Remaking DHS

Any doubters of the importance to Maine of overhauling the state’s two major social service departments need only look at the crowd of fellow citizens in the state capitol this week protesting cuts made necessary, in part, because of inaccurate budgeting and inefficient service in those departments. Badly needed programs that provide care, offer therapy and training are imperiled, not entirely because of the current setup in these departments but partly, and that should not be acceptable to any legislator.

Led by former Labor Commissioner Valerie Landry, the governor’s council assigned to figure out how to restructure the departments of Human Services and Behavioral and Developmental Services had a huge challenge – financial uncertainty compounded by management problems compounded by complaints from the public about service. Yesterday, they offered 10 essential ways to improve service while reducing cost and improving the morale of clients, staff and contractors. The recommendations are admirable.

One-stop shopping, one of the recommendations, has been around state government for a decade. The idea being that someone needing services has just a single number to call to get answers for any issue. The council usefully added the idea of “no wrong door,” which means that no matter how people contact the new department they won’t be told they have the wrong office. They’ll get service. It’s a small change technically, but an overhaul culturally, and it comes as part of the council’s emphasis on accountability, including the necessity of gathering meaningful data. That seems obvious, but the amount of purposeless data collection throughout state government is astonishing.

Some of the other recommendations from the council will seem self-evident – “high-level, focused, professional financial management” and “streamline administration” – but they are both very important and very hard to accomplish. They depend on leadership within the administration, which must be determined to watch the merger process closely, appoint officials eager to carry out the terms of the council’s recommendations and be willing to make changes as new information emerges. Government isn’t always complicated, but sometimes it takes enormous will to carry out.

Among the recommendations on changing the culture, the council mentioned “the perception that repercussions or retaliation could occur to people or organizations that complain about the departments.” This was certainly a difficult recognition for council members. While also recognizing “a number of anecdotes about staff that exemplify the principles of customer service and professionalism,” this statement supports a reason behind the lack of reform earlier. DHS staff may not have always realized it, but its power intimidated families and contractors. Sometimes the mere culture of DHS carried the threat. Getting rid of this fear will do more for accountability than anything else, and the council was smart to include it.

Merger of the new department will take time, with financial savings not coming for perhaps several years. More important is changing the way the services are being provided, from direct care givers to the back office. The recommendations seem to do that ably, and deserve broad support to begin the long process of reform.