Grants vs. Contracts: Difference
Despite the fact that grants and contracts are rarely viewed as the same concept, one may stumble upon a range of difficulties when trying to pin down the difference between the two. Indeed, both phenomena imply a legal binding. Furthermore, money is invested into a specific project in each case.
However, there is a thin line between a grant and a contract that allows differentiating between the two. Particularly, unlike contracts, in which one party provides financial support to another so that specific services could be delivered, a grant suggests giving money by one party to another so that premises for accomplishing a particular goal could be created. In other words, in case of a grant, the successful outcome cannot be predetermined. Therefore, the use of grants implies that the donor should provide the financial support without receiving the finalized product in the end.
One might argue that the use of grants is pointless as the area of investment due to the lack of obligations on the side of the person receiving the financial support. However, grants are a crucial part of social work since they allow creating the foundation for developing programs and carrying out research related to the needs of a particular population. Therefore, grants must be considered an essential part of social work and an important device in promoting change in the communities that require assistance.
Particularly, grants help build the programs that incorporate innovative approaches and the latest advances in technology as the means of conducting assessments of the target population’s need and designing the strategies that will allow meeting the needs in question. Furthermore, grants spur the social research that sheds light on some of the issues that need to be addressed by social workers (Netting, Kettner, McMurtry, & Thomas, 2012).
Funding Streams for Norfolk Department of Human Services
Norfolk Department of Human Services (NDHS) is an organization that helps make the vision and mission of Norfolk reality and seeks the ways of addressing the needs of the community members in a manner as efficient and expeditious as possible. NDHS focuses on developing the projects and activities that contribute to the successful development of the community and allow meeting the needs of its diverse population (Department of Human Services, 2013). Despite the fact that most of the financial support comes from only two primary sources, i.e., the State and Federal Funding (Norfolk Department of Human Services, 2012), the organization manages to incorporate innovative approaches toward the implementation of its policies and the promotion of life quality improvement across the community.
The organization also delivers its services with the help of grants (Department of Human Services, 2013). The identified approach allows making the quality of the services rise significantly since new and sustainable ways of managing the financial resources of the organization are discovered. Receiving grants, NDHS members become capable of carrying out vast studies of the problems that the target community faces and, thus, develop efficient and advanced approaches to managing the identified concerns (Norfolk Department of Human Services, 2013).
Since grants provide the basis for vast research, a significant improvement in equality of life among the community member can be expected in Norfolk. NDHS has built the premises for addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse population. Therefore, by supplying the organization with grants, one will encourage the further search for the available solutions to essential social concerns.
References
Netting, F.E., Kettner, P.M., McMurtry, S.L., & Thomas, M. L. (2012). Social work macro practice. (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
Norfolk Department of Human Services. (2012). Annual report. Web.
Norfolk Department of Human Services. (2013). Strategic plan. Web.