Protecting the Social Service Client

Protecting the Social Service Client: Legal and Structural Controls on Official Discretion examines the treatment of clients of public and private social service agencies and highlights the role of consumer protection in dealing with the existence and abuse of administrative discretion. Of particular concern is the legal rights of these social service clients — principally the poor — and how effectively these rights are being enforced. The history of due process protection (that is, by means of appeals and court hearings) is discussed and a number of legal and structural remedies are offered. Comprised of six chapters, this book begins by setting forth the issues and reviewing the experiences of client protections under the due process model, with emphasis on discretion as a key legal issue in social services. The reader is then introduced to legal theory, particularly how constitutional and statutory law defines the legal interests of social service clients and what system of protection is provided by the law. Subsequent chapters focus on the protection of client rights in practice as well as several different legal and structural remedies to client protections. The legal protection of clients is analyzed, first from the client perspective and then from the point of view of the policymaker. This monograph is intended for social work professionals, administrators, policymakers, and advocates of the rights of people who deal with social welfare agencies.