Are Social Service Managers Encouraging Consumer Participation in Decision Making in Organizations?

The participation of social service consumers in decision making in social service organizations is often viewed as an appropriate mechanism for reducing feelings of oppression among residents of low-income communities. However, there is little empirical evidence that nonprofit or public social service managers actively seek to empower service consumers by involving them in organizational decision making. In this paper, the author describes findings from a survey of social service managers about whether specific client empowerment-oriented management activities are commonly utilized.