Textbook of social administration: the consumer-centered approach

Policy & Practice, June, 2008 by Frank Solomon

This classroom resource is a how-to guide to developing the management abilities needed to maintain an effective client-centered approach by using a social program framework that uses information, personnel and additional resources to support and direct the interaction between social workers and their clients. It equips social program managers with the skills they need to produce mutually desired results for their clients and staff.

John Poertner, professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Charles Rapp, professor and director of the Office of Mental Health Research and Training at the University of Kansas in Lawrence provide a modern, updated approach to human service administration, with a focus on the consumers of services. Their models of management center on services to people, several steps beyond the emphasis on adapting business management approaches to social services.

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This is a refreshing read in that the authors try to minimize social science jargon and provide content on such current issues as contracting with government for the payment for services and evaluation methods for documenting effectiveness.

Poertner and Rapp start with an emphasis on achieving results for the consumer. This consistent focus on purpose, consumer-centered administration, and getting results underlines the importance of these factors relative to all the administrative functions, from information systems to personnel and financial management. The authors give thorough and proper attention to the importance of program design, with an emphasis on the use of theory and research, which is vital as evidence-based practice becomes more prominent.

By John Poertner and Charles Rapp/ The Haworth Press/soft cover/300 pages/First Edition/ISBN-10: 0789031779/