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Governments confront many challenges as they rely increasingly on community sector agencies to deliver services. This has implications for the governance of service delivery, policy implementation, and partnerships. This article examines two interconnected concerns for the delivery of relationship support programs in Australia. First, it investigates the key characteristics that influence how government delivers services and whether it develops partnerships with the community sector. Second, it explores the challenges experienced by Australian agencies that deliver relationship support programs: early intervention and prevention strategies to provide couples with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and maintain robust relationships. It does this by providing a qualitative study that includes findings from 27 semistructured interviews with service providers. The central argument is that community organizations with diverse needs, values, and clients encounter many constraints when delivering relationship services. Consequently, it will be difficult to establish effective partnerships between government and agencies. Keywords: Service Delivery, Community Sector, Partnerships, Relationship Programs. Los gobiernos enfrentan muchos desafios mientras dependen cada vez mas en agencias del sector comunitario para prestar sus servicios. Esto tiene implicaciones para la gobernanza de la prestacion de servicios, implementacion de politicas, y las asociaciones. Este articulo examina dos inquietudes interconectadas de la entrega de los programas de consejeria a las parejas en Australia. En primer lugar, investiga las caracteristicas claves que influyen en como los gobiernos prestan servicios y si acaso desarrolla una vinculacion con el sector comunitario. En segundo lugar, explora los desafios experimentados por las agencias Australianas que proveen programas de consejeria a las parejas: una intervencion y estrategias de prevencion tempranas para proveer a las parejas del conocimiento y las habilidades necesarias para desarrollar y mantener relaciones solidas. Realiza esto al proveer un estudio cualitativo que incluye conclusiones de 27 entrevistas semiestructuradas con los prestadores de servicios. El argumento central del articulo es que las organizaciones comunitarias con diversas necesidades, valores, y clientes enfrentan muchas limitaciones cuando prestan los servicios a parejas. En consecuencia, sera dificil establecer asociaciones efectivas entre el gobierno y las agencias., In many Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on the 'third' sector or the community services sector (shortened to community sector) for delivering services [...]

In the last decade, UK public agencies have increasingly been required to collaborate with non state providers to deliver welfare services. Third sector organisations are now providers of services from early years to old age, taking a growing role in children and young people's services in socially deprived neighbourhoods. National policy has recognised third sector expertise in working with marginal groups of people. However, changing relationships with the state have drawn community organisations into new, often uncomfortable, organisational arrangements, affecting their work and their roles in relation to service users and community stakeholders. This article examines recent changes from a third sector perspective, drawing on data from a study of community based organisations providing children and young people's services in deprived localities. It considers the changing environment of 'new localism' affecting these organisations, focusing on recent plans for local area commissioning of services. The article identifies some progress in supporting community services in deprived areas but illustrates how the continuing emphasis on competitive contracts and centrally driven frameworks undermines collaborative work and community trust. It argues that such mechanisms may serve short-term state interests but devalue the very community-level work, which is increasingly being promoted to address challenging social problems.

This article describes how The Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale (the Hebrew Home), a non-profit geriatric care center, has established one of the nation's first long term care based elder abuse prevention and intervention programs for elderly living in the community. This program, known as the Weinberg Center for Prevention, Intervention and Research in Elder Abuse (the 'Weinberg Center'), received start-up funding in the form of a matching grant challenge from the Weinberg Foundation of Baltimore, which has a history of funding innovative geriatric programs throughout the United States. Utilizing the Hebrew Home's extensive integrated service model, a multidisciplinary team works with a network of private and governmental agencies. This model was designed based upon the needs of this population as described in the nascent research, evaluation of the few programs in existence, and the emerging state of elder abuse as a matter of public policy. The goals are to increase public awareness, intervene to make the home safe, and provide a secure and fulfilling short or long term shelter. Research in prevalence and efficacious use of the shelter is being conducted. KEYWORDS. Elder abuse, elder neglect, elder abuse shelter, multidisciplinary team, nursing homes, social service collaboration, legal rights, social workers' role in elder abuse prevention

This article traces the development of services to prevent and treat elder abuse over a twenty-year time span. It begins by describing the various forms of elder abuse and the challenges they pose to service providers and program developers. Also described are abuse reporting statutes, the roles of various agencies involved in abuse investigations and responses, services commonly needed by victims, funding sources, and common impediments to service delivery. KEYWORDS. Elder abuse, prevention, services, service delivery, adult protective services, mandatory reporting, federal policy, state policy, mental capacity, multidisciplinary teams

This qualitative study explores the conditions and experiences of older adults' 'formal' volunteering through non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Toronto from both organisational and individual perspectives. In spite of the ageing population and the need for NPOs to expand their services, the participation of Canadian seniors in community volunteering has been stagnant for 15 years. What organisational and structural supports might encourage the expansion of volunteering among this group? How do current administrative conditions impact upon senior volunteers? What do older adults expect to gain from community volunteering? The qualitative data collected through interviews, documents and participant observation are analysed using an inter-disciplinary framework that combines theories of the moral economy of ageing, adult development and transformative learning. The results include a socio-demographic profile of senior volunteers in 12 Toronto NPOs, and the administrative characteristics of the six organisations that engage the majority. It is argued that the self-help and transformative mechanisms embedded in community volunteering provide opportunities for retirees to sustain their self-esteem and sense of wellbeing, while cultivating 'generativity' in late adulthood. Promoting transformative learning enables community volunteering to provide meaningful roles for seniors, and promotes citizenship participation and the social economy in an ageing society. KEY WORDS--older people, community volunteering, generativity, learning, social economy.