The following is an overview and brief analysis of the literature on collaboration in community service delivery, focusing on what works and what needs to be in place to make it work. Much of the analytical and descriptive literature provided here comes from the United States. It is unfortunate, but it appears to be true, that Canadian research and development into the issue of collaborative community service provision— at least written evidence of it—lags behind that in the U.S. The reviewer found numerous reports by American organizations—federal, state, and local governments, universities, and providers—describing collaborative efforts to improve service delivery. A number of Federal government departments operate annual best practice reviews with their transfer payment agencies. Some departments issue awards for best practice. Large amounts of this material, full reports included, are available on Internet sites sponsored by these same governments, universities, and organizations. The Canadian scene, by comparison, is sparse. A search of government websites and publication lists in Canada revealed little at the federal level, and little at the provincial level. Similarly, searching the sites of Canadian non-profit organizations provided only a few examples of collaborative service provision, with the exception of the Canadian National Crime Prevention Council. Specific research requests were made to United Way of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, however neither organization identified written material on successful collaborations in Canada. (excerpt from the document)