Under-staffed agencies exploit new service centers as referral outlets rather than partners

Evidence

When the Roxbury (Boston) Multi-Service Center opened its doors, it expected to provide black community residents with links to other social agencies to which they might not otherwise go. However, the agency shortly experienced as many referrals from other agencies as it was making to other agencies. It may be inferred that other Boston social agencies, under-staffed relative to the demands on them, saw the new Multi-Service Center as a resource that they might now exploit. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 971

Categorization

• XREF: Empirical case the reader can use to test how fast institutional practice adapts to a new resource versus any change in the underlying service narrative. — connects to: Referral systems collapse into circularity when every agency is equally overwhelmed — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 970; Referrals deliver symbolic service that substitutes for real help to clients — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 972
• SHARE: Niche Boston-specific tidbit perfect for one reader interested in Roxbury’s community-service history.

Broader Connections

• Referrals deliver symbolic service that substitutes for real help to clients #expands (0.80) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 972
• Referral systems collapse into circularity when every agency is equally overwhelmed #expands (0.75) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 970