The Digest concludes by considering the circumstances and challenges that affect plans for this type of service delivery system in rural America, including the needs of rural families. The delivery of social services in the United States is undergoing both scrutiny and change. Scrutiny has suggested that delivery is fragmented and diffuse. Not only are social services more costly than necessary, people in need confront what appears to be an ominous system that is complicated and unfriendly. In fact, they confront multiple, unconnected systems.
Service integration is one among many changes advocated by policymakers and policy researchers.
Proponents of service integration frequently argue that the goal is one-stop shopping for families who need multiple services. Families would have a single point of entry into social service delivery systems. From a number of available services, they could then select those that provided a range of needed benefits. Neither the concept of integrated services nor public recognition of the need for coordinating human services is new, however. Despite this long history, however, integrated service delivery is still relatively uncommon.