This paper explores the potential for innovation in welfare services. Using the complexity lens, the paper presents a theoretically founded basis for enabling innovation in complex public-private welfare service systems. The empirical data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with leading office holders responsible for social services in the City of Helsinki (Finland) and exec...

Abstract This article presents empirical findings about the distinctiveness of smaller voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) involved in welfare service provision, based on in-depth, qualitative case study research. We identify a series organisational features and practices which can mean that VSOs are distinctive from larger organisations. These include how they governed managed, their approac...

Alabama has a long history of providing a modest safety net for low-income families and children, supplying more limited income support than almost any other state. The state’s policies toward lowincome families have been closely linked to federal policy, with little state funding beyond that required to draw down available federal funds. Since the first round of site visits, a large influx of ...