Achievement Crisis at Girls Works

Cutbacks and Performance Pressure

Hillside Community Center

Empowering Staff to Advocate for Chicano/Latina Clients

Program Design

Banksville Human Services Center

Massive Retrenchment

Productivity and Performance

Responding to Changing Client and Community Needs

Chapter Exercises

Financial Management and Information Systems

Fund Development

Should We Accept the Gift?

Changing the Ground Rules

Budgeting

Showdown

Improving Cash Flow

Desperate for Program Funding

Painful Choices

Information Systems

Measuring Performance

Information Services Overload

Evaluating a Strategic Plan for Children's Services

Chapter Exercises

Human Resource Management and Supervision

Human Resource Management

The Case of Missing Staff

Client-Centered Administration or Organization-Centered Administration?

Union Headache

The Influence of Religious Beliefs

Growing Pains

Challenges on the Line

Selecting a Clinical Director for Friendly House

Fire a Competent CFO?

Supervision

SOS in DHS: A Problem of Motivation

Deteriorating Performance of a Supervisee

Helping Supervisors Manage Their Staff

Supervising Five Case Managers

Supervisory Leadership

Chapter Exercises

Organizational Dynamics and Change

Implementing Organizational Change as a Newcomer

Diagnosing Managerial Practice in a Budget Crisis

How Are We Doing?

Jefferson Hospital

Thurston High School

Leadership Challenges in Transforming a Public Human Services Agency

Chapter Exercises

References

Index

About the Authors

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