Community-based human service delivery

The nation's welfare and human services systems were restructured after 1980 through welfare reform, program dismantling and transformation, and privatization. In this period, demand for community-based human services increased dramatically because of deinstitutionalization, heightened job competition, and rising rates of poverty. Despite nonprofit sector efforts to meet rising demand, the uneven distribution of urban voluntary agencies left many residents without access to key services. Maldistribution of services challenges key federal human service efforts and place-based service delivery strategies and underlies virulent opposition to service facility siting. This article provides an empirical baseline concerning trends in community-based service delivery and assesses urban planning tools to create efficient and equitable human service systems. In particular, service-hub and fair-share approaches to service distribution are evaluated. Limited applications of these approaches suggest the need for further demonstration programs aimed at ensuring client access to services and minimizing community conflict.