Leading people off the cliff…one inefficiency at a time.

 Valley Mental Health in Salt Lake City, Utah just announced that 100 jobs will be cut before December 31st  as a result of funding constraints. What will happen to the people who turned to them for services?

Valley Mental Health is just one piece of the big picture. This big picture is what an October, 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation called the transition from a "crunch to a cliff." In difficult economic times, more people turn to social services for help, whether it is for health (e.g., Medicaid), mental health, housing, job services, or other needs. As part of the American Recovery and Re-investment Act of 2009—the stimulus package—many social service organizations received large sums of money to meet the increasing needs. In turn, more people are receiving more services, funded by the government. But, what happens to organizations and individuals when eligibility for those funds ends on December 31, 2010?

The party will keep going until life support ends…and the funding plug is pulled. Then, organizations will be serving even more clients, but left without the funds that brought them that far. They’ll be led on an “all-expenses-paid” trip to the moon, only to be left alone–deserted, broke, and without resources—right along with their clients. These organizations will have weathered the crunch, only to be taken to the cliff.

Standing on the edge of a cliff is not where organizations want to be, but I see some solutions: Greater Efficiency and Accountability. Social service organizations need to consider fundamental changes in how they do business. Efficiency is not an option anymore…it’s the line that separates the “gets” from the “get nots” in the funding world. So many hallmarks of how social services were conducted yesterday—paper and pencil assessments, filing cabinets filled with brown case files, lengthy referrals, onerous hours of reporting—are funding liabilities in today’s world, simply because those antiquated practices do not represent the highest levels of efficiency available. Funds are more limited than they have been in the past, and funders will be considering where they can get the biggest social bang for their shrunken social bucks. That’s where efficiency matters—maximizing performance and outcomes with minimal resources. The organization that can increase efficiency will be the organization that keeps its head above water in a stormy lake of limited funds. Providing efficiency is one of the critical advantages where ClientTrack stands out.

The second suggestion is accountability and transparency. Accountability and transparency are new realities for social service organizations, and they won’t be easing up at all in the future. Government entities and foundations have been more carefully scrutinized by the public regarding their budgets and how they spend their money. In turn, they have more carefully scrutinized the organizations receiving their funds. “Feel good” stories are no longer sufficient cause for social service organizations to receive funds, no matter how noble the cause. Instead, measurable outcomes that validate the value of services offered have become the standard. The organizations that can measure the impact of their services, report their outcomes in clear, understandable terms, and show they are making a difference in their communities will be the organizations that survive. Again, this is why ClientTrack is so vital for social service organizations…ClientTrack excels in providing accountability (i.e., required reports) and measurable outcomes that show the value of an organization’s services to the communities they serve.

There are some tough times ahead for social service organizations. This is a matter of survival for many organizations: become more efficient, accountable, and transparent, and you might make it…Don’t do these things, and you definitely won’t. You may end up standing at the edge of a cliff to nowhere. ClientTrack is the survival—and “thrival”—kit for social service organizations. That’s why we do what we do.