P&P June 2016

The Human Services Value Curve

Ef ciency in Achieving Outcomes

trying new approaches, and efficacy in helping clients builds; attention to effectiveness for clients increases along with proficiency. Front-line staff must also be able to work closely together within its own teams, and the teams must have the skills and tools neces- sary to effectively interact and problem solve with other programs and depart- ments, and with external organizations and stakeholders. Such work increases the probability that programs and organizations will reach out and work with others in the community. As with individuals, a sense of efficacy increases confidence and openness to relating to others. Effective teams with a clear sense of purpose, organizational support, and a sense of their competence to improve their clients’ well-being provide plat- forms for broadening the network of relationships required to reach higher levels of the Value Curve. However, collaboration has its own traps. Similar to the regulative level, an overemphasis on process can undo proficiency. For example, spending considerable time and effort negoti- ating collaborations across programs Regulative Business Model: The focus is on serving constituents who are eligible for particular services while complying with categorical policy and program regulations. Collaborative Business Model: The focus is on supporting constituents in receiving all services for which they’re eligible by working across agency and programmatic borders. Integrative Business Model: The focus is on addressing the root causes of client needs and problems by coordinating and integrating services at an optimum level. Generative Business Model: The focus is on generating healthy communities by co-creating solutions for multi-dimensional family and socioeconomic challenges and opportunities.

Generative Business Model

Integrative Business Model

Collaborative Business Model

Outcome Frontiers

Regulative Business Model

Effectiveness in Achieving Outcomes

© The Human Services Value Curve by Antonio M. Oftelie & Leadership for a Networked World is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Based on a work at lnwprogram.org/hsvc. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at lnwprogram.org.

It must also be noted that many of the regulatory requirements that agencies confront are externally applied and beyond the control of agency leaders and staff. They must meet funder requirements. They must

comply with legal mandates. While uniformly well intended, such external pressures often result in barriers to increasing proficiency. This is particu- larly true when compliance is enforced negatively or in a punitive fashion. The Collaborative Level and Proficiency At this level, organizations are concerned with connecting across programs and agencies to improve efficiency and effectiveness. More pro- ficient organizations are likely to work toward meaningful client outcomes that cut across internal silos. They are more likely to involve teams and personnel at all levels in improvement- driven activities such as Continuous Quality Improvement. There is more emphasis on the efficacy of front-line staff as well as support for the front- line staff to learn from their errors, mistakes, and problems. At the most important end of human service organizations—the front line—staff must feel safe and confi- dent in its ability to achieve outcomes centered on client well-being. As skills develop internally, safety increases for

Anthony Hemmelgarn is an industrial and organizational

Phil Basso is the deputy director of the American Public Human Services Association. psychologist, is a research scientist at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Behavioral Health Research.

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