The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Homeless Policy Networks: A Research Note

Abstract

IntroductionCollaboration between the nonprofit and public sectors has arrived as an alternative sendee delivery arrangement to the single organization attempting to serve a community Although the reasons that organizations collaborate with one another are well studied, the role that nonprofit organizations play in collaboration and the degree to which nonprofits lead collaboration efforts remain largely unexplored. This research note pursues the following two questions: (1) What is the extent of nonprofits' involvement in local networks that are promoted by public policy? (2) To what extent do nonprofit organizations play a leading role in collaborative networks?To address these research questions, this study examines a federal homeless policy that encourages local communities to create collaborative networks to address the incidence of homelessness-the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. We conduct a descriptive analysis of these local homeless networks in the United Stales using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. First, we conduct an indepth analysis of a sample of 35 local homeless networks within a region1 of the United States to explore the network membership composition, the sectors these organizations represent, and the extent of nonprofits' involvement in these homeless service networks. We then analyze a nationwide sample of 382 local homeless networks2 to understand the extent to which nonprofits take a leading role. The results indicate that nonprofit organizations are not only significantly involved in the implementation of the federal homeless policy, but they also take on the leading role within the collaborative network.This research note is organized into four additional sections. First, we briefly review the literature that addresses why nonprofits collaborate and why nonprofits may be positioned to lead collaborative networks. The research context, data, and methods are presented in the second section. The third section reports the findings of this study with discussion. The fourth and last section comprises the conclusion, a discussion of the study's limitations, and directions for future research.Literature Review: Why Nonprofits Collaborate and May Lead Collaborative NetworksNonprofit organizations engage in collaborative networks for a variety of reasons, including rules, regulations, and other mandates that require or encourage them to collaborate with other organizations (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Gray and Wood, 1991). Nonprofit organizations also collaborate because of a need to access resources (Gazley, 2010; Jang and Feiock, 2007; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978; Singer and Yankey, 1991). The current scholarship has adequately addressed the multidimensional motivations of nonprofit organizations to participate in collaborative networks. Few attempts, however, have been made to understand nonprofits' leading role in collaborative service networks. We propose that nonprofit organizations are in a good position to take on the leading role in human service networks for several reasons.First and foremost, because nonprofit organizations tend to be focused on helping their specific locality, they are likely to have established legitimacy and trust with other community organizations (Ott and Dicke, 2012; Wolf, 1999). As such, nonprofits may be positioned to lead the process of activating key members of a network and initiating the collaboration process (O'Regan and Oster, 2000; Wolch, 1990). Second, a service network led by a nonprofit can establish itself as a public charity to help mobilize support and secure a variety of private financial resources (Dropkin and Hayden, 2001; McGuire, 2002). Third, nonprofit organizations may be positioned to lead a collaborative network because of their natural capacity to frame a vision and mission and build consensus among network stakeholders (Agranoff and McGuire, 2001; McGuire, 2002). …