Management Practice

Implementing Welfare Reform and Guiding Organizational Change

Carnochan, S.
Austin, M.J.
2008

Federal welfare reform has provided the impetus for profound changes at the level of county public social service agencies as they respond to mandatory work requirements and time limits for their clients. At the forefront of this change are the directors of these agencies, who are leading a process of cultural, systemic and community change. This study looks at qualitative data drawn from interviews and ongoing consultation with ten county social service directors as they reflected on the first two years of welfare reform implementation. The key findings include: (1) identification of...

Organizational and Individual Determinants of Evidence Use by Managers In Public Human Service Organizations

McBeath, B.
Jolles, M.P.
Carnochan, S.
Austin, M.J.
2015

Promoting the use of evidence by managers is a strategy for enhancing effectiveness in human service organizations, and for responding to the demands of performance management. This study addresses two multipart questions. First, what levels of managerial evidence use exist in public human service organizations and for what purposes is this evidence used? Second, what organizational factors and individual attitudinal characteristics are associated with different levels of evidence use? Based on survey data from a sample of administrators, middle managers, and supervisors in 11 county...

Using Agency-wide Dashboards for Data Monitoring and Data Mining: The Solano County Health & Social Services Department

Harrison, L.
Austin, M.J.
2012

The Director needed accessible data on critical program areas in order to monitor changes presenting potential negative impacts. The Research, Evaluation and Planning division spearheaded the Dashboard featuring the seven program areas (Employment & Eligibility, Child Welfare Services, Mental Health, Public Health, Older Disabled Adult Services, Substance Abuse, and the Special Investigations Bureau), and three administrative units. Deputy Directors specified several key areas that their divisions were mandated to report or viewed as important for monitoring. The Dashboard enables...

Transforming Data Into Action: The Sonoma County Human Services Department

Harrison, L.
Austin, M.J.
2012

In order to centralize data-based initiatives, the Director of the Department worked with the Board of Supervisors and the executive team to develop a new Planning, Research, and Evaluation (PRE) division. PRE is establishing rules for data-based decision making and consolidating data collection to ensure quality and consistency. It aims to target resources toward visionary, pro-active program planning and implementation, and inform the public about the role of Human Services in creating a healthy, safe and productive environment. PRE staff spent several months studying the job functions...

The Use of Key Indicators as a Foundation for Knowledge Management: The Experiences of Monterey County's Social and Employment Services Department

Lindberg, A.
Austin, M.J.
2012

While effective knowledge management practices are commonly sought by organizations, facilitating the use and ongoing engagement in these practices can be challenging. To this end, one agency developed a strategy for institutionalizing their knowledge management functions by appointing a team responsible for monitoring and implementing knowledge management functions, and creating a report for use as a tool by departments agency-wide. Aimed at increasing transparency both within the agency and with the surrounding community, the report provides an overview of individual departments'...

The Leadership Challenges in Transforming a Public Human Services Agency

Borland, M.
2016

No abstract is available for this publication.

The Evolving Relationship Between Public and Nonprofit Sector Human Service Organizations: From Contractual to Partnership

Schwartz, S.L.
Austin, M.J.
2016

The delivery of human services in contemporary American society involves complex relationships between public and nonprofit organizations. These relationships, often referred to as public-nonprofit partnerships, have market-like characteristics where government agencies purchase services from private vendors to meet the welfare needs of the community (Salamon, 1993). These purchase-of-service contracts have become one of the primary methods for financing and delivering local social services, as seen by the unparalleled growth of government reliance on nonprofits organizations to delivery...

The Dissemination and Utilization of Research for Promoting Evidence-Based Practice

Osterling, K.L.
Austin, M.J.
2008

Social service practitioners and researchers have long been aware of the gap between research and practice. The evidence-based practice movement has brought increasing attention to the role of empirically based interventions within social service practice, however, effective methods of research dissemination and utilization have received relatively little attention. This article describes factors related to dissemination and utilization of research within human service agency settings, including those factors related to: (1) individual practitioners, (2) the organization, (3) the nature of...

Step By Step: Building the Infrastructure for Transforming Public Social Service Organizations into Learning Organizations

Carnochan, S.
Austin, M.J.
2001

No abstract is available for this publication.

Quality Management as Knowledge Sharing: Experiences of the Napa County Health & Human Services Agency

Harrison, L.
Austin, M.J.
2012

Lacking a coordinated effort in utilizing data and tracking program outcomes, one agency developed a Quality Management (QM) division to facilitate and manage more effective data use. To support this process, the agency sought to develop a collective, agency-wide understanding and investment in improving and measuring client outcomes. Similarly, the agency also focused efforts on creating a culture of transparency and accountability, with goals of improving service, increasing agency integrity, meeting regulatory compliance, and engaging in effective risk management. Operationalizing the...