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Joint Fall Training Conference Notes

Track 3: Emerging Policy Issues

Emerging Issues in Electronic Government
Public Safety and Criminal Justice
Health and Human Services, A Summary
Emerging Trends in Public Education

Emerging Issues in Electronic Government

Moderator: Martha Carter, Program Evaluation Analyst, Legislative Research Division, Nebraska

Carolyn Purcell, Executive Director, Dept. of Information Resources, Texas

Ms. Purcell presented the stages of moving towards e-Government as a set of stairs. In the Brochureware stage, electronic information is published on the Internet, which is good for open government except that not every citizen has access. Risks at this stage include privacy and the need to manage content (keeping it accurate, secure, and up to date). Ms. Purcell commented that the state’s web page is like a state employee – citizens rely on it to provide them with accurate information. In the Interaction stage, information is exchanged online, so government services are available around the clock, from a "bureaubot" instead of a bureaucrat. Here, issues include cost recovery, and data integrity is even more important. As governments move into the Portal stage, boundaries between government agencies become transparent to citizens, for whom there is no wrong door into state services. Jurisdictional boundaries will blur and may realign. Executive support is critical for success at the Portal stage, and relationships between agencies must be managed and maintained. The next step on the stairs is Transformation, which takes the state to "The Digital State," where government will be reinvented from the outside in. Agencies and jurisdictions will reengineer to accommodate citizens’ views, boundaries will disappear, and access will be universal.

The most important obstacle to progress up this flight of stairs is the digital divide. This includes geographic, economic, educational, disability, and language barriers that prevent some citizens from having access to government services provided over the Internet.

In Texas, the vision is "…every Texan has an ‘account’ with state government accessible through a portal customized for his or her use, and that transitions into other jurisdictions seamlessly. A state where personal privacy is paramount, where a citizen can appear virtually before a board, legislative committee or participate in a public hearing and even cast a vote electronically. It includes rural communities as vibrant contributors where people can live and work."
 

Steven Birnholz, Legislative Policy Analyst, OPPAGA, Florida

Mr. Birnholz said Florida is moving towards the Portal stage of development. Numerous agencies already have web pages, and OPPAGA itself is using "push" technology to sent information out to users instead of waiting for them to come and get it. The Florida Monitor Weekly is an electronic newsletter highlighting research reports, policy papers, website launches, and other resources for policy research and program evaluation, and it has over 900 subscribers in a variety of settings.

Florida’s vision, stated by the Governor on July 24, 2000, is that "MyFlorida.com will bring the content of over 150 state government web sites into one digital environment and will over the course of the next two years transition governmental goods, services, and functionality to an online environment. The future of on-line, one step access to Florida government begins today."

Mr. Birnholz discussed issues for evaluators on two levels: project level evaluation, and government-wide evaluation. At the project level, the evaluator should review whether the system was developed correctly, with a strong business case and using a recognized development methodology, including monitoring deliverables and obtaining customer input. In addition, the evaluator should see whether the system was developed correctly, and provided an example of a site where the citizen must translate a driver’s license number into another code in order to use the site’s services. A third question is whether the site is successful. Government-wide evaluation questions include whether there is a sound overall strategy, and assessment of issues such as privacy, security, technology, and governance.
 

Elisabeth Kersten, Director, Senate Office of Research, California

Ms. Kersten characterized California as being in the brochureware stage. However, California is also moving into e-politics, with three sites identified for trying online voting next election.

Applying the e-business model to government would mean government would use technology to fundamentally change, or reengineer, its operations. Government, though, faces obstacles that prevent it from moving as fast as business. For example, California has moved much of its government service delivery responsibility to the county level, which makes it harder to track outcomes. This deprives government of an immediate feedback loop, necessary to quick change.

Technology can enable government entities to share data. For example, they will be able to determine whether distribution of services is appropriate by tracking expenditures geographically, using a GIS system to determine whether each community is getting its fair share.

Travel reduction, including elimination of in-person meetings, will be a big impact of the Internet in the future. Legislators will still need to have personal contact with their constituents, but staff can conduct business without long trips to the other end of the state.

In California, an Innovation Council is working on developing and generating new ideas. Collaboration is a priority. The Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsors a clearinghouse for states to use, where they can obtain information about software, systems, and other technology.

Ms. Kersten listed several implications of the Internet:

• Transforming Legislatures, making them more responsive
• Sharing information between the Legislature and the Executive Branch
• Staff can serve more people
• Telecommuting, leading to higher productivity according to research
• More horizontal communication, "no one in charge" – skills matter more than the title
• Improved morale due to increased access to information, since more knowledge is more power

Public Safety and Criminal Justice

Moderator: Joel Alter, Office of the Legislative Auditor, Minnesota

Speaker: Wayne Scott, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Panelists: Robert Bruce, Louisiana Office of the Legislative Auditor and Lynn Watkins, Mississippi Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review

Mr. Wayne Scott identified four emerging trends in the criminal justice/public safety arena:

1. The increase in the prison population – In Texas, the Criminal Justice Policy Council (an independent agency) performs the prison population projections. Its projections show a continued increase in the prison population. Mr. Scott indicated that this is particularly hard for the Department of Criminal Justice because they have no control over the population. Specifically, they do not control the front door (sentencing and revocations) or the back door (parole approval). He indicated that there will be a continued need for prison beds, but that Texas is also looking at intermediate facilities for revocations.
2. The need for evaluation of the correctional system – As we move toward performance based funding, there is a need for accountability and understanding of what programs work. Mr. Scott indicated that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is taking an active role in seeking out evaluations to ensure they use their resources wisely. They want to know how effective their programs are.
3. The increased use and effectiveness of DNA testing – The use of DNA testing to will continue to increase. Most states require only convicted sex offenders to provide DNA samples, but many are moving toward obtaining samples from more categories of convicted felons. Seven states currently obtain samples from all felons. Mr. Scott indicated that a DNA 2000 coalition led by the Austin Chief of Police would like to see DNA testing become part of the booking process. He also indicated that perhaps in the future, felons such as convicted sex offenders may be required to have a computer chip implanted in them that would identify them and allow law enforcement to track their location.
4. The rise in special needs groups – Along with the increase in the prison population, we are also seeing a rise in special needs groups, stated Mr. Scott. The prison population is getting older and has additional medical needs. Prison populations are also experiencing an increase in female offenders, mentally impaired individuals, and youthful offenders.

Ms. Lynn Watkins started off her talk by stating crime will always be with us. She indicated that in Mississippi, they have a separate corrections auditor, and that auditing correctional facilities is more than an 8 to 5 job. In Mississippi, they too are experiencing an increase in the prison population. Truth and sentencing has had a lot to do with the increase as felons must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. Therefore, parole is being phased out. To deal with the increase, Mississippi is searching for alternatives to prison. Mississippi requires a cost per inmate per day study to be conducted each year and they have contracted with a CPA firm to complete this review. They will continue to evaluate the correctional system to keep abreast of the changes they are seeing. Mississippi is also experiencing an increase in the female and elderly prison population.

Mr. Robert Bruce indicated that they completed a performance audit of adult and juvenile correctional facilities. Mr. Bruce confirmed that Louisiana’s prison population is also growing. He indicated that they have 35,000 adult inmates now and they expect the population to grow by an additional 7,000 inmates over the next four years. Mr. Bruce indicated that it costs them about $35 a day to house their adult felons. However, this cost did not include all the expenses of running the system. Therefore, they recommended that the Department of Corrections develop a cost model that would include all costs, and if necessary they should obtain cost information from outside agencies that provide services such as educational services. In Louisiana, they also found that privatization of juvenile correctional facilities has not worked. Juveniles under these private facilities encountered abusive situations, and received inadequate education and substance abuse treatment services. The facilities were also skimping on food and clothing. On the flip side, they have had success with privately run adult facilities. Mr. Bruce shared some lessons that they learned. First, there is a serious lack of information in the prison system so we need to push for corrections to gather more data. Second, although interviewing inmates can be interesting it is not very fruitful. Mr. Bruce also mentioned a couple of emerging trends they are seeing in Louisiana. First, there is an increased use of drug courts and therefore, we may need to evaluate their effectiveness. In addition, Louisiana is also experiencing an increase in youthful offenders, so there is a need to assist them with acclimating to adult facilities and providing tools to help reduce recidivism.

Health and Human Services, A Summary

Moderator: Martha Carter, Nebraska

Presenter: Pat Devin, Associate Commissioner of Health and Human Services, TX

Panelists: Mary Noble, CA, Manu Patel, NM
 

Pat Devin, Associate Commissioner of Health and Human Services, TX

Several contextual factors have influenced the way in which we look at Health and Human Services issues. These include:

• The smallest federal workforce since 1960;
• An emphasis on consumer services has decreased the gap between public satisfaction with pubic versus private providers;
• An increased focus on outcomes;
• The realization that while some still say human services is an art and not a science, it can indeed be evaluated;
• An increased focus on devolution and contracting for services. However, the Brookings Institution does not believe government has done well to prepare to manage service delivery; especially when provided by outside contractors.

There is also a projected increase in the high risk and high demand populations such as the aged, the disabled, the impoverished, and the uninsured. Each population possesses different demands for health and human service systems. A more aged population will increase social security pressures and increase the demand for long-term care services. The demand for other age-related services like home and community based systems and diabetes prevention will continue to increase.

The disabled population will increase from 29.0 million in 2000 to 46.1 million in 2030. There also will be increases in the population of uninsured individuals; especially among children and the working poor. A shift away from rural areas to urban areas is also anticipated in the future. Those who stay in the rural setting may have reduced access to needed services.

Other factors such as technology, economics, devolution, and privatization will also change the nature of delivering human services. The field of technology is advancing faster than government can keep up. This creates both opportunities and challenges for improving human services, enhancing business processes, and addressing criticisms.

The devolution and privatization forces make it difficult to evaluate programs that are very different in each community setting. This contributes to a focus on outcome-based evaluation.

Several policy areas will be of increasing importance to states including:

• Investments in prevention activities;
• Welfare reform;
• Community-based services;
• Uninsured populations;
• Accurate measurements of performance and accountability standards; and
• Maintenance of an adequate workforce.

Mr. Patel’s comments related to work recently performed evaluating New Mexico’s Medicaid Managed Care program.

Of all NM citizens enrolled, 67 percent are enrolled in the managed care program. FY 2000 projected expenditures for the managed care program are 46 percent of the $1,209.2 million total estimated for the Medicaid program.

The Legislative Finance Committee reviewed the managed care program and concluded that:

• Substantial cost savings have not materialized;
• 7,800 member months had been duplicated via dual eligibility which resulted in $3.6 million over payment to the managed care organizations;
• improper charges were made by school districts to the Medicaid in the Schools program; and
• the timeliness of payments to providers had improved.

Ms. Noble discussed the emerging issues in the context of California’s experience. California is experiencing the fastest growth in the elderly population over 85 of any state. The Governor has proposed a program called Aging with Dignity to help elderly persons stay with their families, increase the availability of community care, and improve the quality of nursing home care in the state. The University of California was charged with collecting information on what services are available to assist the elderly and compile that information into a database by 2002. The Department of Health and Human Services will then review that data and create a plan of action.

The growth in ethnic diversity is felt in California as well. No one ethnic group is a majority. More languages are spoken and more legislators have varying ethnic backgrounds. One implication for the California State Auditor’s Office is a new focus on hiring persons who speak more than one language. The state also created the California Commission on Human Relations to study how peoples from varying backgrounds can relate better.

Finally, in the areas of technology, California has had to face the challenges of human services information systems that do not interface and have had problems finding adequate numbers of information technology (IT) staff. The Auditor’s Office is looking at IT projects across the state and plans a best practices focus to their report. The office is also looking to hire more persons with some IT skills.

Emerging Trends in Public Education

Moderator: Senator James, Mississippi Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review

Summary:

Jim Nelson, Texas Commissioner of Education

Commissioner Nelson provided an overview of Texas’ public education accountability and assessment system. Texas has taken a three prong approach for reforming public education:

• Strengthen the state curriculum;
• Use of an appropriate assessment system; and
• Use of an accountability system for public schools.

The assessment system currently used by Texas public schools is known as the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, or TAAS. Students are tested in grades 3 through 8, and also in grade 10. During the most recent school year, 1.8 million students were tested, with 79% passing. Since TAAS was first implemented, the number of children passing has increased and the performance gaps between different racial groups has narrowed. In addition, the number of exemptions granted has decreased thought special education exemptions have slightly increased.

The Texas’ accountability system is known as the Academic Excellence Indicator System, or AEIS. This system includes annual ratings of school districts based on TAAS scores and dropout rates. School districts are given one of four ratings based on TAAS scores and dropout rates:

• Exemplary (90% TAAS pass rate, and <1.0% drop out rate)
• Recognized (80% TAAS pass rate, and <3.5% drop out rate)
• Acceptable (50% TAAS pass rate, and <6.0% drop out rate)
• Unacceptable (<50% TAAS pass rate and/or >6.0% drop out rate)

AEIS ratings are also applied to campuses within school districts. During the last two years, the number of low performing campuses has increased. Commissioner Nelson identified several reasons for the increase in low performing campuses:

• Performance benchmarks have increased 5% each year;
• Texas has seen an increase in the number of charter schools, with more charter schools rated as low performing;
• More students with limited English proficiency have been included in TAAS testing; and
• A number of schools were rated as low performing on the basis of the drop out rate alone.

Al Katagihara, Office of the Auditor, State of Hawaii

Mr. Katagihara explained that the state of Hawaii has one school district which is operated by the state and completely funded by the state. The school district consists of 259 schools and 185,000 students.

Mr. Katagihara identified several challenges associated with auditing Hawaii’s public school system:

• Management controls—although Hawaii has one school district, school principals receive direction from several different directions;
• Difficult to determine the true cost of education programs;
• Performance objectives aren’t always clear;
• Schools aren’t always able to provide information in a way that is meaningful for decision makers; and
• Efforts to assess standards and performance are constantly changing with new administrations.

Mr. Katagihara also explained that Hawaii used to allocate funding for schools on a per pupil basis, which left smaller schools at a significant disadvantage. Since 1998, the State Auditor has had the responsibility of determining school allocations and developed an allocation methodology that involves both fixed and variable per pupil costs.

Mr. Katagihara briefly summarized three recent evaluations which considered alternative means of reporting expenditures, including the assessment of In$ite as a tool for providing meaningful expenditure reports.
 

Jess Lathrop, Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau

Ms. Lathrop identified the lack of consensus regarding appropriate and effective means of measuring educational performance as one of the biggest challenges facing evaluators of education programs. She highlighted several issues that have been raised in discussions about standardized test scores and school choice programs.

Ms. Lathrop also reviewed two evaluations, Charter School Program and Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, completed by Wisconsin’s Legislative Audit Bureau and challenges related to accountability and assessment.

Charter School Program: The evaluation found that most school boards provided only minimal oversight of their charter schools. Several districts had not created procedures for oversight of schools, and staff at nearly all schools weren’t certain as to which criteria would be used to evaluate their performance. Only five schools had contracts that required annual reports be submitted to the school board regarding progress and accomplishments; only one of these five schools had a contract which detailed specific performance measures.

Districts maintained student performance data on, though data was only available for the district as a whole, making comparisons of charter schools and other schools in the district difficult. The evaluation also found that schools calculated performance data differently, making comparisons among charter schools difficult. Because standardized test score data was only available for the entire district, it wasn’t possible to make comparisons of the test scores of charter school students to other students within the district.

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Evaluation was completed in 2000; program included 91 private schools serving nearly 8,000 students in Milwaukee, at a cost of $38.9 million. Direct comparisons of student performance between Choice students and other students within Milwaukee Public Schools wasn’t possible because Choice schools weren’t required to administer standardized tests. Although 68 Choice schools reported administering some type of standardized tests, 10 different types of tests were used.

Although most participating schools had obtained or were actively seeking independent accreditation or used standardized testing, nine had no accreditation, were not seeking accreditation, and administered no standardized tests. All participating schools reported they were complying with statutory performance standards relating to parental participation or to pupils’ attendance or academic advancement. However, schools were able to choose which of the four statutory performance standards they would attempt to meet, making comparisons among the choice schools difficult.
 

Lindsey Ladd, Legislative Office of Education Oversight, Ohio

Mr. Ladd explained that the Ohio Legislative Office of Education Oversight was different from many of the audit offices represented at the conference. His office was created in 1965 to focus specifically on oversight of education programs in Ohio.

Mr. Ladd identified several challenges associated with evaluating public education programs which included:

• Balancing the rigor of academic research standards with time to complete the study;
• Legislators’ desire for simplicity in a complex world; and
• Obtaining adequate data to answer the study questions.

With regard to the desire for simplicity in a complex world, Mr. Ladd explained that there is a desire to sum everything to one number. Mr. Ladd went on to say that Ohio was behind other states in collecting individual student data, and often must rely on exiting educational databases.

Mr. Ladd provided an overview of Ohio’s accountability and assessment system which includes a ninth-grad graduation test. Students are assessed in math, reading, science, citizenship, and writing, and passage of all components are required for graduation. Students are also tested in the 4^th, 6^th, and 12^th grades. These tests are used as performance standards in Ohio’s accountability system, and results are published as local report cards.