Policy and Practice February 2017

Yes, the Value Curve has officially gone viral. Since 2010 when this model was introduced by Harvard, at least two dozen cities and counties and six states are explicitly using the Health and at all system levels (local-state-federal), organizational tiers (executives-man- agers-supervisors-front-line workers), and with a broad set of active partners, including public safety, higher educa-

Human Services (HHS) Value Curve to guide their strategic planning, practice model development, system-wide assessment and improvement plans, partnership development, strategic communications, staff development, or performance management activities. These ongoing efforts are serving to convert tensions between programs, entities, and systems into a shared framework and language for field-wide innovation and transformation. In the United States, it’s rare to see a nation- ally adopted framework, let alone one with sustained interest being generated

tion, business, private and nonprofit providers, other national associations, health care, and public health. The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) has been at the forefront of translating the Value Curve into a set of descriptions, examples, progress drivers, observable markers, related guidance and tools, and hands-on technical support. This is my third annual feature on the Value Curve—from decoding it, to traveling with it, to witnessing its viral spread and scale.

Illustration by Chris Campbell

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February 2017 Policy&Practice