From Snake Pits to Cash Cows: Politics and Public Institutions in New York

From Snake Pits to Cash Cows: Politics and Public Institutions in New York
ISBN-10
0791483312
ISBN-13
9780791483312
Category
Social Science
Pages
314
Language
English
Published
2012-02-01
Publisher
SUNY Press
Author
Paul J. Castellani

Description

Explains why public institutions for people with developmental disabilities have persevered despite plans to eliminate them. Public institutions for people with developmental disabilities continue to operate within New York State, although their very existence has been condemned, and public policies directed their complete closure by the year 2000. From Snake Pits to Cash Cows investigates why these institutions persevere despite virtually universal predictions of their demise. Paul J. Castellani’s provocative account spans the years 1935 to 2000, describing decades of conflict and confusion about the role of public institutions. This book demonstrates how and why a convergence of operational, fiscal, and political crises in the mid-1970s resulted in a series of agreements among adversaries that radically changed the political landscape, and reversed the plan to close all public institutions. He also shows why New York’s experience has implications and lessons for the study of public policy in the area of developmental disabilities services and for understanding Medicaid policymaking, intergovernmental finance, and human services administration. Paul J. Castellani is Public Service Professor at the Nelson A. Rockefeller College, University at Albany, State University of New York. He is the author of The Political Economy of Developmental Disabilities.

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