미국의 사회서비스 재정운영 특성과 포괄보조금의 역할

Social Services Financing and Role of Block Grants in the United States

Block grants have been considered instruments of federalism reform in the United States since 1966; they have been used as a tool for redistributing power and accountability through devolution and decentralization of authority. Korean central government has recently started considering block grants as a financial strategy for enhancing local governments' overall autonomy and planning power of social service programs, especially in Community Service Innovation programs. This paper attempts to evaluate U.S. government's block grants mainly focusing on their effects on state governments' financial structure as well as service users' accessibility to services over the years, so that Korean government can avoid the bad side effects or unexpected outcomes in applying block grants to community service system in a near future. Based on several evaluation documents published by national-level research bodies and financial flows between federal, state, and local governments, the following conclusions can be drawn: Efficiency and effectiveness of block grants themselves are uncertain and even very limited when they simultaneously implemented with tax-cut and de-regulation. Especially with federal funding on the decline, service targeting strategies taken by state or local governments under the block grant system have severely affected most of the vulnerable population. The local governments' overall capacity of planning and management is surely required for block grants to be an effective tool in decentralization and re-structuring relationships between central- and local governments.