Policy and Practice August 2016

cross the United States, there

are 3,069 counties and more

than 89,000 cities. Within

these local governments is

an array of essential services

that often touch their residents’ lives

on a daily basis, such as schools, road

construction and maintenance, cor-

rections, health, housing, and social

support programs. In 2015, county gov-

ernments invested $58 billion

in local

human services. The reach and scale of

local human services is enormous, and

the potential to leverage this capacity

to build well-being for Americans

where it must be constructed—in local

communities—represents a tremen-

dous opportunity for achieving the

change we seek.

Local human service agency leaders

have come together for multiple years

through APHSA’s National Council of

Local Human Service Administrators

(Local Council). These local leaders

share best practices and collaborate in

their efforts to improve their service

delivery systems. As an integral part of

the APHSA family, the Local Council

works to exert a positive influence

on development of national policies

and programs affecting local human

services and to promote the profes-

sional interests, competence, and

leadership of county and city public

human service administrators in the

United States.

Beginning in 2014, the Local Council

committed to leveraging the collective

strength of its collective partnership

by focusing on a specific high-value

proposition (see text box at right). In

order to improve outcomes for families,

Local Council member agencies are

designing and implementing strate-

gies to reduce the historical separation

between housing, human services,

and health systems. Agencies are also

increasing the focus on upstream pre-

vention-oriented programming, and

developing data-driven, cross-sector

solutions. Locals are proposing we

leverage and deploy our entire service

delivery continuum in our counties

to better serve and achieve enhanced

impacts on the lives of those we serve.

To accomplish this, we will need the

cooperation from many federal and

state agency partners that will allow us

to blend and braid funding and policies

to achieve individualized movement

toward enhanced overall well-being.

The “Local” Opportunity(ies)

Over time, many of us undertake

upgrades and renovations on our

homes to maintain the quality of the

structure and adapt the living space to

our changing needs. Choosing which

upgrades and renovations are most

critical to achieve the outcomes we

desire requires an honest assessment of

our time, budget, and goals.

Similarly, many of APHSA’s local

member agencies have been carefully

reviewing their health and human

service systems and considering ways

to upgrade or renovate their programs

and operations to strengthen their

organizational capacity and effective-

ness. They have used this information

to reflect on and make further adjust-

ments to advance in their journey

along the Human Services Value

Curve,

a framework to help leaders

envision and create a path for their

organization to reach desired indi-

vidual, family, and community-centric

outcomes.

In order to deliver targeted, high-

impact interventions, Local Council

members across the country are con-

currently designing, developing, and

implementing new initiatives. Critical

innovations include a common assess-

ment process and case management

platform with sharable data metrics

and outcomes. Collectively the Locals

propose “creating a pathway for pros-

perity and well-being” by designing,

testing, evaluating, and spreading

key elements of a fully integrated

and effectively coordinated health

and human service system that can

be tailored to local organizations’

maturity, resources, and priorities.

The vision and mission for how local

organizations can best achieve the

health and human services they desire

focuses on four primary components:

“Practice Model for Well-Being”

that includes a fully integrated and

comprehensive system of practice,

inclusive of health, where any door is

the right door

A coordinated, individualized

universal assessment and holistic

casework approach that promotes

employment and self-sufficiency for

those who can work and collabora-

tive case planning for all clients

Evidence-based tools that can be

leveraged by caseworkers and clients

to flexibly manage and distribute

benefits tailored to the true self-suffi-

ciency needs of the family

An array of housing, educational,

and employment options and accom-

panying supports for transitional

youth and their families that look

holistically across the family needs

for improved well-being

Impacting Local

Communities: A Practice

Model for Well-Being

When thinking about a commu-

nity, and all the resources, services,

supports, organizations, and programs

Illustration via Shutterstock

August 2016

Policy&Practice

Within 10 years, the Local Council

will transform the health and well-

being of communities across the

country by shifting programming

and funding upstream into

prevention-oriented and consumer-

driven cross-sector solutions that

improve outcomes across the

lifespan and significantly reduce

high-cost institutional interventions

within a “social determinants of

health” framework.