Canadian Refugee Services: the Challenges of Network Operations Phillip J

Canadian Refugee Services: The Challenges of Network Operations Phillip J. Cooper Abstract concert et s'occupent des rkfugiks et cles in this symposium demonstrate, on d'autres immigrks. 11 estaussi important the level of professional practice - the The con text within which refugee service d'2tre vigilant quant l'impact qu'ils state of the art in refugee service deliv- providers work shapes and constrains peuvent avoir au sein des ONG ery. But no matter how creative, how their florts. Those legal, political,fiscal, spe'cialiskes duns les services aux and managerial influences in the Cana- rkfugiks. expert, or how professional the service dian con text have tended tofmce the crea- providers may be, their ability to suc- tion of refugee service networks. This Introduction cessfully deliver support for refugees article considers some of thefactors that who arrive in Canada depends, as it have brought about this network ap- Those of us who study refugee issues does in other countries, upon a variety proach to refugee service delive y, but, come to Canada to learn. For many of issues that they do not control. The most importantly, it seeks to understand years, Canadians have taught other context within which serviceproviders what the implications of that develop- nations a great dealby their willingness and the refugee families they seek to ment are for service providers and the toopen their doors to refugees and their assist must live and workmatters. The communities they serve. This articlear- generosity in seeking to provide serv- legal, political, fiscal and management gues that smkenetworks can be flective ices for them as the new arrivals become challenges presented by the environ- and eficien t in meeting refugee needs, full members of the Canadian society. ment in which the refugee challenge but it isessential to beawareof thespecial The creativity of the refugee servicecom- challenges posed by network manage- mustbemet calls upon the very best that munity in Canada has provided inno- dedicated professionals can deliver.Yet ment. Thosechallenges not only concern vative and effective models for how service providers work together and they also place boundaries on what can deal with refugees and other immigran ts, organizations and programmes that be accomplished and the methods that but also alert them to theimpact they can can better assist refugees as well other can be used to achieve their goals on have inside refugee service NGOs. new Canadians. The dedicated corps of behalf of the people they serve. people, many of them whom were refu- An examination of those factors over gees and immigrants themselves, has the past decade in Canada indicates a demonstrated to the rest of us how en- number of important trends. One of the ergy and commitment can make a dra- Le contextedans lequel les presta taires de factors is the tendency for changing matic difference in the people we all policy and resource constraints to alter services aux r@giks travaillent, faconne ultimately seek to serve the larger soci- the working relationshipsbetween gov- et restreint leurs efiorts. Ces influences ety. These are among the reasons why ernment and nongovernmental organi- lkgales,politiques,fiscales et administra- the Canadian people were collectively tives duns le contexte canadien, ont eu awarded the Nansen Medal (named zations (NGOs) that provide refugee tendance a pousser vers la crkation de services and among those NGOs as rkseaux de services aux rkfugiks. Cet ar- after Fridtjof Nansen, the first High Commissioner for Refugees under the well. In particular, these dynamicshave ticle ktudie certains des facteurs qui ont tended to force the creation of refugee amenk cette approche de prestation de League of Nations) for service to refu- services aux re'fugiks par rkseau. Mais, gees. This was the first time an entire servicenetworks. This articleconsiders avant tout, il cherche li comprendre nation was honoured. some of the factors that have brought quelles sont les implications de ce Of course, in light of all that, when about this change to a network ap- dkveloppernent pour, d'une part, les challenges emerge in the Canadian refu- proach in the refugee service delivery prestataires deseruices et, de l'autre, pour gee policy and service delivery system, system,but most importantly, it seeks to les communautks qu'ils seruent. L'article the rest of us should be concerned and understand what the implications of soutient que les rkseaux de services seek to learn from the way those chal- that developmentare for service provid- peuvent &re utiles et eficaces pour ers and the communities they serve. ripondre aux besoins des r@gie's, mais lenges are met. It is also important to qu'il faut absolumen t &re conscien t des understand the impact of the decisions Following these arguments that have dkfis particuliers que comporte lugestion that are taken withincanada, for just as been presented, the thesis that emerges de ces rkseaux. Ces dkfis ne concernent it has been a leader in so many aspects is as follows: while service networks pas seulement la facon dont les of refugee service, the situation in canbe effective and efficient inmeeting presta taires de services travaillent de Canada serves as a warning to others of refugee needs, it is a kind of organiza- what lies in the horizon of this field. tion that requires ahigh degree of aware- Phillip J. Cooper is a GundProfessorof Liberal Arts The challenge of providing refugee ness of the special challenges posed by at the University of Vermont. services rests in part, as the other arti- network management and a commit-

14 Refrge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) ment of resources to meet those chal- began in the summer of 1999, Citizen- tage of. This I can assure YOU." "Our lenges. Among these challenges is the ship and Immigration MekrElinor Government will continue to accept need to be alert to the impact they can Caplan has knat pains to answer refugees, while at the same time take have on the NGOs which are critical to demands for more edorcement and strong measures to stem the flow of the system and the differences that exist strongereffortstoexcladeillegal immi- those who try to abuse our refugee between network operations in the pri- grants.' Sadly, when such demands program~ne."~"I want to keep the front vate f or-profitbusiness community and arise in Canada or elsewhere, the voices door to this country open, but I know the not-for-profitpublic service sector. raising them are rarely sensitive to the that to do so, we've got tomake sure that The discussion will turn first to the distinctions between legitimate refu- we close the back d~or."~ forces that are shaping the service net- gees who come by some troublesome Much of Caplan's term has been works. It will then consider thenetwork means or others. That is particularly spent addressing reactions tothe illegal concept in action. Finally, it will address true if MPs and party officials see an ships smuggling people in cargo con- the implications of the move to interde- opportunity for political gaininexploit- tainer, but these high profile events did pendent service networks. ing public fear and anger. It is all the not mark the beginning of the reaction The Critical Forces Shaping more troublesome if such events are al- against refugees and immigrants. By Refugee Service Networks lowed to fuel already growing anti-im- the mid-1990s popular media outlets Canada has increasingly felt a number migrant sentiment. And although reported changing attitudes across of forces that have been shapingrefugee Caplan has stressed the government's Canada, and particularly in the West. policy, the resources available to serve intention to maintain its immigration Clearly, Canada is not alone in facing such political pressures. Indeed, it is new arrivals and the context within target at 1% of population and its expec- following trends that have been devel- which they and their service providers tations for 25,000 refugee arrivals in oping for some time in Europe and the must liveand work. These are dynamics 2000, she has repeatedly found it neces- United States. In these countries, the that have been building in many other sary to respond to fears and frustra- humanitarian focus for refugee policy countries, most notably the E.U.nations tions. has lost ground to the economic, foreign and the United States, even before some I understand the concerns of many policy, and domestic politics foci and of the most recent changes in Canada. Canadians about these recent marine the general trend has been the attempt And while Canada remains steadfast in arrivals. I want to make it clear that to view refugee issues as matters to be declaring its commitment to the hu- I deplore the actions of human smug- dealt with abroad, miles away from manitarian principles that have made it glers. I am also deeply concerned one's own country, if possible, or as a world leader in this field, it would be about the increasing number of peo- borderproblems if ne~essary.~This ef- unrealistic to suggest that these politi- ple who turn to the criminal element fort to shift both the focus and locus of cal, economic, and legal stresses have in choosing to enter Canada surrep- refugee policy is clear despite long- not brought increased stress to the effort titiously and illegally. . . . standing commitments by these coun- to provide refugee services. Criminal actions such as these only tries to the 1951 United Nations Political Pressures to Emphsize confirm the need to change our leg- Convention Relating to the Status of Enforcement and Protection of islation. Early this year, the govern- Refugees7 and the 1967ProtocolRelat- ing to the Status of Refugees.$ Borders ment proposed new legislative There is no doubt that the smuggling directions on immigration and refu- There have been three obvious im- incidents in recent years have captured gee policy. These directions include pactsthatemerged from this trend. First, agreat dealof attention. Itwas one thing enhancing our ability to intercept il- there has been atendency to discourage themovementof refugees to these coun- when authorities apprehended small legal migrants abroad, stiffer penal- tries. Second, policymak-ing has tended numbers of people attempting illegal ties for those who contravene our to emphasize a law enforcement effort entries at various border points. How- laws, and the increased use of deten- aimed at blocking illegal immigrants in ever, the situation took on a new and tion of pe~ple.~ ominous quality when Canadian and which refugees have come to be seen as U.S. officials found people in cargo con- These pressures have also meant that another type of immigrant or removing tainers at West Coast ports. This oc- many government statements about those who seem tohave slippedthrough curred shortly after the highly refugees begin with a recognition of the thenet. Third,this focus on borders and publicized cases in which Canadian importance of the immigrant commu- beyond, and the increasing importance agencies, civilian and military, were nity and the humanitarian commitment of law enforcement has tended to sup- called in to track and then to deal with to assist refugees, but are frequently port increased attention to resource vessels, better described as hulks than qualified. "Canadian are compassion- needs for enforcement with decreasing as ships, carrying immigrantsbound for ate andgenerous. That hasnot changed. concern for theneeds of refugee service British Columbia. Since these events But Canadians willnot be taken advan- programmes.

Refige, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 15 The Economic Pressures Of those who felt the economy was im- will reduce the general fund transfer Stressful Times, Market Pressures, proving said that immigrants from payments to $90 million. This is a fur- and Declining Support for the Asia, the West Indies and other parts ther 30% reduction from the 1998 of the Third World were bad for level. And it will be implemented in Social Safe0 Net Canada.lo one year." As witnessed around the world at other Second, the dramatic economic cut- In addition to these cuts in support times and in many places, economics back decisions taken by Ottawa in re- for socialprogrammes spending in the played a role in the growing tensions sponse to the economic challenges provinces and at the local government around refugee policy, including settle- meant reduced support for a wide vari- level, Ottawa cut budgets in federalmin- ment services. Hard times often breed ety of social programmes, including istries, including in Citizenship and Irn- increases in scape-goating. Certainly, those servingrefugees and immigrants. migration Canada (CIC). Planned the United States provides a particu- The federal government dramatically spendingbetween 1998-99 and 2001-02 larly glaring history of this kind of be- cut a variety of programmes, including is scheduled to declineby 9.6% in nomi- haviour, but it is not the only place significant reductions in transfer pay- nal dollars while continuing work lev- where refugees and other immigrants ments to the provinces. So significant els at approximately the samenumber of have been falsely accused of taking jobs were the federal rollbacks that even a immigrants and refugees. If one as- away fromnatives. Of course, as Minis- major effort in 1999 to put funds back sumes a very conservative 3% inflation ter Caplan has reminded Canadians: into medical care through the Canada figure, the real dollar impact would be One reason for this tolerance and Health and Social Transfer (CHST) still more than 17.3% reduction over that compassion is that we are a nation of did not restore transfer payments for same period.12 These cuts come at a time i-igants and refugees. Consider these programmes to quite the level they when CIC is asked to be more respon- that today, forty-six members of the sive, faster, and more active than ever House of Commons were born out- had been despite the return of a better financial situation. before. Since this was written, funds side of Canada. Our new Governor were added to theCICbudgetbut largely In the face of those cuts, provincial General, Adrienne Clarkson, came to for enforcement. Canada as a refugee during the Sec- governments in turn trimmed many of And, of course, all of these cuts hit ond World War. their programmes and in some cases hardest those at the end of the financial those provincial changes were even My grandparents were immigrants, pipeline, the refugees and the NGOs more drastic than the changes in Ot- and so were many of yours. Indeed, that provide their services. The Cana- apart from our aboriginal popula- tawa. Localschoolboards, likeOttawa/ Carleton debated resolutions to the pro- dian Council for Refugees (CCR) tion, ALL Canadians are descended summed up the situation as follows: from immigrants or refugees. It's vincial ministry asking for reconsidera- really just a matter of ~eniority.~ tion of major cuts in special education In recent years, the economic climate and increasing restrictions on eligibil- and the deficit reduction priorities have had their impact But the anti-refugee and anti-immi- ity for English as a second language grant sentiment predated the events on refugees, always among the most programmes, effectively cutting those vulnerable when time comes for cut that have taken Caplan's attention programmes. In British Columbia, the since she acquired her portfolio. The back. Newlv arrived in Canada and Union of Municipalities published a withvery limited resources, refugees economic stresses of the 1980s and study by an independent firm on the and other immigrants have faced 1990s had two important conse- relationship between federal cuts to reduced services from the Immigra- quences. First, they have played a role provinces and provincial cuts to mu- tion Department, cuts in social assist- in a constrained but real reaction nicipalities. It found that by any meas- ance and job training programmes, against generous refugee policies. In ure, the cutsby the provinces were even reduced medical coverage and legal aid coverage, increased fees in many January 1993, MacClean's reported the more severe than the cuts from Ottawa. results of aMaclean's/CTV survey, in- areas . . . . Organizations offering dicating that " regardless of age, in- In 1996, BC Municipalities received services to refugees and immigrants come or level of education," four of five $209 million in general fund transfer have had to respond to these new payments from the Province. This difficulties faced by their clients, at respondents considered increased im- the same time that they are them- migration "'bad,' 'very bad' or simply 'a was cut to $129 million in 1997 and 1998 as a result of the changes an- selves often suffering funding cut- fact of life.'" And, thereport added that backs.13 there was a clear connection between nounced by the Province at the end of those attitudes and the state of the 1996. This is a 38% reduction in the A New and Even More Demanding economy. level of transfer payments. Legal Context for Refugee Service Thirty-two per cent of those who In December 1998, the Province an- Agencies were pessimistic about the economy nounced a further reduction in mu- had negative opinions of visible mi- nicipal transfer payments of $39 The other element that has been dy- norities, while only 26 per cent of million, to be effective in 1999. This namic and of major importancefor refu-

16 Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) gee service agencies is the changing le- justice concerns as well as information tion, but by the executive orders issued gal context. There have been two critical sharing and cooperation among police by Presidents Reagan, Bush and dimensions to the changes in this field. and judicial officials in the signatory Clint~n.~~The U.S. government ulti- First, there have been the increasing countries. They also required harmoni- mately entered into a consent decree in demands for intensified enforcement zation of refugee policies to block what the case of American Baptist Churches v. efforts. Second, Canada has been in a was termed asylum shopping. With this Thornburgh?' effectively admitting dis- major effort at policy change. approach of 1992, the E.U. countries en- crimination in Central American asy- The earlier discussion of the re- tered into the Dublin Convention in lum cases and agreeing to reconsider sponse to the British Columbia events 1990 which incorporated most of the el- virtually all Salvadoran and Guatema- underscored the government's empha- ementsof the Schengen agreements and lan asylum applicants during the pe- sis on enforcement and attempts to addednew elements. Most recently, the riod. In 1996, anew immigrationstatute speed up resulting adjudications,lead- effortto ratlfy and implement the terms was adopted that granted much greater ing to faster exclusions if they are of the Treaty of Amsterdam signed in discretion to Immigration and Naturali- deemed appropriate. The pressures to 1997, promises for more E.U. institu- zation Service officers. It provided for intenslfy these enforcementefforts were tional control over refugee policy. expedited summary asylum deter- exacerbated by U.S. criticisms that Ca- To many refugees, Europe was erect- minations at the border with little or no nadian policies and lax enforcement ing legal walls around itself. The E.U. judicial review 22 EventheU.S. Justice efforts had made it a haven for terrorists. countries served notice that they would Department declined to implement Even Canadian voices have been heard invoke the first asylum principle and some of the more extreme provisions of supporting such charges.14 the safe country of origin doctrine not the statute and to provide more protec- However, long before the recent pres- only to exclude claimants, but also to tions than were required.23 At this suresbeganbuilding in order to tighten exclude applicants even before their point, the best that can be said is that the Canadian policy and practices for refu- petitions were resolved.16 The trend U.S. had gone back to the ad hoc ap- gees and immigrants, the trend in that has also been to permit expedited deter- proach to refugees that existed decades direction was well established. The mination procedures with fewer legal ago. Not surprisingly, the laws and pressures for change came both from protections for asylum seekers and practices adopted by the European na- within Canada and from developments greater discretion for officials. The tions and the U.S. have sent signals that in other countries. working party on asylum procedures of the doors are closed in these locations, International trends toward restrict- the International Association of Refu- thus making Canada an even more ating asylum and speeding up exclusions gee Law Judges has examined the use of tractive destination than ever before. of those who domanage to enter borders such procedures and found that while However, Canada has moved in the have been underway for some time. Well they may have the benefit of speed and same direction as its American and before the Maastricht Treaty went into efficiency, they pose serious risks that Europeanallies. The contemporaryline force, E.U. countries had been moving the rights of asylum seekers will be sac- of policy development can be traced toward more restrictive refugee law and rificed in the bargain.17 back to the late 1980s when Immigration legal process. Ironically, the changing The U.S. case also demonstrated simi- Minister Barbara McDougall an- laws governing border control can be lar trends. Although the United States nounced a major move to tighten the traced back to the time of the efforts by was a major supporter of the 1951 Con- system, including effortsto speedup the E.U. countries to open their borders to vention and the 1967Protoco1,it did not status determination process and clear one another in order to ease commercial formally join these agreements until a large backlog of pending cases. It was relations. The Netherlands, Luxem- 1968 and did not adopt a comprehen- this round of policymaking that pro- duced C-55 in 1989 and resulted in the bourg and Belgiumbeganeffortsto open sive Refugee Act until 1980.18 Part of the creation of the Immigration and Refugee their borders to each other in 1960. original impetus for passage of the 1980 Board (IRB). Then came C-86 in 1992 France and Germany entered into a legislation came from the sad history of U.S. behaviour in Southeast Asia and which further trimmed the hearing similar agreement in 1984 and then process and constrained appeals. joined their predecessors in an accord the problems that emerged in dealing with refugees following the American These measures were intended not only signed in Schengen, Luxembourg to streamlinebut also to restrict refugee which have since come to be known as pull-out.19 But before the ink was dry on the new admissions and the percentage of ap- the Schengen Agreements.15 Eventu- provals did fall, according to the then ally, over a dozen countries, some of law, theU.S. was moving torestrict entry and discriminating among applicant IRB GeneralCounselGerald Stobo, from which were E.U. nations and others, groups on political and according to 76% in 1989 to 48% by late 1993." Citi- joined together in the SchengenConven- many critics, racial grounds. Tensions zenship and Immigration Canada was tion and the Schengen Implementation grew over the handling of Cuban and created in 1994 and efforts have been Agreement. These agreementsinvolved Haitian asylum seekers that were ulti- made since then to reevaluate and re- cooperation on cross-border criminal mately addressed not through legisla- place the existing citizenship law.

- Refige, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 17 Minister Lucienne Robillard ap- rized in three words: Faster, but fair. premium on the ability of newly arrived pointed a Legislative Review Advisory Or as Peter Showler, the current Immi- refugee claimants to be fully ready to Group inNovember of 1996 to review the gration and Refugee Board Chair, has make their legal claim, assume knowl- existing Immigration Act. Its January put it: Fair,but faster.30Onemight sug- edge of the requirements for doing so 1998 report, entitled Not Just Numbers: A gest that the order of the words matters and in truth demand rapid access to Canadian Framework for Future Immigra- more than a little. From the perspec- legal assistance. However, these expec- tionIz5 included 172 recommendations. tive of the refugee claimant, it is fieto tations come at a time when legal aid After a year of consultationand planning, reduce the waiting time for decisions has been limited. Moreover, with in- CIC issued its white paper Building on a and to speed up family reunification. creasingly stringent requirements to StrongFoundation for the21st Centu y: Di- On the other hand, moves such as in- qualify for services in some provinces, rectionsfor Immigration and Refugee Policy creasing pressure for greater identity service providers require greater legal and Legislati~n.~~Several things were documentation at entry, expanding counselling in order to assist their cli- clear. First, the government had heard the use of detention, speeding up the ents. complaints about the need to reduce de- hearing and decision process, stream- The Move to Service Networks lays in the refugee status determination lining review processes, and tighten- From Multiple Loosely Coupled process, calls regarding the need for ing judicial review suggest that the Organizations: A Transformation greater attention to family reunification "faster" is likely to prevail over the and demands that provisions be enacted "fair.', That was, as noted above, pre- More Real Than Apparent that would permit CIC to respond toemer- cisely what the InternationalAssocia- These legal, financial, and political gency situations abroad that called for tion of RefugeeLaw Judgesconcluded changes have all had significant effects rapid removal to Canada of threatened has been happening based upon an not only on refugees and refugee claim- persons. At the same time, there is no examination of the expedited proce- ants but also on the organizations that doubt that enforcement had become the duresnow in use in anumber of coun- seek to serve them. One of the results of central feature of the new policymaking tries. The new provisions of the these increasinglychallenging features efforts. Whatever themotive forces, as the Citizenship Act proposed as C-16not of the refugee service environment has white paper pointed out: "No compre- only move to implement some of these been an increasing pressure, often un- hensive review of the legislation has been streamlining suggestions, but also spoken, to alter the structure and char- undertaken during the past two decades. grant new authority to revoke citizen- acter of refugee service delivery from a The Act has been amended, on an ad hoc ship (Sec. 16), block citizenship on relatively loosely coupled collection of basis, more than 30 times, resulting in a broad assertions of public interest largely independent organizations to- complex patchwork of legislative provi- (Sec. 21) or national security interest ward ahighly stressed servicenetwork. sions that lack coherence and transpar- (Sec. 23) by the Minister. It also ex- It is therefore extremely important to ency. The logic and key principles of the pands the list of those ineligible to consider the general trend in human Act have become difficult to discern for apply for citizenship (Sec. 28). Since services toward the service network both immigrants and Canadian~."~~In- this was written the new refugee law model, the realities of networkmanage- deed, the governmenteventually tabled a C-31 has been tabled as well. ment and the implications of life in a comprehensive legislativeproposal to re- It must be said that even with all highly stressed service network for refu- write the Citizenship Act in November these steps, Canada has not moved gee services. 1999 known as C-16 that embodied the nearly as dramatically to block or chal- For some time, NGOs were created concerns noted above. lenge asylum seekers as theU.S. or the and evolved relatively independently. It became clear from the report and in E.U. Even so, there can be little doubt Many grew from small groups that came the proposed legislation that enforce- about the general direction of the ef- together, often with some or most of their ment and the emphasis on exclusion of forts to change the law and the process members as volunteers. Others devel- unworthy claimants are dominant by which it is administered in an en- oped from church or civil groups that themes. Thus, for example, while the forcement mode with the emphasison decided to develop a project group to chapter of the white paper entitled "Refu- protecting the nation against criminal sponsor or work with refugees. Still, gee Protection" presents two issues that smuggling of persons, detecting and others emerged from refugee and immi- are associated with added protections for rapidly excluding illegitimate at- grant communities themselves as those refugees, the other six highlighted issues tempts to claim refugee status and who had been in Canada long enough to that had to do with enforcement and ex- building the legal capacity to appre- feel settled themselves tried to help oth- clusion of unqualified applicant^.^^ The hend and remove anyone perceived to ers who were facing the same daunting other chapters reveal a similar emphasis, have made it through the process but experience. as do theMinisterrs speechesthroughout who later is determined to have been These groups became important the fall of 1999 and into the beginning of undesirable. parts of a service system made up of 2000.29Her speeches emphasize that the At a minimum, these processes in loosely coupled organizations,many of government's approach can be summa- Canada, the U.S. and Europe, place a which focused onvery different kinds of

18 Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) clients, needs and services. Many of the NGOs and local government agencies concept that conjures up apicture of two programmes they provided developed that actually delivered the services. StiU, parties deciding to cooperate for a dis- because of needs recognized in the the relationships were often relatively crete purpose. Refugee services had schools, by medical practitioners, po- loose and informal, in part at least to become a network and given the in- lice agencies, child welfare officials, or allow room for thenot-for-profitsto use creasing interdependencies among the employment and economic develop- their creativity and special knowledge participants, it could not be considered ment stakeholders. Their missions var- without undue bureaucratic baggage loosely coupled. ied dramatically and their funding and from government. If there was a service organization were equally diverse. In gap, these organizations were often able What is a Service Network and Why some cases, they formed relatively sim- to locate resources, modest though they Does It Matter? ple partnerships with these agencies, may have been, to pickup the slack. And, There is more involved in the rise of serv- involving pilot programmes or modest since the NGO workers and volunteers ice networks than accidents of political service agreements. were so often very committed people, and economic history. Popularized by However, as service demands in- they dig deep to find innovative solu- international corporate operations, the creased and resources declined, pres- tions to the service issues innew ways to idea of network operations has been to sures grew not only concerning how to build trust, better communicationswith achieve maximum efficiencyand mini- meet new levels of service demand but local agencies like police, school princi- mum capitalization requirements by also about survival itself. Pressures pals, or health care providers and more creatingnetworks to produce and mar- grew to compete more vigorously for effective mechanisms for eliciting in- ket a product or service rather than cre- grants and contracts. However, that volvement by parents and others in the ating a single organization to do the job. often meant making one's organization immigrant communities who have so It is also referred to in some settings as look more and more like what the re- much to offer. Indeed, it was in this way the concept of the "hollow corpora- quests for proposals seek. As groups that some groups began to expand their ti~n"~~or in a more recent manifesta- scrambled to look more like the fewer operations and build their organization "the virtual c~rporation.'"~ funding sources desired, it appeared as tions. NGOs sought toremain relatively One of the earlier and most com- though there was more redundancy, a informal and loosely coupled both in monly cited examples is Nike, the ath- justification for further reductions. terms of their internal operations and letic shoe company.34 The idea is that a Given the fact that much of the soft their relationships to other service pro- company contracts with a firm in one money had relatively brief funding cy- viders. Management was often not re- country tomake the shoes, with another cles, the scrambling became less of a garded as particularly important, for to handle distribution, another to do sporadic activity than an ongoing chal- decision making processes remaining, marketing, and others to provide other lenge. It also meant that organizations to one degree or another, essentially col- necessary services. In such a network, had to consider more carefully what one must manage not only each of the laborative. they could and couldnot deliver. From organizations in the network, some- As financial,political, legal demands the government perspective, there has times referred to as nodes, but also the and pressures mounted, the need for all been greater pressure to eliminate re- linkages among thenodes as well. If any dundancy, enhance efficiency and en- attention to management has grown. unit in the network breaks down or if sure greater accountability. Given these Service organizationshave found them- any of the relationships among units is conditions, pressures and expecta- selves competing for available grants blocked or fails, then the networkman- tions, the tendency has been to move, and contracts. Unfortunately, eachnew ager must find a way to fill the gap and deliberately or de facto, toward a net- funding arrangement has brought new repair the system. Thus, the network is work model of service delivery with a obligations that have added more based on mutual interdependencies. variety of sigruficant consequences for stress. The irony was that at the same The issue is not just the needs of the firm all concerned. time that service providers saw them- whose logo goes on the product, but the The Critical Realities of Network selves in one way or another as competi- interests of all of the other participants tors, they were also becoming more and Management in the process as well. The shoe manu- more interdependent and governments facturer is dependent not only on the There was a time when citizens often were becoming more interdependent looked to Governments to provide serv- corporation that purchased the shoes ices directly. However, the range of serv- with these service providers as welI3l for its product line, but the distributors, ice demands, constraints on the size of Government could not provide directly marketers, and others without whose ministries and agencies and a desire for the required services. Few NGOs pos- contribution the buyer will fail and be a variety of approaches to service deliv- sessed the slack resources to fill in gaps unable to pay for the product or buy ery led to a growing tendency of govem- if other service providers failed or termi- more. Hence the maintenance of the ments to form relationships, often nated programmes. No longer could critical linkages among the units as well termed public/private partnerships, to governments, federal or provincial, as the skills that the managers have support the missions of the various think in terms of simple partnerships, a within each of the units are essential to

Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 19 the success of the entire network and all cutting the size of government minis- mostly intra-organizational inspired of those who participate in it. tries and budgets, privatizing to the management perspective that has The advantages of networks seemed greatest degreepossible and employing guided public administration for to be that they allow the organization as many private sector management more than a century is simply inap- that seeks a network operation two im- tools as possible.35 And these moves plicable for multi-organizational, portant options. First and most impor- were supported by advocates of what multi-governmental, and multi- tant for many firms, is that this mode of has been termed the New Public sectoral forms of governing.40 operationallows the networkbuilder to Management.36Although contracting And they added that "there are many shed costs, both operational and capi- out for goods and services was an im- more questions than answers in net- tal. The network is built with a series of portant part of governance for many work~nanagement."~~Inaddition to the contracts with each of the other units in years, it dramaticallyexpanded during planning, organizing, staffing, budget- the network. Each contractoris respon- the 1980s and 1990s to the point where ing and other traditional functions sible for its own plant and equipment. governments have become dependent within their own organizations, man- More than that, it is responsible for the upon not-for-profit and for-profit or- agers innetworksmust alsobe engaged recruitment, training, management and ganizations to deliver most of its serv- in such specializedactivities as "activa- compensation of its people. Indeed, ices and in which governments no tion,", "framing," "mobilizing," and even where a firm had capabilities in- longer have the capability of delivering "synthesizing."" At a minimum, it is house, executives often chose to spin any significant portion of many of the essential to recognize the level of sophis- those units off into separatebusinesses services it is mandated to make tication and capabilities necessary to to shed costs and manage responsibili- available.37The hope was that these networkmanagement. However, many ties. Taken far enough, this allows an public servicenetworks would bring the of the organizations involved in net- organization to trim its costs to themini- same kinds of benefits as their private works donot even have really effective mum by slimming down internally to sector counterparts. contract management capabilities, let perform only those functionsthat could alone the more sophisticated require- not be contracted out. Hence the firm Caution! Network Management Is ments of networkmanagement. Build- was enhancing its own productivity Diferent ing that kind of capability not only and efficiency by retainingand consurn- However, some of the early advocates means assigning people now attending ing only those resources absolutely nec- for network operations failed to recog- to direct service or direct supervision to essary to its operation. The efficiencies nize some of the challenges that such an new tasks,but requires the development for the other units in the system are approach entailed. Even those in the of new skills or the hiring of people with achieved by using the marketplace to private sector found that the model the kinds of specialized knowledge control contractor costs. This of course posed "real risks," including the loss of necessary to meet the evolving chal- assumes the existence of a competitive control, dependenceupon other organi- lenges posed by network operations. market in whatever goods or services zations that might "drop the ball," the There are other challenges that are required. danger that a firm could become in- more complex for the public sector net- The second advantagecitedby advo- volved with organizations that could works as well. Since the programmes cates for network operations is flexibil- tarnish its reputation, theneed to share involved are sometimesmandated serv- ity. At its best, the network relies upon sensitive information and themore com- ices for needy clients, network failures all its units to use their creativity to ad- plex the entanglements of the network, mean that someone must be able to step dress problems as they arise, as opposed the more likely it is that participating in rapidly. Where government does not to an integrated organization that must units might "stumble."38 Above all, the have the capability to do that, it must be find solutionsfor all problems that come networkmode of operationmeant"new able to find alternate providers, which through the doors. If the contractors are challenges for management."39 is not always easy. For one thing, there unable to meet the new challenges, then If the operation of tight networks may be important controls to be satis- one could simply drop that contractor posed difficulties for private sector fied concerning access to and use of and enter into an agreement with anew groups, it meant even more complicated confidential client information, particu- one. Supply and demand would pre- challenges for public service organiza- larly where children or health care is- sumably generate new potential con- tions. Looking back on early experi- sues are involved as is common in tractors with the necessary capabilities ences with network efforts, Agranoff refugee services. and with employees possessing the and McGuire concluded: Of course, the ability to take advan- needed skill sets to deal with the chang- One realization is becoming increas- tage of the claimed flexibility of net- ing environment. ingly clear: the capacities required to works requires that there be multiple The public sector counterpart of these operate successfully in network set- suppliers available. However, as net- developmentsiswhat has been referred tings are different from the capabili- worksbecome tighter andmore interde- to as the "Hollow Government" pushed ties needed to succeed at managing a pendent (some might say more efficient) by politicians around the world bent on single organization. The classical, there are often relative few alternates

Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) available. This is one of the reasons that Leaders are stressed to spend more tance of networks by design and not those who have studied the matter have time on boundary spanning and fund- accident, the importance of capacity found that networks work best in re- raising at a time when the stresses building for all participants, the chal- source rich environments, not the other within their organizationsrequire more lenges of governance of the network, the way around.43Resource poor environ- hands-on effort. If those within the or- need to address resources in the net- ments can increase competition among ganization or their board of directors work, the criticalimportanceof account- some network participants which, in feel that management and leadership ability and the internal impacts onNGO turn, can undermine the levels of trust are no longer attentive to concerns at the service providers in the network. that are so essential to the effective op- point of service and within their organi- Networks as Deliberate Choices erationof thenetwork. Unfortunately,it zation, that situation can fuel tension has generally been the case in Canada and evenconflict within these NGOS.~ If government wants to have refugee in recent years that public service net- These are only some of the reasons servicesprovided by anetwork instead works are anythingbut resource rich. why public service networks are more of a group of loosely coupled NGOpart- Clearly, networks in the public serv- complex than their private sector ana- ners, that decision is best made forth- ice arena, particularly in the world of logs. With these differences inmind, let rightly and should not be the result of refugee services, are very different from us turn to some of the more specific im- uncontrolled policy drift. On the one for-profit private sector networks. For plications of increasing pressure to hand, such networks cannot work well one thing, they must respond to values move into tightly interdependent serv- if the approach to their management is other than economic efficiency and their ice networks in the area of refugee serv- merely to seek to turn NGOs into stand- success cannot be measured by profits. ices. ard units of ministries. The strength- of In addition to efficiency, public sector refugee service organizations in operations must meet obligations of The Implications of Networks for Refugee Services Canada is that they are very different in economy, effectiveness, equity, respon- nature, function and operation. On the There are anumber of implications that siveness and responsibility. other hand, the structure of networks Moreover, the people who provide flow from the trends discussed thus far. The discussion of network issues to this and the processes by which they func- the human resources that are at the very ti~nmatter.~~At some point, it becomes core of refugee service delivery are in a point or the more pointed observations to follow arenot intended to say that the important for all of the participants in very different situation from private sec- the service networks to understand tor employees. Many refugee service idea of networks should be abandoned what the networks are, who is in the organizations depend upon volunteer or that efforts should not be made to programmes to provide important ele- ensure that refugee service systems network, how it is structured and what ments of their programmes and also as should be less than efficient. After all, formal or informal understandings a recruitment device for future employ- there are increasing demands and de- guide the operation of the network. ees. Development and operation of creasing resources to provide critically In some instances, of course, the net- such volunteer programmes requires important services. And it is unlikely works are relatively formal and are es- signtfrcant investment of time and en- that we willmovebackward to a time of tablished in part at least by legislation, ergy because volunteer work is a con- relatively autonomous organizations regulations, grants, or contracts. In cept that is not well known in many operating in loosely coupled partner- other instances, they are much more other countries. Employees may be ships. It is, however, necessary that we informal. For example, while police paid, but they are oftenexpected to pro- come to grips with what is required to departments are oftennot formally part lead and operate service networks. It is vide far more hours and effort than a of a network that centres on school also important not to push the network similar employeein a private firm. They based programmes, law enforcement are expected to domultiple duty inboth model too far in ways that donot recognize the differencesbetween the private, agenciescan often be helpful to or prob- direct service delivery and also in or- lematic for the refugee community in a ganizational maintenance and sup- for-profit model and the realities of refu- variety of ways. The object of attempting port. Moreover, they are expected to gee service delivery in the public arena devote a sigxuficant amount of time and that is not about profit that is not solely tobe clear inunderstanding networks is effort to participation in community concerned with efficiency. not to formalize them to the point where programmes and projects within the The following preliminary observa- they lose their flexibility, but to ensure immigrant and refugee communities tions about refugee service networks are that it is clear that there is a network and they serve. All of these challenges shape not meant tobeexhaustive. Rather, they to be clear how it works, or for that mat- the notion of leadership and manage- are intended to indicate why it is impor- ter does not work. ment of the refugee service agencies, the tant for all those who participate inrefu- Of course, if the networks are to be other agencies, local governments and gee services to think further about the understood and their operation sup- ministries that depend upon them, com- realities of life in the network. These ported, the focus of effort must be clear. plex and challenging. illustrative issues include the impor- It is unlikely that the network chal-

Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 21 lenges can be met and the basic goals of must accept responsibilityfor a signifi- door."48However, anyone who has par- refugee services can be achieved if the cant part of the capacity building effort. ticipated in meetings involving focus on decision making is shifted pri- Just as the government must provide schools, refugee service agencies, pro- marily to law enforcement concerns resources fornetworkmanagement, so vincial authorities and city officials . such as efforts to block immigrant smug- do ministries, both federal and provin- knows that the representatives of each gling or illegal refugee claims. If the cial must be provided with the types and of these organizationscome to the meet- refugee networks become confused amountsof resources needed to perform ing with a sense of his or her specific about the primary purpose, and focus their roles. It is not possible to push mission and of the interests of the or- only on stamping out ailments in the more demands and large amounts of ganization each represents in addition system, they may succeed in curing the resources through ministries that have to their common concern fortheneeds of refugees. disease only to have killed or seriously been cut to the point where they no longer have the capacity to perform their While the lessons of the private sector weakened the patient, thelarger society networks may be of some assistance, that has benefited so much from the base functions, let alone new obligations. The first casualty of that kind of such issues as accountability and the strength, intelligence, and creativity critical importanceof high levels of trust contributed by refugees and other new behaviour is decreasing support from those ministries to the NGOs for the between clients and service providers arrivals. delivery of services. The second willbe make the refugee service context very Capacity Building: An Essential loss of accountability. different. Among other reasons, the Element for Ensuring Efective kinds of incentive systemsthat are often Governance is a Critical Fact of used to manage private operations are Service Network Operations Life: Whether It is Recognized very different from the public setting. If the object is to create and rely upon a as Such or Not For all these reasons, it is important to network to provide public services, then consider how the networks in which it is essential to consciously determine Attention must also be paid to the gov- one operates is governed. That means who will provide the resources for net- ernance of such networks. As Milward not only a consideration of cooperative work maintenance and the manage- puts it: efforts, but also a willingness to con- ment capabilities to ensure its The fact that a hollow state relies on sider what happens when conflicts effectiveness. It is in everyone's best networks is a weakness as well as a arise. It also requires thought about the interest to ensure that all of the units strength. . . Networks, the mainstay kinds of issues that each of the partici- participating in the network have the of the hollow state, are inherently pants in the refugee service network requisite capabilities. In relatively weaker forms of social action. Be- brings to the table. tightly linked networks with high levels cause of the need to coordinate joint of interdependency, the entirenetwork production, networks are inherently The Nagging Problem of Resource is only as strong as its weakest compo- unstable over time. Managers con- Scarcity and Interdependence tinually are faced with problems that nent. can lead to instability negotiating, One of the seriousproblems facing refu- In particular, there are severalfactors coordinating, monitoring, holding gee servicenetworks is the difficulty of that require attention in capacitybuild- third parties accountable and writing resource shortages amidst increasing ing for networkoperations. First, public and enforcing contracts . . P7 demands for services. The kinds of cuts service networkmanagementrequires a in federalfunding, in transfer payments fairly high degree of sophistication. In Networks donot respond we11 to sim- to the provinces and reductions in sup- the first place, the backbone of most ple overhead controls. Besides, the crea- port at the provincial level for local serv- networks is a set of contracts or grants in tivity and drive that make NGOs such ice providers and local units of the nature of contracts. Few organiza- constructive partners for the provision government have presented precisely tions will claim that they have substan- of public services can easily be lost if the kinds of circumstances, that those tial contract management capabilities. they are not afforded an active role in the who study networks suggest, are coun- Beyond that, while each participant in governanceof the network. terproductive. They are counterproduc- thenetworkmust manage its own inter- All this having been said, there are tive in part because they provide nal operations, each must also partici- power relationshipsamong the units of incentives for NGOs to compete with pate in the management of the network anetwork and not simply from govern- one another for resources in the form of and networks are subject to a host of ment to NGOs. Those who have studied more limited number of grants and con- uncertainties and c~ntingencies.~~ the matter find that governance issues tracts. Moreover, where the funds for The resources tobuild the capacity to relating to power are often overlooked existing grants or contracts are reduced, function in networks must come from because it is assumed that the very idea providers are faced with a need to seek somewhere. While associations of pro- of networks implies mutual coopera- a larger number of grants or contractsto vider organizations can support some tion and the assumption that special yield the same level of funding, which is of the work, it is clear that governments interests are to be "checked at the essentialif those organizations are to be

22 Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) able to support their paid staff and their source needs are increased when an en- for the operation of the network, as the operations. Of course, each of those forcement oriented emphasis is under- recent debates over the operation of Hu- grants or contracts comes with adminis- taken, since it requires more application man Resources Development Canada trative costs and reporting obligations materials and more record keeping to indicate. as well as the need to perform the spe- ensure that applicants are truly quali- With regard to ministries, one of the cific activities set forth in the funding fied to receive the services and to protect problems is that the nature of discus- agreement. Thus, the NGO is leveraged against misuse of the system. Hence, the sions of accountability within the con- to produce more for the same amount of costs of service delivery in the network text of the New Public Management funding or less. Not only that, but the increase for the same level of services. have become more complex generally, organizationmust find a way to release Of course, one of these network-wide quite apart from the additional issues officers to do the additional workon the resource issues has to do with the prob- presented by service deliverynetworks. funding applications as well as admin- lem of network management. For rea- It is clear that while ministerial respon- istration of the additional programmes sons noted earlier, successful network sibility is avery positive concept that is if the applications are successful. operations require capacity building. central to Canadian democracy, there There is the additional problem that That capacity must include the where- seem to have been changes in the way the issue of resources in a network con- withal to conduct network governance, that this traditional mechanism of ac- text is not simply a question of the re- to carry out essential coordination and countability operates in the contempo- sourcesavailable to a particular service buffering among network units. Then raryenvir~nrnent.~~Beyond that there provider organization. It also has to do there is the need for the capacity in the has been an increasing tendency in with the cumulativeresources available network to handle accountability con- Canada to employ legal tools of ac- to the network. Thus, the dramatic re- cerns which become increasingly com- countability. It is ironic that during the ductions in funds from the provincial plex in network operations. very period when Canadians were in- level in British Columbia to municipali- The Accountability Challenge creasingly using the courts to test gov- ties primarily affects police and fire ernment policy and behaviour, efforts agencies. That,in turn,means that there Virtually everyonewho has studiednet- havebeenmade to restrict access by refu- are fewer training dollars and less time works agrees that accountability in gee claimants and other new arrivals to available for programmes that refugee such settings is particularly difficult. call upon the courts for substantive ju- groups would like to operate with those There are severalreasons. For one thing, dicial review. In the midst of this set of emergency services units. Similarly, the it has been argued that "The leakage of dynamics, administrativereform efforts issue of resources in Ontario includes accountability in the hollow state and called for market oriented tools of ac- educational funding cuts, changes in the lack of government capability or countability to be employed, such as English as a Second Language (ESL) willingness to effectively manage its outcome measures, customer satisfac- programme eligibilitythat in effect are contracts with nonprofits is a major tion assessments and broad perform- programme cuts and the crisis in the problem."49 This issue of "leakage" is ance management techniques. How- health care programmes, as well as re- a concept popularized by Bardach and ever, there is a good deal to be done to strictions on access to certain kinds of Lesser who argue that the fact the "leak- consider how these various devices benefit programmes for applicants at age of authority" that occurs whennet- apply to public service networks. certain stages of the refugee claimant works are created and operated process. All of these funding issues af- collaboratively offers flexibility, but it Internal Impacts on Refugee Service fect, for example, multicultural liaison also makes accountability much more Organizations officers based in the schools. complex.50Because authority and re- All of these factors add up to produce a The ironic fact is that a reduction in sponsibility are parcelled out within variety of impacts within individual available services can intensify the pres- the network, it is difficult to get a clear refugee service organizations. The facts sures within refugee families and ulti- picture of how well the network is per- of life in service networks add stresses mately produce greater demand if the forming as well as the effectiveness of as executives spend more time on family moves into crisis or if the chil- individual units within the network. boundary spanning obligations and dren begin to manifestbehavioural dif- The NGOs within the network are ac- funding issues which takes them away ficulties in school or even find countable not to only the governments from the organization's primary mis- themselves in trouble with law enforce- and private funding agencies at all lev- sion, straining relationships with work- ment authorities. It is important to con- els who provide resources, but also to ers and sometimes with boards of sider not only the resource base of a their boards of directors, to the other directors.52 It is often the case that net- particular unit of anetwork, but also the member units of the network and ulti- works expect that member organiza- general resource picture of the network mately to the refugees and their families tions will, as one private sector network relative to its responsibilities and the for whom the entire system was created advocate recommends, "offer the best population it is expected to serve. An- in the first place. The ministries, in turn, and brightest. Put your best people into other irony arises from the fact that re- face other accountabilityrequirements these relationship^."^^ However, do-

Refige, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 23 ing so frequently brings stress inside the Even assuming that a network par- face of challenges. These kinds of home organization. ticipant is not overextended, it is still changes are particularly difficult in Even more than that, however, is the important that the people within the refugee services where successfulper- importance of the presence of leverage organization be equipped by training formance dependsupon trust that takes pressures in the networks. The fact is and support to deal with the stresses years to build in the refugee and immi- that the use of grants and contractswith that the network is producing. For ex- grant communities. Success also de- not-for-profitis viewed in part at least as ample, as programme eligibility rules pends upon a sense of continuity and a way of leveraginggreater impact from become more stringent, it is important continuing service even though it is the same dollars than what could be that personnel be trained to meet those clear that the network context and the developed in a government organiza- new situations in order to better serve larger environment within which serv- tion and competition for resources refugee clients. It is particularlyhelpful ice networks function is turbulent. makes it possible to leverage more.54 if people from other parts of the network, Conclusion That additional impact must come from including government units, can be To those who work in the schools, clin- the organization and its people. And trained together. Unfortunately, in or- ics, settlement offices, or legal settings, because refugee service workers are so ganizations, both governmental and it may sometimesappear that they oper- nongovernmental, that are under finan- committed to their mission, they often ate almost alone. For those who workin cial stress, training and professional willingly accept obligations to attend local NGOs providing particular types development is often one of the first ar- evening meetings, invitations to week- of services, it can appear that they are eas to be cut if indeed such support was end events in the refugee and immigrant strugglingto create and deliver services ever available. Moreover, apart from communities and emergency requests out of what is available locally to meet training programmes, few organiza- forhelp at virtually any time. However, a great need with little assistance. From there are costs to the service providers tions in the network provide organizational renewal support. It should be no the perspective of government officials and their families for this commitment surprise to find that burnout is a prob- at the provincial level or in Ottawa, the and responsiveness. lem even among committed service pro- challenge is to address some 25,000 Unfortunately, however, there is of- viders. That accumulated stress can new refugee arrivals each year and to ten a tendency to underestimate these manifest in increased conflict within or- provide some level of support for the and other real costs relative to actual ganizations as well as in more personal service systems on which those new revenue that comes into a service organi- ways. Canadians must depend for their settle- zation from grants and contracts in ad- Of course, one of the dangers that can ment and integration into society. But dition to the costs mentioned earlier come fromnetwork stresses is a senseby the reality is that all of these people are having to do with the actual prepara- service workers of a loss of identity. In participants in refugee service net- tion of proposals and administration of the refugee service arena, many workers works. And what each can or cannot grants or contracts. Failing to incorpo- came to particular organizations be- accomplish on behalf of refugees is in rate the investments of time and energy cause of a strong commitment to what very important respects related to how required for grant writing and contract the agency does. If the organization al- those service networks function. administration in assessments of re- ters its directions or seeks to change its Certainly the networks are affected source commitment for service delivery mission and character because of the by the political, economic and legal is a serious miscalculation of true cost. demands of networks, there is a danger pressures in their environment. There Similarly, assuming contributionsfrom of internal conflict. The same is true if a is little question that political pressures other units of the network that may not board of trustees, believing that it to constrain grants of asylum and to in realitybe able to continue support at should focus primarily on the demands take an approach that is heavily ori- current levels let alone to enhance is a of the network, hires executiveswho are, ented toward enforcement complicates further problem. These errors maypro- or who are perceived tobe, more commit- the tasks of both the refugees and the duce overestimated resources and un- ted to the network than they are to their service providers who seek to assist derestimated obligations. And just as own organization and the people it was them. The set of economic cutbacks at ministries and local government agen- designed to serve. If the executive de- all levels and across the full range of cies cannot contribute funds that they cides to focus primary attention on en- agencies and services has placed a se- donot have, NGOs cannotprovide serv- trepreneurial efforts to entertain new vere strain on those providers as well. ice commitments that they cannot sup- programmes as opportunitiesfor the or- And certainly, the possibility of signifi- port without damaging their people and ganization, the messagemaybe that the cantly more complex and restrictive their organizations. These extraordi- existingprogramrnes arenot important. policies at the federal and provincial nary efforts can be mounted during That canbe devastating to paid employ- levels in a variety of social service pro- emergencies or for relatively limited ees or volunteers who have worked long grammes adds to the pressure on the periods, but if they continue for too long, and hard to develop the ongoing pro- organizations within the service net- they will take a toll. grammes and make them work in the works.

24 Refrge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) All that havingbeen said, the mission 5. Caplan, "Notes for an Address to the Indochinese Exodus and the International is very much worth the effort. Surely Maytree FoundationTrends in Global Mi- Response (New York: Zed Books, 1998). everyone involved can agree that it is gration Forum," p. 7. 2O.See Salev. Haitian Centers Council, 509 U.S. critical that the emphasis must be on 6.1 have dealt with these trendsin comparative 155 (1993). how to provide the best quality services context for Canada, the United States and 21.760 F.Sup. 796 (NDCA 1991). the E.U. countries in "Problems of Locus 22. Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi- in the requisite quantity to ensure that and Focus: ContinuingTensionsin Refugee new Canadians can build their new grant Responsibility Act of 1996, P.L. 104- Policy," Education & Society, forthcom- 208,8 U.S.C. p. 1101, et seq. lives and make the kind of constructive ing. 23. Bo Cooper, "Procedures for Expedited contributions to the society that so 7.July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137. Removal and AsylumScreeningUnder the many refugees and immigrants have 8.January 31, 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267. Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi- before. Challengeshave always brought 9.Clarkson, "Remarks to the Canadian Club," grant Responsibility Act of 1996," Con- out the very best in the kinds of people p. 2. necticut Law Review 19 (Summer), 1997, who dedicate their time and talents to 10."A Reluctant Welcome," Maclean's, Janu- p. 1501. refugee services. ary 4, 1993, p. 26. 24.Gerald H. Stobo, "The Canadian Refugee 11."An Update of Intergovernmental Trans- Determination System," Texas Interna- However, in order to perform that tional Law Journal 29 (Summer),1994, p. fers 1996 to 1999," Prepared by Gary mission in the contemporary environ- 383. ment, it is important to recognize that Williams and Associates, January, 1999, for the Union of British Columbia Munici- 25.Immigration Legislative Review, Not Just the people and the individual organiza- palities, http://civicnet.gov.bc.ca/cut- Numbers: A Canadian Framework for tions are indeed parts of service net- backs/gwtrans-rpt.html Future Immigration (Ottawa: Minister of works, that those networks have a 12.Citizenshipand Immigration Canada, Re- Public Works and Public Services Canada, variety of common characteristics and port on Plans and Priorities 1999/2000, 1997. those characteristics in turn have con- p.7. 26.(Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and sequences.Without losing sight of one's 13.CanadianCouncil for Refugees, Refugees Government Services Canada, 1998). own objectives and those of the home in Canada: Canadian Refugee and Hu- 27.Ibid., p. 3. organization,it is important to consider manitarianPolicyl997to mid-1998 (Mon- 28.Building on a Strong Foundation, pp. 41- treal: Canadian Council for Refugees, 42. those networks and their consequences 1998) p. 2. in the day-to-day challenge to welcome 29.See e.g. Elinor Caplan, "Notes for an Ad- 14.See eg., "A sanctuary for refugees or a dress to theCanadian Bar Association B.C. new Canadians. haven for terrorists" Weighing Canada's Immigration Section Refugee Sympo- Those of us who have been in a posi- commitments to human rights against our sium," Vancouver, British Columbia, No- tion to learn so much from Canadian obligationstonationalsecurity, The Globe vember 26, 1999, http://cicnet.ci.gc.ca/ refugee service providers continue to and Mail, Monday, January 24,2000. english/press/speech/cha-e.html. watch and to learn as the dedicated 15.See Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Af- 30.Elinor Caplan, "Notes for an Address to public servants, NGO members, and fairs, "The Netherlands and the Schengen the AnnualMeeting of theCanadianCoun- Agreement." http://www.minbuza.n1/ cil for Refugees," Niagra Falls, Ontario, individual providers meet these chal- english/policy /c-nethschengen.html and December 3, 1999, p.5. http://cicnet.ci. lenges. Claus Thiery, The Schengen Agreements, gc.ca/english/press/speech/ccr-e.html. Centrefor Internationaland European Law 31. See e.g. Judith R. Saidel, "Resource Inter- on Immigrationand Asylum, University of dependence: The Relationship Between Notes Konstanze, Paper prepared for workshop 1.Eliior Caplan, "Notes for an Address to the State Agencies and Nonprofit Organiza- entitled "Managing Migration in the 21st tions" Public Administration Review, 51 Maytree Foundation Trends inGlobal Mi- Century."http://migration.uni- (Nov/Dec 1991), pp. 543-553; "The Dy- gration Forum," Toronto, January 12, konstanz.de/alt/mm21/Thiery.html. namics of Interdependence Between Pub- 2000. http://cicnet.ci.gc.ca/english/ 16.See Rosemary Byrne and Andrew lic Agencies and Nonprofit press/speech/maytree-e.html. Shacknove, "The Safe Country Notion in Organizations" Research in Public Admin- 2.Elinor Caplan, "Statement by Minister European Asylum Law," Harvard Hu- istration, 1994 (3), pp. 201-229. man Rights Journal, 9 (Spring ) 1996, pp. 32.H. Brinton Milward, "The Changing Char- Elinor Caplan on Illegal Human Smug- 185-228. gling to Canada," August 11,1999, http: acter of the Public Sector," in James Perry, 17. "Interim Report of the Working Party on //cimet.ci.gc.ca/english/press/speech/ ed., Handbook of Public Administration, Asylum Procedures," to the 1998 Confer- Second Edition (San Francisco: Jossey- smuggle-e.htm1, p. 1. ence of the International Association of Bass, 1996), p. 77. Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ),prepared b y 3.Elinor Caplan, "Remarks to the Canadian 33. John A. Bryne, "The Virtual Corporation," Club," Vancouver, BritishColumbia, Sep- Jacek Chlebny, Judge at the Supreme Ad- ministrative Court of Poland, http:/ / Business Week, February 8,1993, p. 98. tember 9, 1999, http://cicnet.ci.gc.ca/ www.irb.gc.ca/IARLJ/wpasylum.htm. english/ press/speech/canclub-e.html, 34.H. BrintonMilward, "Implications of Con- p. 4. 18.U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, tracting Out: New Roles for the Hollow U.S. Immigration Law and Policy: 1952- State," in Patricia W. Ingraham and 4.Elinor Caplan, "Remarks to a News Confer- 1986, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. 1987. Barbara S. Romzek, eds., New Paradigms ence on Year 2000 Immigration Levels," 19.For themost comprehensivepictureavail- for Government: Issues for the Changing November 1,1999, http:/ /cimet.ci.gc.ca/ able on the Southeast Asia refugee crisis, Public Service (SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass, english/press/levels2000-e.html,p. 2. see Roger Winter, Terms of Refuge: The 1994), p. 41.

Refuge, Vol. 18, No. 6 (March 2000) 25 35.See Paul M. Tellier, Public Service 2000: A 42. Ibid., p. 3. 47. H. BrintonMilward, "Introduction to Sym- Report on Progress (Ottawa: Minister of 43.H. Brinton Milward and Keith G. Provan, posium on the Hollow State: Capacity, Supply and Services, 1992); David "Governing Networks, Managing Net- Control, and Performance in Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Reinventing works: Principlesfor ControllingAgents," Interorganizational Settings," Journal of Government (NewYork: Plume/Penguin, Paper prepared for delivery at the 1999 Public Administration Research and 1993); A1 Gore, Report of the National National Public Management Research Theory 6 (April 1996): 194 Performance Review, From Red Tape to Conference, Texas A&M University, 48. Agranoff and McGuire, op. cit., p. 18. Results: Creating A Government That George Bush Presidential Conference 49.Milward, The Changing Character of the Works Better and Costs Less (Washington, Center, December 3-4,1999, p. 12. Public Sector, op. cit., p. 87. D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1993). 44.See Saidel and Sharon Harlan, "Contract- 50.Eugene Bardach and Cara Lesser, Ac- %.See e.g.,ChristopherPollitt,"Management ing and Patterns of Nonprofit Govern- countability in Human Service Techniques for the Public Sector: Pulpit ance", Nonprofit Management and Collaboratives For What? And To Whom? and Practice," in B. Guy Peters and Donald Leadership 8 (3), pp. 243-259. Journalof Public Administration Research B. Savoie, eds., Governance in achanging 45.Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr., "Different Public and Theory 6 (April) 1996, pp. 197-224. Environment (Montreal & Kingston: Management Implications of Structural McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995). 51.1 have attempted to address these issuesin Context inHierarchies and Networks," in Accountability and Administrative Re- 37.See Donald F. Keffl, Sharing Power: Public Jeff Brudney, Laurence J. O'Toole, and Hal form:TowardConvergence and Beyond, in Governance and Private Markets (Wash- Rainey, eds., Advancing Public Manage- Peters and Savoie, op. cit. ington, D.C.: BrookingsInstitution,1993). ment: New DirectionsinTheory, Methods 52. See Saidel, "Contracting and Patterns of 38.Byme, op. cit. and Practice (Washington, D.C.: George Nonprovit Governance." 39.Ibid. town University Press, 2000). 53. See Byrne, op. cit. p. 98. 40.Robert Agranoff and Michael McGuire, 46. "In brief, network contexts increase the "Big Questions in Public Network Man- range of potentially manipulable variables 54.LaurenceO'Toole discussesa variation on agement Research," Paper prepared for subject to influence by public managers the concept of leveraging, but one that is delivery at the 1999National Public Man- thus apparently enhancingthe importance quite different from the refugee services agement Research Conference, Texas of management. At the same time, how- case. "Hollowing the Infrastructure: Re- A&M University, George Bush Presiden- ever, networks also increase uncertainty volving Loan Programmes and Network tial Conference Center, December 3-4, and decrease institutionalfixedness for all Dynamics in the American States," Jour- 1999, p. 1. actors in the setting. Managers havemore nal of Public Administration Research and levers available, but so do others." Ibid. Theory 6 (April 1996: 225 at 233-239). a 41. Ibid., p. 1.

26 Refwe,Vol. 18,No. 6 (March 2000)