FEATURE: PRIVATIZATION LONE STAR CONTRACT MESS
Source: Governing Magazine, May 2007
A privatization program unravels in its first year and raises questions about how it could go so far south so fast.
Everything went wrong: Calls were dropped and applications lost. Unwarranted layoffs were followed by panicked retention maneuvers. Misinformation was magnified by bureaucratic goofs. However one measures failure, Texas bungled its recent attempt to privatize the operation of four major programs administered by its Health and Human Services Commission--a $900 million deal.