Conclusion
5
It’s impossible to imagine life nowadays without cooperation in chains. More and more social issues demand a multi-disciplinary approach. In the past we used to create a new organisation for each new problem; new institutions, with new stakes, for, at times, very specific target groups. Chain cooperation seeks to overcome that problem by bringing the relevant parties together to solve the client’s demand or tackle a social issue. However, the big problem of many chains is the lack of decisiveness and commitment to the cooperation, or the time-consuming consultative structures. In this publication we have described a new organisational form that offers a solution to this: the chain unit. A solution tested in the difficult day-to-day practice of handling persistent offenders in Amsterdam, juvenile unemployment in Rotterdam and the handling of multi-problem families in Enschede. Characteristics of this new organisational form are: • The partners form one (temporary) shared organisational unit to which staff members of all the chain partners are seconded (interface). • The organisational unit works on the basis of one work process. • Demands are articulated and diagnoses are made in the organisational unit. • The organisational unit supervises, acts as commissioning authority of the chain and monitors implementation. • The back offices of the chain partners act as principal contractors. • Relevant client information is transparent for all partners. • Sometimes contains elements of controlling the demand by the purchase of necessary services. The chain unit is, in principle, a temporary unit, which is wound up again when the scope of the social issue has been limited or client demand
35