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The
State-County Results
Accountability Initiative
aims to redesign the structural relationship between the state and
counties to promote greater accountability, productivity and results
in Minnesota’s human services system. Such redesign may be necessary
as the complexity of our publicly-funded human services system has
rendered the structural relationship between the state and counties
inadequate for assuring: tax dollars are being used efficiently to
produce desired results; clients have access to high-quality
services that effectively meet their needs; and the state and
counties have the tools necessary to produce intended outcomes.
Faced with
challenging budgetary constraints, an increased demand for human
services, and a service system that is growing in complexity,
Minnesota must find a way to realign systems and governmental
structures to better achieve human services outcomes.
This initiative
provides county human services departments with local control and
flexibility to determine those partnerships that most effectively
achieve the results defined in the
Governance,
Performance and
Service Level
agreements.
In some cases,
this will result in the consolidation of county human service
departments and/or shared service arrangements as some counties may
find it more feasible to achieve specified results through a
multi-county collaboration. Other counties may find success in
achieving desired outcomes as a single administrative authority.
The key is to allow participating counties local flexibility to
define their form based on the specific results to be achieved: form
must follow function.
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The S-CRAI model of redesign of the
human services delivery system should proceed only according to the
following principles:
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Client-Focused: Clients’ safety and well-being must
be at the center of any human services system redesign.
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Outcomes-Based: Effective human service delivery
systems are those that are strategically designed to enable the
achievement of specific system outcomes such as
cost-effectiveness or administrative simplicity as well as
program outcomes such as those based upon indicators of client
well-being or safety. The specific design of the system can only
be established once the outcomes to be achieved are known and
clearly articulated. Design of the system should be
research-based and data driven. This concept can be simply
expressed as “form follows function.”
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Adequately Resourced: As partners in the delivery of
human services, the state Department of Human Services and
counties must each be given the tools necessary to produce the
intended outcomes. This includes, but is not limited to, access
to appropriate funding, technology systems, and training.
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Administratively Simplified: Redesign of the human
services system must include the removal of low value-added
administrative rules, mandates and other requirements that
inhibit the ability of the state or counties to produce intended
outcomes efficiently, cost-effectively, using evidence-based
best practices. This can be accomplished through the enactment
of a county charter (see
MACSSA position on “State-County Results Accountability
Initiative: New State-County Governance Model”).
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Locally-Defined: As local units of government,
counties are uniquely positioned to understand the needs of
local residents and as such, are best positioned to define the
specific partnerships that are necessary to achieve desired
results. In some cases, this will result in the consolidation of
county human service departments and/or shared service
arrangements as some counties may find it more feasible to
achieve specified results through a multi-county collaboration.
Other counties may find success in achieving desired outcomes as
a single administrative authority.
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