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How resources for social care are allocated to individual service users has long been a concern. There are debates regarding the priority given to certain needs in Resource Allocation Systems (RASs). The purpose of this paper is to compare the views of adults with a learning disability and Directors of Adult Social Care regarding their priorities for resource allocation with priorities arising from observed resource allocation decisions.

In a consultation workshop, 12 adults with learning disabilities were asked to rank the perceived importance of eight needs-related outcomes. Directors of Adult Social Care completed an online questionnaire concerning the distribution of resources across the same eight outcomes. Actual resource allocation data from 11 local authorities were also modelled against these outcomes. A variable importance metric (the percentage contribution of each outcome to predicting costs) was used to rank the importance of these outcomes in terms of determining actual resource allocation. Findings from these data collections were compared.

There were discrepancies between the views of adults with a learning disability, the perspectives of Directors and actual resource allocation data. Whereas adults with a learning disability perceived psychological well-being as most important, Directors and actual resource allocation data stressed the importance of activities of daily living and carer burden.

This analysis will prove useful in understanding the concerns of adults with a learning disability and whether these are adequately addressed by current RASs.

The strategy for sport in Wales, Climbing Higher, establishes some very ambitious targets for raising the levels of sport and physical activity participation over the next 20 years. To support its strategy, the Welsh Assembly Government has promised an additional 12,000 jobs within the sport and recreation sector. Research conducted with employers highlights that many sports degree programmes are not “fit for purpose” and are not fully preparing graduates for work within the industry. This paper considers how the University of Glamorgan, in liaison with key industry partners, has designed a sports development degree “fit” for the industry and which meets the expectations of Climbing Higher. The success of the degree programme relies upon the formation of multi‐agency partnerships at a local and regional level. Experiential learning underpins the degree with students required to reflect upon the challenges that they face in getting participants more active; the community placements embedded within modules allow students to experience the complexities of working within the sports development sector. It is a unique and holistic approach, supported by key local and national partners and is fundamental in supporting the objectives set by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The nonprofit sector has come to deliver the majority of state-funded social services in the United States. Citizens depend on nonprofit organizations for these services, and nonprofits depend on government for financial support. Scholars have begun to ask important questions about the political and civic implications of this new organizational configuration. These questions have direct ramifications for the anti-prison movement given the explosive growth of nonprofit prison reentry organizations in recent years. To see how such organizations may impact political engagement and social movements, this chapter turns its focus on the intricate dynamics of client-staff interactions. Leveraging a yearlong ethnography of a government-funded prison reentry organization, I describe how such organizations can be politically active and at the same time contribute to their clients' political pacification. Staff members engaged in political activities in surrogate representation of their clients. While staffers advocated on their behalf, clients learned to avoid politics and community life, accept injustices for what they are, and focus instead on individual rehabilitation. By closely studying what goes on within a nonprofit service provider, I illustrate the nonprofit organization's dual political role and its implications for social movements and political change.