PERFORMANCE, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND PURCHASE OF SERVICE CONTRACTING

The authors argue that in the decade of the 1990s the issue of account ability in the human services must necessarily encompass the issue of accountability in purchase of service contracting (POSC). They suggest that in the implementation of POSC, concepts of ''process'' accountab ility derived from direct service delivery have tended to dominate. A new ''performance'' approach to POSC accountability is advocated.