THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND POLITICAL THREATS TO SCHOOL-LINKED INTEGRATED SERVICES

The accumulating evidence from the array of school-linked social servi ce initiatives launched over the past decade provides a glimpse of the enduring obstacles and challenges to integrated services. The notable failure of two prominent foundation efforts indicates a critical cros sroads for this public policy movement. This article explores the orga nizational and political constraints that threaten to undercut the sch ool-linked services movement. The discussion focuses on the misguided messages that have helped slide the issue of children's services to th e center of the policy table on the naive and narrow assumption that i ntegrated services will produce more economical and efficient systems for families. The concluding argument urges educators and policy maker s to move beyond the erratic and irregular child-saving impulses that have marked earlier education and social services policies to efforts that understand the complexity of the lives of children and the econom ic foundation of their families.