Building a continuum of care through boundary spanning and organizational change : corrections and HIV/AIDS supported housing in Massachusetts

Abstract

In the current context of federal devolution, practitioners in supported housing systems and other diverse organizational contexts increasingly face the challenge of fostering coordination and managing conflicts of values and perspectives within organizations tied together in networks. Such coordination is problematic, just as conflicts are inevitable, within such networks and other inter-organizational systems because of the historically evolved structures and specialization of organizations. These specialized structures or 'domains' imply certain boundaries defining what activities can be considered internally coherent and consistent with organizational goals. Yet it is too often the case that these structures are "incomplete" in fulfilling all of society's needs. In situations where this is the case, "'gaps" can be said to exist between the domains of two organizations, and can have serious consequences for individuals and communities proximate to them. In this light, homelessness as a result of de-institutionalization, or unemployment among post-secondary school youth, may be seen as social problems generated by structural gaps between organizational domain boundaries. Solving these problems, I argue, requires that practitioners undertake roles in their own organizations that are 'boundary spanning.' Boundary spanning becomes a means of building ties across vast inter-organizational distances, inventing programmatic solutions to structural problems, and creating organizational change. In this thesis, I examine organizational change as it occurred within a specific interorganizational network of providers and institutions: a continuum of care for ex-offenders living with HIV/AIDS in Massachusetts. The case presented here is one in which I am both an observer/researcher and a practitioner. Reflecting upon the activities of myself and others working to expand access to HIV/AIDS supported and other housing opportunities, I analyze the attributes of our boundary spanning roles as examples of successful practice in creating organizational change towards our goal of homelessness prevention among ex offenders living with HIV/AIDS. From these attributes emerges a theory of practice for boundary spanning towards organizational change.