Performance Improvement

From Safety Decision to Reunification: Crossing the reunification finish line to regain capacity and help more children and families
Gallery
From Safety Decision to Reunification: Crossing the reunification finish line to regain capacity and help more children and families

From Safety Decision to Reunification: Crossing the reunification finish line to regain capacity and help more children and families

Permanency for kids, is one of the most risky and critical decisions made in all of government and getting to the finish line is a laborious process with thousands of factors that will influence the time it takes to get there. But when we are there, our research shows we don't run through the finish line, in fact, our system has a propensity to start walking or even crawling at this phase when in fact, we should be sprinting once a permanency decision has been made.

By Bill Bott|June 2021|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Bill Bott, Capacity, Caseloads, Caseworker, Child Abuse, Child Protection, Child Welfare, Children and Families, Do more good, Government, Human Services, Increase Capacity, Keep Kids Safe, Permanency, Reunification, Safety decision, Thought Leadership, Workflow|

Digging to the Real Root Cause
Gallery
Digging to the Real Root Cause

Digging to the Real Root Cause

We can make a difference, if we only stay focused on the root of the problems.

By Bill Bott|April 2020|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Benefits, Bill Bott, Capacity, Case Worker, Child Welfare, Efficiencies, Government, Improvement, Increase Capacity, Medicaid, Passion, SNAP, Social Worker, State|

Management, Leadership and the Transformation Government Needs
Gallery
Management, Leadership and the Transformation Government Needs

Management, Leadership and the Transformation Government Needs

What government does is noble and vital, but it can't deliver the value it should if we don't do a better job of making the work, work. The future of management is about more than technology and budgets.

By Ken Miller|March 2020|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Governing, Government, Improvement, Ken Miller, Leader, Leadership, Management, Manager, Managers, Performance, State, Technology, Transform, Transformation|

Eliminate Blind Spots to Improve Safety: More Eyes More Often
Gallery
Eliminate Blind Spots to Improve Safety: More Eyes More Often

Eliminate Blind Spots to Improve Safety: More Eyes More Often

When the press writes about failures in the child welfare system, the tragedies are unique, but the pattern is often all too familiar. A family has been involved with the agency multiple times, signs of risk were missed, and the result is signiﬁcant harm or even death. It’s hard to read about a set of [...]

By Sean Toole|August 2019|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Analytics, Caseloads, Caseworker, Child Protection, Child Welfare, Children and Families, Data, Government, Keep Kids Safe, Sean Toole, State, Technology|

The Fen-Phen Phenomenon is Killing Our Children
Gallery
The Fen-Phen Phenomenon is Killing Our Children

The Fen-Phen Phenomenon is Killing Our Children

We all agree child welfare in our world is not as healthy as we would like it to be. No one wants to see vulnerable children at risk, but it seems like every attempt to get healthier isn’t working, and we are all clinging to the hope that the next thing we try will be the real deal.

By Bill Bott|January 2019|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Bill Bott, Capacity, Case flow, CCWIS, Child Welfare, CYA, Data, Government, Improvement, IT, Measures, Performance, Radical|

The Unintended Consequences of Improvement
Gallery
The Unintended Consequences of Improvement

The Unintended Consequences of Improvement

Sometimes when we make reforms, government jobs get better too.

By Ken Miller|November 2013|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Capacity, Change, Continuous Improvement, Customer, Employees, Government, Improvement, Increase Capacity, Innovation, Ken Miller, Lean, Process, Thought Leadership|

What to do with the ‘Flo’s’ of Child Protection
Gallery
What to do with the ‘Flo’s’ of Child Protection

What to do with the ‘Flo’s’ of Child Protection

If the work made passionate people act like Flo on the TV series “Alice,” then the work can bring them back.

By Bill Bott|August 2013|Categories: Performance Improvement|Tags: Bill Bott, Child Abuse, Child Protection, Children and Families, Employees, Government, Keep Kids Safe, Pipes, Process, Thought Leadership|

CYA is Killing Kids
Gallery
CYA is Killing Kids

CYA is Killing Kids

Agencies’ tendency to add more rules (and thus work) every time something bad happens prevents child protection workers from doing everything they can to keep kids safe.