This study analyses reception practices in four very different social work agencies. The author demonstrates that the reception process is not just an administrative expedient but that, under certain circumstances, it may have a profound influence upon the way the agency operates, the services it provides and who receives them. In short, many of the important rationing decisions about resources allocation may be made not by an agency's senior and middle managers, or by its professional social work staff, but by an untrained clerical receptionist at the point of initial contact between the organisation and its clients.
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