The Struggle to Streamline / States are trying to make social and health services intake and screening more efficient. Outsourcing may not be the answer.
By JONATHAN WALTERS, Governing, September 20007
....... While Texas has made a name for itself as a ringing example of how NOT to go about the job of streamlining access to social and health services, the state is hardly alone in its attempts to make progress toward that goal. In fact, during the past few years, dozens of states have been working on a variety of ways to do social and health services intake and screening more efficiently -- and, it should be said, more humanely.
....... The Indiana experiment is being piloted now and is due to roll out completely next year. The state expects to save in the neighborhood of $500 million over the life of the 10-year contract. But an interesting milestone will come much sooner, when the IBM commitment to state-based pay and benefits runs out, notes Celia Hagert, senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, who was invited to Indianapolis to debrief state officials on the Texas mess. If IBM cuts pay and benefits after two years, seasoned staff may decide to quit and go elsewhere.