Making Government Volunteering Policies More Effective

Abstract

Faced with declining civic trust on the one hand and increasing fiscal stringency on the other, many governments have issued policies to encourage volunteering, or to mandate departments and agencies to recruit and involve volunteers in their work. Little research has been undertaken to follow up on these initiatives. This article reports the results of a study comparing two health and social service trusts in Northern lreland with respect to their response to governmental policies to incorporate volunteers into the provision of health and social service care. The study examines the priority accorded by the trusts to the implementation of these policies; the support they give to volunteer administration and management and the missing links in this process. A central theme of the study is the role played by the volunteer co-ordinator in promoting and sustaining a volunteer programme in the trust. The article first examines the policy context for volunteering in Northern lreland and indicates how policy was implemented in the health and social service trusts. The article then turns to the research design and methodology used in the study. Following a presentation of the findings, the article concludes with a discussion of the findings and their Implications for research and practice in the implementation of statutory volunteer policy.