9 / 12
7
American Public Human Services Association
INNOVATION IN ACTION
To generate solutions to challenging issues, creative agency leaders
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have reached across programs, other county
departments, and even across sectors to collaborate and provide
a range of holistic services to improve practice delivery and impact
outcomes of its constituents. The county’s
Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS)
and
Department of Aging (DOA)
have
worked together to provide effective and comprehensive services to
people with Alzheimer’s disease. DHHS made accessible to DOA a wide
range of life-sustaining and life-saving services provided by its divisions
of Management Services, Behavioral Health, Disabilities Services,
Housing, and Emergency Medical Services. The success of this system
transformation also rested on changes in legal process; enhanced family
and community education and engagement; and greater collaboration
with partners from medical and psychiatric hospitals to long-term care
facilities, home caregivers, first responders (fire, police and first aid
personnel), and the courts. As a result, preventable crises are averted,
support services are better utilized, cost savings are achieved from fewer
residential placements, and Milwaukee’s citizens enjoy a higher quality
of life. Juvenile Justice has also made significant strides in promoting
education and evidence based services that are centered on the family,
rather than the juvenile. By diverting youth from the state facilities, the
county has spent about $2.5 million less on juvenile corrections than it
did in 2010, and is producing young people who are ready to participate
more richly in community life.
For
Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (DSS
), navigating
a “perfect storm” of obsolete systems and mounting enrollment has
meant tapping a host of new technologies to bring the agency and
its 950,000 enrollees closer together. DSS’ multi-faceted service
modernization initiative—“ConneCT”—has resulted in such reforms
as online applications and hard copy document scanning, a toll-free
interactive voice-response line, and online client accounts that offer
24/7 access. Low-cost yet impactful marketing techniques were used
to build awareness of the ConneCT web services, including caseworker
voicemail scripts and email signatures. The initiative has increased
access for clients to the department and to the health, food, and many
other vital services DSS provides. The agency has now embarked on a
major effort to replace its 1980s-vintage eligibility management system
with a modern and fully integrated system through the Affordable Care
Act’s funding opportunities for states.
“The membership is very valuable to us”
– Tennessee