Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucracy Analysis

The performances of public service workers have always been a central topic of theories and reviews in order to implement and enhance their services and dispense a good assistance to clients. Who examined the work of public service workers deeply is Lipsky with his “Street-Level Bureaucracy” (1980). He studied everything that concerns the performances of the so called street-level bureaucrats along with the constraints that they sustain. Lipsky’s theory will be taken into account in connection with the work of social workers dealing with the protection of vulnerable children and the safety and wellbeing of young people and families. The professional constraints and dilemmas typical to street-level bureaucrats will be examined in order to observe …show more content…
First, in the Munro Review can be observed the problem of unclear goal expectation stated also in Lipsky’s work. In fact, in the social services field, on one hand, focus should be on the timeliness of the service provided during the journey of children through the system, from the moment they need the help to the moment in which they receive it. On the other hand focus should also be on the quality and effectiveness of the services offered. Munro (2010: 48) focused her attention especially on the latter. In fact, in the review it is highlighted how the quality of the service should be of paramount importance in a way that the inspection system should also consider how well the wishes and feelings of children have been fulfilled. Nevertheless, I am not completely sure that the problem of unclear goal expectation have been overcome. I think that the dichotomy between organizational goal to process work quickly using the resources available and client-centred goals of responding to the needs of individual clients still exists and continue to be a constraint in the performances of social workers. I believe that, even though in this field the needs of children and young people must be put in the first place, the social workers have to bear in mind the organizational goals in order to accomplish their work …show more content…
For the problem of the lack of training, Munro (2010: 57) highlighted that it is important that LSCBs keep to make multi-agency training available also under financial resources constraints and that this training will be evaluated by the LSCBs themselves. In fact the review stated that multi agency training is productive in helping workers understand roles and responsibilities of their job, and the systems of the agencies included in protecting the wellbeing of children. In this way a shared decision making practice could be shaped and the problem of working under conditions of limited time and information, which can be found in Lipsky, can be partially