Case Study of the Partnership Project. Santa Clara County, California

摘要

The Santa Clara County (California) partnership project sought to develop better data for intergovernmental decisionmaking and to begin the process of sorting out roles and responsibilities between the various human service providers. County government is the major provider of human services in Santa Clara County, but the cities expressed a growing concern for a larger role in human services' decisionmaking. The approach chosen for the partnership project was a research strategy, but this failed to meet the needs of the cities and private providers. Dissatisfaction resulted, and implementation of the project was delayed due to management indecision. The County planning department staff was finally left in charge of the project, working with little supervision from the County Executive. The task force strategy established to carry out the initial work plan proved unworkable and was abandoned. The project began to gain direction when a project director was hired 6 months into the first year. After this slow start, the project: (1) gained tentative County Executive support; (2) made operational an advisory board of representatives from local government, human services agencies, and community groups to direct policy; and (3) produced several products. It was concluded that capacity - building projects expecting to improve human services planning and management in an intergovernmental setting should recognize the intensity of decisionmaking issues and be prepared to deal with them, even when a research strategy is pursued. HEW believed that progress was being made during the second year, and a third year project was funded in 1977. Persons interviewed are listed.