NCJ Number
88743
Date Published
1982
Length
63 pages
Annotation
The results of a 1981 study on the organization and effectiveness of the Dutch foreign assistance services are reported.
Abstract
Study data derived from two sources: 1) a survey of officials charged with providing foreign assistance services in large cities, local police districts, and national police regions, and 2) personal interviews with 36 Turks, 33 Moroccans, and 27 Suramese. A major study objective was to assess the feasibility of proposed legislation reorganizing agencies for foreigners into separate administrative/service and executive branches. Findings indicate that laws regarding foreigners are unclear, rendering uniform practices among service agencies impossible. The agencies are overloaded and incapable of handling the required workload. Excessive workloads are particularly evident in big cities. As a result, city officials have little time to devote to individual cases or to keeping up with changes in regulations. In contrast, so few foreigners live in small towns that the expense of training special officials is not warranted. The results suggest that local services would function best if centralized, while big city services should be decentralized to handle the heavy caseloads. Despite differences among national groups, the majority of the subjects interviewed were relatively satisfied with the services offered by the foreign offices. However, the interviewees were generally unaware of their rights as foreigners and did not feel that the information obtained from foreign offices was adequate. They were not sufficiently informed to provide clear views on the proposed organizational changes. The report recommends that more complete information on foreigners' rights be made available. Efforts should be made to improve initial contacts with foreigners and to investigate their specific complaints. The reorganization of services is generally favored. However, resistance to change is evident at various levels, and certain agencies fear that excessive time will be devoted to executive tasks. Appendixes are supplied.