ChildProtect, the agency helping vulnerable children in the Netherland’s largest city Amsterdam, was in desperate need of help itself. Every year it looked after 10,000 children at risk, but in 2009 community service regulators, fearful that ChildProtect was unable to fulfil its core mission, placed it under heightened supervision. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Erik Gerritsen, the new chief executive, found a hard-working child protection agency driven by good intentions and committed professionals but burdened by tragic service delivery failures, intensifying community demands and sclerotic procedures. ChildProtect was in the cross hairs of regulators and legislators, and to save it, and make a difference to children in need, Gerritsen would need to navigate complex relationships with apprehensive politicians overseeing the agency, the partner non-government organisations that ChildProtect relied upon, and his own professionals who found themselves trapped within service delivery protocols.
This is a multi-part case. This case can be used to support discussion around the notion of public value and the various ways in which it can be defined and generated. In addition, the case also lends itself to an exploration of complementary areas including organisational change management, leadership, the nature of politician-bureaucrat relations, co-production and the role of risk management within the delivery of community services.
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- Authors: Dr Scott Douglas
- Published Date: 29 January 2016
- Author Institution: Utrecht University
- Featured Content Length: 5
- Content Length: 4
- Product Type: Part A, Primary resources