Community access to nonprofit social services.
Item
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Title
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Community access to nonprofit social services.
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Identifier
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AAI3325465
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identifier
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3325465
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Creator
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Rafter, Kevin M.
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Contributor
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Adviser: John Seley
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Urban and Regional Planning | Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
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Abstract
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Nonprofit organizations have an idealized role in American society, thought to provide respite from profit hungry businesses through voluntary generosity, and be more compassionate care-givers than public institutions. In an era where conventional wisdom prizes private enterprise over government action, nonprofit organizations are claiming a large role in delivering a variety of services, many of which were previously in the public domain. Yet the activities of the nonprofit sector are not coordinated in any meaningful way.;This paper considers the location of nonprofit social services and tests theory-driven hypotheses about the factors affecting aggregate levels of nonprofit social service activity. Nonprofit location is analyzed at the geographic scale of the neighborhood by measuring the total nonprofit expenditures located within a half-mile of a given census tract. Research shows that services located close to home are more likely to be used, and theory suggests that nonprofit activity should relate to greater needs and diversity measured at a community level. The financial resources available to a community to support nonprofit activity are also an important factor. The analysis also contrasts the findings between two metropolitan regions of San Francisco and Sacramento.;Results of this analysis confirm previously posited models of needs and resources, but disprove the demand heterogeneity concept at a small neighborhood scale. Instead, it shows that immigration, race, and regional context influence the level of nonprofit social services available to particular communities. Nonprofit social services in Sacramento are poorly aligned to needs compared to San Francisco. These findings suggest that policy makers concerned with the coordination of social services in Sacramento should provide more expansion capital to service providers in that region.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
