Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Public policy scholars have long sought program interventions that effectively address disparities observed between different citizen groups; so much so that social equity is considered by some to represent a “fourth pillar” of public administration. Perhaps nowhere is the focus more evident than in the provision of social services. In this paper, we test the sometimes-cited and more-frequently assumed proposition that by leveraging resources, structured decision-processes, and service delivery rules, urban and centralized agencies are more likely to distribute public services in an equitable manner. Our study takes place in the context of U.S. child welfare services, where children raised by a single caretaker are disproportionately more likely to experience abuse and neglect due to higher levels of familial stress. We analyze data from a nation-wide administrative dataset, using a quasi-experimental design that applies a modified factorial design and Coarsened Exact Matching, to examine whether urban, centralized child welfare agencies secure more equitable outcomes for already-disadvantaged clients raised by a single-caretaker. Our results suggest that urban, state-administered agencies are 8.9 to 14.2 percent more effective than their counterparts at achieving the most desirable outcome - reunification with the child’s caretaker. In examining the comparative effects of agency characteristics, however, we find that equity gains are driven by administrative centralization rather than urbanicity. We examine the likely causes for the findings, such as disparities in agency resources, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for child welfare services and social equity theory.