I would like to open a discussion that touches upon three issues: voluntarism, social policy and democratization. Which are the characteristics of an institutional framework that promotes active participation of citizens in voluntarism without undermining the responsibility of the state to provide social services? Which institutional framework for voluntarism promotes democratization and social cohesion?
Active participation and involvement in policy making always helps improve on systems and structures, there is no documentation that was castes on a solid rock but on scrolls scripts and books.
It probably depends on the type of social services. Some services should be provided by the government, while some others could be provided through voluntarism. What is most interesting are those that shift between the state and voluntarism.
One of the major issues I see in social policy is the principle of employing social workers. What we have seen in the social welfare space is literally tens of thousands of case managers (e.g. domestic violence workers, homeless center workers) that work tirelessly, case managing people lives rather than empowering them (pushing aside many in the community that volunteer) and providing guidance and neglecting community development to tackle the underlying issues. I suggest you consider reading http://library.bsl.org.au/bsljspui/bitstream/1/5804/1/Tony_Nicholson_speech_on_community_welfare_sector_27_May_2014.pdf .
I see some services that employ 140 people in the homeless areas (and there are many similar organisations) and all they are unsuccessful due to lack of supply of affordable homes (or affordable rental stock) and are simply prioritising who they help (and upset those they cannot).
The difference in the approach is stark when I read about Iceland that decided to put in sports fields and heaps of community after school activity programs that drove down youth crime and drug use. Here (in Australia) we have some local government areas with youth disengagement (worst area's 20% of youth are not in education or work) and 100's of kids that cannot access community sports (like soccer) as there is simply not the facilities. I have to question if we should employ another youth worker or are we better off building another sports area and employing a grounds person to maintain and let the community organise the sports coaches (be it baseball, soccer, basketball, netball or whatever) to get a better "bang for buck", encourage community involvement and get better results.
Recreational time and talking with one another on issues that affects us is one approach of case management problem solving. Work life always keeps people away from their families hence loosing touch, community based approach in identifying their key issues that should be addressed based on their social hemisphere.
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