WASHINGTON STATE’SGOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM

What is GMAP?

Amy Astle-Raaen, MSW

Children’s Administration Supervisors Training

April 21, 2009

Showing Improvements and Increased Accountability

Increased accountability is everywhere in government these days

From the Federal “Government Performance and Results Act of 1993” to Medicaid’s “Pay for Performance” program there is increasing pressure on government to show the public that they are not wasting taxpayer money.

In Washington our Governor understands that state government agencies have cut themselves to the bone and are doing all they can.

But she has gone further and asked state agencies to show that clearly to the taxpayers.

She has mandated the Government Management Accountability and Performance program, or GMAP, to show simply and with data that agencies are managing their

programs effectively and to solve problems collectively

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What Topics are Covered?

Current Topic Areas are:

Economic Vitality

Health Care*

Vulnerable Children and Adults*

Public Safety*

Transportation

Government Efficiency*

Environment (Puget Sound clean-up)

WorkFirst*

* DSHS is involved in these forums

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GMAP Principles

1. Engage the leaders at the top of the organization

2. Effective measures require clarity on: which programs and services are expected to change

how agencies will use measure to manage programs and get results

3. Develop and use timely and accurate data to set targets and inform decisions

4. Reward candor and creativity

5. When the data indicates that action is needed, clearly specify action steps, leads, and deadlines

6. Persistent follow-up and clear accountability

7. Create a continuous learning environment (use process improvement tools)

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This is not GMAP…7

Learning Opportunity:

How efficient are your processes? What stands in the way of increasing the agencies effectiveness?

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Success Stories: Foster Care

IncreasingCaseload Size

Increased time to respond to emergencies

or home visits

Decreasing number of Case Workers

Increasedmaltreatment

of kids

DecreasingCaseload Size

Decreased maltreatment

of kids

Hired/trained/addedCase Workers

Decreased time to respondMore home visits

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Children’s Administration Performance Measures10

11Children’s Administration Performance Measures

12Children’s Administration Performance Measures

13Children’s Administration Performance Measures

14Children’s Administration Performance Measures

Remember, performance is not only reported to the Governor and her Cabinet

There are internal DSHS GMAP sessions coordinated at headquarters

Different regions and offices within the Children’s Administration have their own performance reporting activities

15Different Levels of Reporting Performance

USING PERFORMANCE MEASURES TO MANAGE

Goals of Today’s Training

Understand your Administration’s core performance measures and how these measures align with the expectations you have set for your team members

Help set and manage expectations for your team using performance measures

Identify conditions that may affect employee performance

Provide tools and recommendations for incorporating these conditions into employees’ performance reviews

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Recognizing extenuating factors is necessary when reviewing an employee’s performance

External conditions can affect Performance

External conditions are felt among all team members; not just one employee

External conditions can be broken down into two types: Macro and Micro Factors.

Examples of Macro Economic Factors:

Increased Unemployment rates equates to Increased caseload

Stock Market and Recession equates to increased volatility

Examples of Micro Economic Factors:

Prolonged Adverse weather conditions not common to the area

State Hiring Freeze

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Recognizing extenuating factors is necessary when reviewing an employee’s performance

Internal conditions can also affect performance

Are the caseload sizes similar? Are the distances traveled comparable among employees? Is the caseload mix similar?

% of ICPC (Interstate Compact Cases) % of ICW (Child is alleged or determined to be Native American) % of Chemically dependent cases (two sub-categories: Adult or Child) % of Mental Health cases (two sub-categories: Adult or Child) % of LEP cases (Limited English Proficiency—sub-categorize the types

of languages within caseload) % of cases where Child has 4 or more placements

How does the employee’s caseload compare to the team average? How does the employee’s caseload compare to someone of equal

seniority and training within the Administration?

If any of these conditions vary among the team members, then assessing ones performance against the whole team OR against each other doesn’t give the supervisor a true and accurate picture of the individual employee performance

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How to use this information effectively

Since all caseloads have varying conditions, it’s important to identify and if possible, quantify the differences between the team’s caseload and Regional caseload.(see demographic pie chart)

Similarly, compare each individual member caseload with the team caseload.

By identifying and tracking these individual and team differences, the supervisor will be able to review the past experiences and predict, within limits, how the caseload processes *may* be expected to vary in the future.

Additionally, through tracking the Supervisor can begin to see whether the variation is related to general process issues or individual performance issues.

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Example of quantifying data: Caseload characteristics/demographics

Regular – Cases with no variables; limitations

LEP – Limited English Proficiency

Legal Cases – Court Waiting

ICPC – Interstate Compact Cases

ICW – Native American

Chem.Dep – Chemical Dependency

2 subcategories/child or parent

Mental Health – 2 subcategories/child or parent

Ch.>4 Place – Children who have 4 or more placements

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How to use this information effectively

Make 3 comparisons to the employee’s caseload Employee caseload to the team caseload Employee caseload to another employee from the same classification and years of service Employee’s caseload against self; reviewing snapshot of current caseload and if possible, comparing

current caseload against any historical caseload data for same employee

Be aware of the difference between “normal variation” and “change in the performance” within your team and individual caseloads. Not every up or down in the data is significant! Reacting to every up or down as if it were a significant event is guaranteed to waste resources and

quickly de-motivate staff Meeting or exceeding a target may simply be due to how the target was set

In addition to keeping track of the quantifiable data (i.e. caseload make-up, number of visits, miles traveled per visit), a supervisor should also track changes within a team (both team and individual information). A significant events calendar can be used to track these changes

While tracking can become tedious, it does help in the PDP writing process. As a supervisor, if you see anemployee’s performance drop, review your monthly calendar and caseload demographics to see what, if any changes occurred that could help explain the drop in performance.

Your PDP’s become less intimidating for employees and future performance planning is simplified.

Employee’s benefit in that targets are more tangible and realistic. Employees can see and track their own successes, thus feel successful; not de-motivated.

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Example of Significant Event Calendar

Jan Feb Mar

April

May June

July

Aug Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

New Hire No caseload

New Hire given 25% caseload. In training 2/3 month

Team caseload increased by 400 cases. Team has > 100 cases

Jerry on vacation for 2 months. Caseload retained in team

WAMU closed down; State hiring freeze in place.

Helpful HintsTrack increases and decreases in caseloads. Are your team case load numbers aligned with the rest of the office?Have you lost or hired staff? Prolonged vacations? Prolonged Illnesses?

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Thank you

Amy Astle-Raaen, MSWPlanning and Performance Analyst

Planning, Performance and Accountability Department of Social and Health Services

1115 Washington StP.O. Box 45011

Olympia, WA 98504-5011(360) 902-8293

astleae@dshs.wa.gov

For more information visit the GMAP website: http://www.accountability.wa.gov/default.asp

or the DSHS Intranet GMAP website:http://ppa.dshs.wa.lcl