Human service nonprofits are thought to be critical players in advocating on behalf of marginalized communities and improved service delivery mechanisms. However, as human service nonprofits are organized primarily to provide services, not to conduct advocacy, their managers face substantial barriers to advocacy participation. These barriers include severe resource constraints, a lack of experience and knowledge about policy advocacy, and confusion about what they are legally able to do. Unfortunately, how these barriers interact, or why some organizations are able to overcome them and others are not is still unknown. This knowledge gap must be addressed if we are to grow advocacy participation in the field and make sure social work voices are being heard. The specific research question is: What organizational features best assist human service nonprofits in overcoming barriers to advocacy participation? Read more.
From Skid Row to the Statehouse: How Nonprofit Homeless Service Providers Overcome Barriers to Policy Advocacy Involvement
Johns Hopkins University Press
Year: 2014