Accountability Plans

The public is demanding ever greater accountability of our public work.

Accountability Plans

Provide explicit rationales for decision-making when:

1. Choosing the program/project goals (outcomes of public and private value)

2. Identifying the target of change needed to reach goal(s)

3. Selecting the methods to achieve the change

4. Determining what success means

Accountability Plans: Two Faces

Detailed ever changing planning and development guidance document

for decision-making during planning, design, development, delivery and evaluation

regarding the effective and efficient use of resources (formative accountability)

Accountability Plans: Two Faces

Summary briefing states: Program/project main features and

processes Rationale for the program (why this, why

us, why is this important) Summary of outcomes - success and

failure (summative accountability)

For external stakeholders prior to, during and after the program/project

Accountability Planning is Powerful…

Formative Accountability

During planning, development and delivery document and find new ways to:

Increase efficiency of $, personnel, and resources

Leverage external resources Ensure effectively designed outputs Align outputs to desired public and private

outcomes

Accountability Planning is Powerful…

Summative Accountability

Provides transparent documentation of rationale for decision-making and measures of success for:

Funders and Authorizers Participants and those who pay for their

participation Public and private value Organization/Agency/Institution

Meeting The Triple Bottom Line for Public Work:

1. Agency/Organizational Mission

2. Financial/resources/organizational sustainability

3. Outcomes of public and private value

D. Herzfeld, 2000

Proposal

For a National Workshop

CTAG Work Group

Looking for ways to facilitate state C&T & PSEP programs in the implementation of organizational, state, and EPA performance measures

Dean Herzfeld, chair

Kathy Dictor

Carol Ramsay

Tim Drake

Proposal

National level workshopParticipants are state teams

– 1 SLA & 1 CES participant per teamMultiday program

Instructional Design

Hands on-learningCase study discussionsEach team develops an Accountability

Plan for a small real project of their choice

Workshop – Accountability Plans

Generic public sector version ‘business plan’ (Center for Farm Financial Management, U of MN) as a guide to…

Workshop – Accountability Plans

Generic public sector version of a ‘business plan’ Center for Farm Financial Management, U of MN) as a guide to…

Connect the boxes of the Logic Model (U of WI) for program/project design and implementation…

Workshop – Accountability Plans

Generic public sector ‘business plan’ (Center for Farm Financial Management, U of MN) as a public enterprise guide to…

Connect the boxes of the Logic Model (U of WI) for program/project design and implementation…

To maximize the public value return on investment via the Triple Bottom Line for Public Work*

*(P. Hutchinson, M. Moore, D. Herzfeld, others)

Proposal

We are using Accountability Planning in the development of this proposal….

…a critical step is to have you share your thoughts, ideas, value and suggestions

regarding the proposal

Discussion

1. Do you think an AP (full or partial) is a useful investment of time for your program/project?

2. Would you consider taking time to attend a multi-day course (3-4 days)?

Discussion

3. How much time in the course would you dedicate to: Overview/background/concepts? Hands-on logic model development

and critique? Development of each component of

the generic Accountability Plan?

Discussion

4. Would you be willing to pay a registration fee to bring in the "current experts in the field”?

5. Is there another topic of interest for training?

6. Does it outrank a course on Accountability Planning?