DEVELOP A TOOL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN SERVICE PROVIDER AGENCIES TO MONITOR PERFORMANCE, ASSESS EFFICIENCY, AND IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR COST-EFFECTIVE IMPROVEMENT

URBAN SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING, INC. (USR&E), IN COOPERATION WITH THE CENTER FOR MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, INC. ("CENTER"), PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A TOOL BY WHICH THE PERFORMANCE OF HUMAN SERVICE PROVIDER AGENCIES MAY BE ASSESSED, OPPORTUNITIES FOR COST-EFFECTIVE IMPROVEMENT IDENTIFIED AND THE "BEST PRACTICES" OF PROVIDER AGENCIES DOCUMENTED FOR REPLICATION IN OTHER SETTINGS. BASED UPON CONSULTATIONS WITH HUMAN SERVICE MANAGERS AND A REVIEW OF LITERATURE IN A NUMBER OF FIELDS, USR&E AND THE CENTER WILL DEVELOP AND PRETEST AN INSTRUMENT WHICH CAPTURES KEY DIMENSIONS OF AN AGENCY'S PERFORMANCE IN A FORM THAT WILL PERMIT COMPARISON: WITH OTHER AGENCIES, WITH THE SAME AGENCYOVER TIME, IN RELATION TO ESTABLISHED STANDARDS AND NORMS, AND AGAINST GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ESTABLISHED BY THE AGENCY. AN OPTIONAL DISSEMINATION TASK IS RECOMMENDED TO PROVIDE FORA CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE PHASE I EFFORT BY A LARGE NUMBER OF MANAGERS IN MODERATE SIZE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICE AGENCIES. THE RESULTS EXPECTED OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WOULD PERMIT A DECISION OF THE UTILITY OF THE APPROACH TO THE MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN SERVICE AGENCIES AND A DECISION AS TO THE COMMERICAL VIABILITY OF VENTURE. BOTH USR&E AND THE CENTER ARE QUALIFIED AND COMMITTED TO THIS EFFORT.