When I served as Deputy Labor Secretary for the state of Kansas, and now as I work with unemployment insurance (UI) agencies across the country, one of the most prominent and concerning issues facing states that I consistently see is regarding funding. Specifically, the federal administrative grant does not cover the actual costs of administering [...]
In the wake of the pandemic, states administering unemployment insurance (UI) faced a rapid and overwhelming workload due to the wave of customers seeking UI benefits. While the pandemic served as a stress test for agencies to meet demand, it also put a spotlight on their technology systems and identified significant weaknesses. States recognized these [...]
An unplanned and underfunded strain on unemployment insurance agency systems will inevitably happen again; the question is not if, but when. So how can you ensure you are maximizing the capacity of your existing trained staff and serving as many customers as possible with the resources you have every day?
Fueled by increasing demands to improve federal measures and strengthen parental engagement activities and at a time when programs are experiencing significant staff attrition, decreasing budgets, and stagnant collections, child support programs are under extreme pressure to rethink how they serve children and families.
Our child welfare systems can feel like we are in a game of Jenga. We are attempting to grow and expand our systems by moving pieces one by one - while stretching our limited capacity. But with each move, the entire system risks collapse, particularly with worker shortages.
The goals associated with Family First are both noble and needed. If we do not fix our capacity crisis in child welfare, we may never see the results we hope to achieve.
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.
The new promise of CCWIS is to build systems that support and coach and help caseworkers move the work.
188 million results. This is the number of hits you get when you Google “Human-Centered Design.” While obviously very popular, I have to wonder, “just how did we get so far off course that we need to be reminded to keep the humans who use our technology at the core of our design?”
Every work system has its point of constraint, and that's the place to focus on to increase the organization's capacity. You're only as good as your weakest link.
