Co-producing across organizational boundaries: Promoting asylum seeker integration in Scotland

This paper questions whether asylum seeker integration is promoted through inter-organizational relationships between non-profit and voluntary organizations (NPVOs) and government agencies. It focuses particularly on the role of NPVOs in service delivery (co-management) and in the delivery and planning of public services (co-governance). It presents a research study on the public services provided to asylum seekers in Glasgow and asks the following questions: what role do NPVOs play in planning and delivery of public services?; when planning and delivering public services, to what extent do NPVOs work across organizational boundaries and what kind of relationships exist?; and in practice, what makes inter-organizational relationships work? This paper offers new empirical evidence and also contributes to the theoretical debate around the integration of asylum seekers.