Every public servant takes an oath to serve with integrity, uphold the law and protect the public interest. Those commitments are the foundation of public service. But today’s most complex challenges demand something more.
Homelessness is one of those challenges.
Across the country, public employees work tirelessly to connect people with housing, healthcare, behavioral health services, employment assistance and emergency support. Their commitment is rarely in question. Yet many homeless people continue moving from one agency to another without finding lasting stability.
Why?
The answer often has less to do with individual ethics than with how government systems work together.
When Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Imagine someone experiencing homelessness after losing a job and facing a medical crisis. They visit a homeless assistance program, receive a referral to a healthcare provider, are directed to a workforce program and are connected with a nonprofit for temporary shelter. Each organization fulfills its mission. Each employee does what policy requires.
Yet the individual remains homeless.
Instead, the problem isn’t a lack of compassion or professionalism. It’s a lack of coordination.
Many public challenges cross organizational boundaries. Housing, healthcare, behavioral health, workforce development and nonprofit services all intersect. When agencies work independently rather than collaboratively, people experience fragmented services rather than coordinated solutions.
That’s not just an operational problem. It’s an ethical one.
A New Way to Think About Ethics
Public administration has traditionally focused on personal integrity, organizational accountability and legal compliance. Those principles remain essential. But I believe we should ask a different question:
Did our institutions work together well enough to improve people’s lives?
That question shifts the focus from whether each agency did its job to whether government delivered meaningful results for the people it serves.
Collaboration Is an Ethical Responsibility
Too often, collaboration is viewed as simply a leadership skill or management strategy. I believe it’s also an ethical responsibility.
I’ve found that trust and communication are the relational infrastructure that allows organizations to solve complex public problems together. Formal agreements matter, but trusted relationships are often what make collaboration work across organizational boundaries.
When agencies communicate, build trust and coordinate decisions, they reduce duplication, improve outcomes and strengthen public confidence. For someone experiencing homelessness, those relationships can mean the difference between navigating a connected system and getting lost in a maze of disconnected services.
Looking Beyond Our Own Walls
As public leaders, we should regularly ask ourselves:
- Are we collaborating with the right partners?
- Are we measuring shared community outcomes instead of individual agency successes?
- Are we making government easier for people to navigate?
Public servants take an oath to serve the public. In today’s interconnected world, ethical government is measured not only by how faithfully each agency fulfills its own mission, but by how effectively institutions work together to fulfill the public’s mission. Collaboration is no longer simply good management; it’s an ethical responsibility.
Dr. Denise D. Hendrix, DPA, is a director at New York City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA), where she advances collaborative governance and public service innovation. With more than 15 years of experience in public and nonprofit administration, her work focuses on homelessness, child welfare, organizational leadership and cross-sector collaboration. Dr. Hendrix is an adjunct professor, public administration scholar and contributor to PA TIMES. Her research explores trust, communication and collaborative governance networks. She is currently pursuing professional coaching certification and is passionate about developing leaders who build strong organizations through trust, effective communication and meaningful collaboration.
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