Partnerships and governance: Struggle, cooperation, and the role of NGOs in welfare delivery for the homeless in Hong Kong

This paper explores the actual status of homeless support in Hong Kong, amidst the current welfare reforms, and analyzes how homeless support NGOs are currently positioned in the delivering of social welfare, especially now that social welfare is becoming increasingly devaluated in the postcrisis era. By paying attention to the various forms of government partnerships, this article will also set forth arguments on the theorization of Hong Kong as a shadow state and consider the outworking of this process in the case of a residual welfare system. It will do so by exploring the partnership status between homeless support NGOs and the Hong Kong Special Administration Region government.

Research highlights► NGO-government partnerships share a long history in Hong Kong's residual welfare model. ► (Non-)contractual relationships broadly influence the landscape of homeless support. ► NGOs are active agents in homeless policy making. ► Increased professionalization among homeless support NGOs but lack of inter-NGO cooperation. ► The government retains a monitoring function while responsibilities are transferred to NGOs.