Governance and collaboration: An evolutionary study of two mental health networks

This article presents a comparative analysis of the evolution of two community mental health networks that both have similar contracts from the State of Arizona. One of the networks is governed by a for-profit firm that buys needed services from a network of largely nonprofit agencies. The other network is governed by a community-based nonprofit that contracts with four separate nonprofit agencies to provide services directly or through a network of other providers, most of which are nonprofit. These two networks are analyzed, using social network analysis, when each system was first formed and again, 4 years later. The for-profit governed network is then compared to the nonprofit governed network on four dimensions: sector, nonprofit or for-profit, relationships and trust, the evolution of the structure of the networks, and a limited comparison of the two networks' performance.