From My Perspective: Food for Thought

            In January, I was honored to be part of a group of key individuals who presented Governor-Elect Jon S. Corzine with our recommendations for how the Governor could address the urgent and serious problems inherent in New Jersey’s current Child Welfare system.

            We had a lively, intense debate about the issues, and we were very pleased with the results.  Not only did the report address short-term needs and possible fixes, but, more importantly, it also included recommendations for development and implementation of a long-term vision and a clear policy for New Jersey that, if acted upon, could create a different life for the many children, youth, and families in our state.

            By now many of you may be familiar with the contents of the report and our recommendations. For those of you who are not, if you click on the link at the bottom of this column, you can read the report in its entirety.

            What I want to discuss is the fact that the work of transition groups in just about every area of state government has been almost totally and immediately overshadowed by the budget crisis New Jersey is facing. This crisis has cast a shadow over all our exciting and good work, and to a certain degree has caused panic among the people of this state that life isn’t going to go on in the same way that it has in the past.

            As Mao Tse Tsung once observed “Storm clouds are gathering, chaos is everywhere, conditions are perfect.” Of course we know what he had in mind, but how does this apply to the budget crisis we’re facing? And what good can possibly come of it?

            In New Jersey vernacular, how can we make lemonade….?

            There are several ways to deal with a budget crisis. We can raise taxes, cut programs and services, or find alternative revenue sources. While I am a proponent of efficient government and, at times, can be a supporter of tax increases if they are fair, I would view the budget crisis as the only time that might exist to confront some of the fundamental social patterns/policies and structural issues that are driving our deficit. This fact has lead me to think of what we didn’t talk about in the transition report.

Social Policy:

            Two major social policy issues need to be addressed. The first regards the disproportionate share of our spending that is devoted to picking up the pieces of shattered lives well after help could have averted the crisis. Study after study shows that too many of our citizens are incarcerated or institutionalized and too many lives are being lost through entry into this public management system quagmire. We must invest in prevention and promotion of family success now!

            The second issue concerns our over reliance on costly, long-term citizen dependence on such public services as unnecessary institutionalization in nursing homes, or developmental centers or out-of-state facilities, instead of community alternatives, or the locking away of our kids in detention facilities because we have no other ways to effectively serve them. This fact is especially critical where kids are concerned. To my way of thinking we are simply throwing children away and contributing to their careers of life-long public dependency.

            Right now the Human Services portion consumes more than half of the state budget (this includes Welfare and Medicaid.) If you add in related expenses from such areas as Corrections and others, the overall expense is even higher and more staggering. Increasingly research shows that if kids don’t get what they need when they are young, it is most likely that they will enter into careers of crime, distress and long-term government dependency.

            This level of expenditure begs the question about whether we are spending this money wisely or not and if the money we are spending in this manner is having any significant impact on the problems. And, just as important, our over reliance on unnecessary congregate care is not only expensive but robs people of their dignity, productivity and quality of life.

Structural Issues:
           
            In the human services industry and child and family services sector of that industry, in particular, we have created massive duplication, bureaucratic fiefdoms, as well as fragmentation of planning bodies, service delivery components, administrative functions, contracting methods, and management information systems.  All of these are incredibly expensive to maintain, incredibly ineffective, and incredibly frustrating for both citizens and well-intentioned reformers.
           
            The budget crisis presents an opportunity to imagine a more effective and efficient method of planning, allocating, spending and accounting for scarce financial resources. This window of opportunity for structural change is there if we have the will, skill and fortitude to seize it. Changing the current structure of the system would allow us to operate more effectively and efficiently and satisfy citizen concerns that their hard-earned tax dollars are being used wisely.

            If we have the will to honestly listen to citizens and consumers of services about what kinds of support and help would be most useful to them, as well as offering them simplified and convenient methods of accessing and participating in their service planning, then more effective, efficient and responsive public services will emerge.

            Structural changes in the bureaucratic jungle of is state government, driven by local service systems built on the voices of local citizens, will yield not only cost savings, but also better results.

The Solution:

            We need to seize the day.

            The budget crisis is upon us. We can keep our social policies and structures the same and achieve more stress, or we can channel the energy created by the budget crisis to fuel those changes that will have the best ability to transform the way we currently do business.

            From a Governor’s perspective these solutions are both mind-boggling, in terms of the politics of “vested interests,” and daunting in terms of the implementation challenges these solutions represent. They also do not represent immediate fixes.

            However, I was very heartened to hear that Governor Corzine, while committed to short-term solutions to deal with the crisis currently faced by this state, has also indicated commitment to this longer-term effort others and I are suggesting. And, I am confident, should he make this commitment, he will find many colleagues and companions who will support him if he is willing to honestly address the social policy issues and structural change implications discussed here and use these ideas to bring about financial and social change.
           
To read the full report of the Governor’s Child Welfare Transition Team click on: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/home/transition_reports.html.