INTRODUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL AGREEMENTS - THE EXPERIENCE OF 75 ADMINISTRATORS IN ONE COUNTY

Inter-organizational agreements (IAs) are a new form of mandate, desig ned for coordinating services in the community. They were introduced b y policy makers as an intermediate step between a contract and a manda te. Organizational agreements are mandates that allow local administra tors to open discussion with their mandated counterparts and specify t he nature and extent of the relationship. Four different coordinating mechanisms: contracts, mandates, inter-organizational agreements (IAs) , and voluntary ties are explored at two periods of time. Data about t he importance and effectiveness of each of these relationships were co llected from administrators as the IAs were introduced. Four years lat er the same questions were again asked of these administrators to eval uate whether the IAs influenced the pattern of relationships in their community.