Change Lives and Tell the World

 A presentation to the Mental Health

Services Oversight and Accountability Commission

By James P. MayerExecutive Director, New California

Network(Former Executive Director, Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on

California State Government Organization and Economy)

 

Restore Lives, Restore Public

Confidence Tremendous progress so far and are

headed in the right direction.

Important to do one-year assessment.

The Commission’s role is essential …

… and it is cutting-edge governance.

This is a Critical Moment

Californians do not think their money is well spent.

Progress results from increasing productivity.

The public expect public agencies to be responsive, competent and accountable.

CA Government Must Evolve

Public programs must focus on results.

Program strategies must rely on evidence-based best practices.

Outcomes must be measured and publicly reported.

Data must be used to refine policies and practices.

Potential Benefits

Barriers to improvement will be identified – and movable.

Outcomes will be improved.

The public’s confidence will increase.

Success will be replicated in other services.

Typical Challenges

Multiple agencies involved with muddled authorities.  

Budget and policy-making practices are not performance-based.  

Inadequate data and evidence-based practices.

No leverage to move resources to where they will do the most good.  

Specific Challenges

The trappings of a stakeholder board.

The variety of functions.

The inexactitude of hierarchy.

Challenges as Opportunities

Be clear, precise and persistent about goals and objectives.

Align functions, internal organization, and standards of practice to goals.

Define collaborative relationships predicated on a commitment to results.

Generate trust with a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability. 

Toward Accountability

All Californians are your audience and consider them shareholders.

Sync up the knowledge that guides your responsibilities: reviewing, approving, advising, reporting and educating.

Integrate efforts to educate people about mental illness with credible information on the effectiveness of responses to mental illness.

Conclusion

All eyes are on Proposition 63: Will this make a difference and was it worth it?

The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission can be the new breed of state agencies that drives improvement.

This is a Critical Moment

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

Niccolo Machiavelli