Images and Concepts of the Third Sector in Europe

Peer reviewe

Co-Produção, nova governança pública e serviços sociais no Terceiro Setor na Europa

Many countries in Europe are searching for new ways to engage citizens and involve the third sector in the provision and governance of social services in order to meet major demographical, political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st century. Co-production provides a model for the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. New Public Governance (NPG) puts much greater emphasis on citizen participation and third sector provision of social services than either traditional public administration or New Public Management. Co-production is a core element of NPG that promotes the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. This paper explores the implications of two comparative studies of parent participation in preschool services in Europe. They observe that citizen participation clearly varies between different providers of social services, as too does client and staff influence. This empirical overview concludes that some third sector providers can facilitate greater citizen participation, while a ‘glass ceiling’ for participation exists in municipal and for-profit preschool services. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of the emerging paradigm of New Public Governance.Key words: Participation, co-production, New Public Governance, third sector and socialservices.Muitos países na Europa estão buscando novas maneiras de envolver os cidadãos e o terceiro setor na provisão e gestão dos serviços sociais a fim de atender aos principais desafios demográficos, políticos e econômicos do Estado no século 21. A coprodução fornece um modelo para a combinação de agentes de serviços públicos e cidadãos que contribuem para a prestação de um serviço público. Nova Governança Pública (NPG) coloca muito mais ênfase na participação do cidadão e oferta de serviços sociais do terceiro setor do que a administração pública tradicional ou Nova Gestão Pública. A coprodução é um elemento central da NPG, que promove a mistura de agentes de serviços públicos e cidadãos que contribuem para a prestação de um serviço público. Este artigo explora as implicações de dois estudos comparativos de participação dos pais nos serviços de pré-escola na Europa. Foi observado que a participação do cidadão varia de acordo com os diferentes prestadores de serviços sociais e também de acordo com a influência de clientes e funcionários. Esta visão empírica conclui que alguns provedores do terceiro setor podem facilitar a maior participação dos cidadãos, enquanto uma “barreira invisível” para esta participação existir no município e nos serviços pré-escolares com fins lucrativos. Esses achados podem contribuir para uma melhor compreensão do paradigma emergente da Nova Governança Pública.Palavras-chave: participação, coprodução, Nova Governança Pública, Terceiro Setor, serviços sociais

Street-level practice, personalisation and co-production in employability: Insights from local services with lone parents

Policymakers in the UK have promised to deliver personalised employability services for vulnerable jobseekers. However, unemployed people often describe their engagement with state-funded services as defined by: the offer of low cost, standardised job search services; and pressure to accept any job, irrespective of quality or appropriateness. This article argues that more progressive, co-produced alternatives are possible. We draw on an evaluation of local, third sector-led services targeting lone parents (LPs) in five local government areas in Scotland. Our research involved more than 100 in-depth interviews with both service providers and LPs. We find that partnership-oriented co-governance mechanisms facilitated collaborative approaches to the management of services and processes of co-production. LPs expressed positive views of the personalised services that were co-produced. We conclude that a commitment to collaboration and co-production may be more effective in promoting personalised services that are responsive to the needs of vulnerable groups

Co-production as a route to employability: Lessons from services with lone parents

Policy‐makers claim to support personalized approaches to improving the employability of disadvantaged groups. Yet, in liberal welfare states, mainstream activation programmes targeting these groups often deliver standardized, low‐quality services. Such failures may be related to a governance and management regime that uses tightly defined contracting and performance targets to incentivize (mainly for‐profit) service providers to move people into any job as quickly as possible. This article draws on evidence from third sector/public sector‐led services in Scotland to discuss an alternative approach. These services co‐produced personalized support in partnership with disadvantaged service users (in this case vulnerable lone parents). We suggest that, in this case, street‐level co‐production and personalization were facilitated by co‐governance and co‐management in the design and organization of provision. We conclude by identifying lessons for future employability services

Translation, cross‐cultural adaptation, and preliminary validation of a patient‐reported outcome measure for genetic counseling outcomes in Sweden

Genetic counseling is key for understanding the consequences of hereditary and genetic diseases and, therefore, crucial for patients, their families, and healthcare providers. Genetic counseling facilitates individuals' comprehension, decision‐making, and adaptation to hereditary diseases. This study focuses on the Swedish adaptation of the Genetic Counseling Outcome Scale‐24 (GCOS‐24), an internationally validated, patient‐reported outcome measure (PROM) for quantifying patient empowerment in genetic counseling. This study aimed to translate and cross‐culturally adapt the GCOS‐24 to measure patient‐reported outcome from genetic counseling in Sweden. The adaptation process was meticulously conducted, adhering to international guidelines, with cross‐cultural adaptation, translation, and back translation, to ensure semantic, conceptual, and idiomatic equivalence with the original English version. Face validity and understandability was assured using qualitative cognitive interviews conducted with patient representatives, and by a committee of experts in the field. The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of GCOS‐24 (GCOS‐24swe) were evaluated using a robust sample of 374 patients. These individuals received genetic counseling by telephone or video, necessitated by the constraints of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Participants responded to GCOS‐24swe both before and after genetic counseling. The GCOS‐24swe demonstrated face validity, good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86), significant responsiveness (Cohen's d = 0.65, p < 0.001), and good construct validity. The study's findings underscore the GCOS‐24swe's potential as an effective instrument in both clinical practice and research within Sweden. It offers a valuable means for assessing patient empowerment, a key goal of genetic counseling. Additional psychometric assessment of test–retest reliability and interpretability would further enhance the utility of GCOS‐24swe

Co-producing across organizational boundaries: promoting asylum seeker integration in Scotland

This paper questions whether asylum seeker integration is promoted through inter-organisational relationships between non-profit and voluntary organisations (NPVOs) and government agencies. It focuses particularly on the role of NPVOs in service delivery (co-management) and in the delivery and planning of public services (co-governance). It presents a research study on the public services provided to asylum seekers in Glasgow and asks the following questions: What role do NPVOs play in the planning and delivery of public services? When planning and delivering public services, to what extent do NPVOs work across organisational boundaries and what kind of relationships exist? And in practice, what makes inter-organisational relationships work? This paper offers new empirical evidence and also contributes to the theoretical debate around the integration of asylum seekers

Varieties of Participation in Public Services: The Who, When, and What of Coproduction

Despite an international resurgence of interest in coproduction, confusion about the concept remains. This article attempts to make sense of the disparate literature and clarify the concept of coproduction in public administration. Based on some definitional distinctions and considerations about who is involved in coproduction, when in the service cycle it occurs, and what is generated in the process, the article offers and develops a typology of coproduction that includes three levels (individual, group, collective) and four phases (commissioning, design, delivery, assessment). The levels, phases, and typology as a whole are illustrated with several examples. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for research and practice