When collaboration is required by public funding agencies: Formation and performance of nonprofit social service networks

We have entered into an era of "hybrid governance" where government increasingly relies on a network of public, nonprofit and even for-profit partners to produce and deliver publicly funded social services. One of the "hybrid governance" arrangements is the use of lead-organization networks for social service delivery. This dissertation explores the formation and performance of lead-organization networks for the delivery of children and family services in Los Angeles County's Family Preservation Program. The findings suggest that the availability of potential partners in the community, the scope of required services and the ethnic homogeneity of the client population are key determinants of network size. The findings also suggest that different types of organizational, programmatic and supply-side preconditions for collaboration could affect collaborative processes and ultimate perceived outcomes differently. The effects of most preconditions on perceived outcomes are, however, mediated by collaborative processes. Perceived well-functioning collaborative partnerships are mainly premised on the existence of the processes of leveraging resources and building trust between partners.