Four Local Governments Recognized for Management
Excellencen
Federal managers, employees eligible for $2,500
award
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| FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE :
April 28, 2004
CONTACT: Ian Koski, Director of Public
Policy & Communications |703-894-0481 | [email protected] |
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SAN DIEGO – The Performance Institute today recognized
four local governments for innovative management practices
that have led to increased transparency, accountability
and program performance.
“City and county governments have come up with
creative and efficient solutions to their budget shortfalls
and they deserve to be commended,” said Carl DeMaio,
President of The Performance Institute, today at the
2004 City and County Innovations Summit. “More
importantly, those solutions need to be shared with
managers in other municipalities so they can be adapted
and applied.”
The City and County Performance Management Awards program
recognized achievements made between April 2001 and
April 2004. Nominations were submitted to the Performance
Institute from city and county governments of all sizes
and from across the country.
The awards, and their winners, are:
Innovations in Public-Private Partnerships (San
Diego County, California)
The Innovations in Public-Private Partnerships Award
recognizes a local government that has initiated an
innovative public-private partnership that has reduced
costs and increased service delivery to citizens.
San Diego County's CalWORKS and the Child Assessment
Network North (CANN) programs were honored for their
approach to performance-based contracting, in which
community-based providers are paid based on performance.
This approach helps get the best results for the least
amount of taxpayer dollars.
CalWORKS provides case management services to help
adults leave welfare and get jobs. San Diego County’s
unique model, established in 2000, brings nonprofit
and for-profit agencies together to provide employment
services in four of six regions in the county, and
the County provides services to the remaining two
regions. This allows best practices and outcomes to
be shared and compared.
CANN was established in 2003 to help place foster
children from San Diego’s North County in foster
homes in their neighborhoods, to minimize the trauma
of separation from their families. Community based
providers ensure that children are placed in the most
suitable homes. CANN also encourages residents to
step forward as foster parents by offering incentives
for keeping foster children in North County and in
a stable home as long as possible.
Transparent Budget (Hamilton County, Ohio)
The Transparent Budget Award recognizes municipalities
that have integrated performance data into budgets
and increased the overall transparency for cost of
government service.
Hamilton County was selected because its:
• Budget is organized by program activity with
performance data integrated throughout
• Activity-based costing system benefits the
public through a clear identification of the costs
of government services
• Performance measures (included by programs)
include: an objective; demand (i.e. potential workload);
workload (i.e. work actually completed); an efficiency/cost
measure; and an effectiveness/outcome measure
• Budget provides information on the impact
of budget cuts
• Program measures are linked to department-wide
and County-wide goals and mission
• Hiring requests require the department to
present measures that justify it
• Departments must assess how resource allocations
affect service delivery
Overall Performance Management (Fairfax County,
Virginia, and Miami-Dade County, Florida)
The Performance Management Award recognizes outstanding
contributions in performance-based management in the
five core function areas: strategic planning, budgeting,
human resources management, information technology
and procurement/contracting.
Fairfax County was selected because its system for
strategic planning and budgeting:
• Enables funding of priorities that directly
support agency strategic goals and the County’s
“Vision” elements
• Clearly articulates funding decisions to County
citizens
• Creates measures of County-wide success in
meeting the County’s “Vision” Elements
• Improves tracking of agency progress toward
desired outcomes
• Identifies common goals that cut across agencies
• Benchmarks the County’s performance
in key areas to other jurisdictions
• Presents budget information in a more user-friendly
format, which improves readability
Miami-Dade County was selected because its development
of county-wide goals and measures displayed the following
characteristics:
• County-wide priorities and mission statement
is based on focus groups and workshops.
• Annual agency business plans are aligned to
city-wide strategic goals and measures.
• Its budget is linked to priorities and results.
• Several methodologies are used to measure
and analyze performance, including community surveys,
“secret shopper” programs, and a 311 answer
center.
• The County is employing strategies to ensure
accountability and transparency to public, including
quarterly reporting and management performance appraisals.
• The County Manager has endorsed an overall
change in organizational culture.
The Performance Institute is a private, nonpartisan
think tank improving government results through the
principles of performance, competition, transparency,
and accountability. The Institute serves as the nation’s
leading authority and repository for on performance-based
management practices for government agencies. Our mission
is to identify, study and disseminate the leading management
innovations pioneered by ‘best-in-class’
public-sector organizations.
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