How Can We Transform Human Service Systems?
The big question is: how can provider organizations and service systems be transformed and how can this be done in the midst of continuing to provide services? It is relatively easy to change the nature of services being delivered (e.g. use funding mechanisms to severely limit more restrictive residential services and invest in more family based and community based services). It is much more difficult to change the quality of services being delivered and sustain those changes over time; yet improving access to quality services is a major goal of any transformation effort. However, system change can be done and it has been done in provider organizations and in whole systems. A new system can be incubated, protected, and allowed to grow while the old system continues to operate. Eventually, the new replaces the old in its entirety. With a focused and determined effort, we believe that this could be done in any given state in less than five years.
