n * t 1 ' ' C X Liberia ommissioner of Services for Children NOTE TO READERS Finding a B etter Way: The Consultations and Research leading to the Redesign of Children's Services in Alberta is a b ackground and companion document to Focus on Children: A Plan for Effective , I ntegrated Community Services for Children and their Families . This latter document can be obtained through the Office of the Commissioner of Services for Children, 22nd Floor, 10025 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3Z5; Telephone: (403) 422-5011 4 CONTENTS SUMMARY I. CONTEXT FOR CHANGE Organizing for success The Commissioner’s assignment II. FINDINGS What Albertans told us Aboriginal perspectives Experiences in other jurisdictions Alberta success stories APPENDICES 1. Present structures and services 2. Co-chairs of Interim Working Groups 3 . Acknowledgements 4. Focus groups, meetings and consultations Alberta I. Context for change Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Alberta Libraries https://archive.org/details/findingbetterwayOOalbe Organizing for success There are two opposite ways of improving a process. The first way is to try to improve it directly. The second is to recognize , and then remove , t hose influences that inhibit the process . . . . It is not possible to look in a d ifferent direction by looking harder in the same direction . Edward DeBono The Use of Lateral Thinking The health, education and social welfare programs which have taken shape through this century are a s ource of pride to Canadians and envy to many nations. In recent years, however, economic realities have drawn to a close the long history of growth in federal and provincial programs. At the federal level, the Government of Canada is reviewing its annual $70 billion expenditure in social programming. At the provincial level, governments across the country are in the process of "rethinking" or redesigning their services. The corporate sector, as well, is making dramatic readjustments in order to succeed, indeed to survive, in today’s age of rapid change. Economic, political, social and technological changes have created environments bearing little resemblance to those of even a decade ago. In an era of declining resources, organizations in both the public and private sectors have had no choice but to re- examine their objectives and the ways in which they meet them. Observers of the modem organizational experience have been calling for the reinvention , the transformation, the total re- engineering ofs ystems, structures and work processes. They argue against minor modifications or modest efforts in redesign. Their collective message: we are entering the 21st 3 century with organizations which were designed during the 19th century to work well in the 20th. Proponents of the reinvention of government argue for a f ocus on the following principles: • Services must be customer-focused. People must be involved in decisions that affect their lives. Real solutions will always require the full involvement of the intended beneficiaries of the service. • Services must be of high quality. Overly restrictive rules and controls must be replaced by innovations, continuous improvement and successful outcomes. Reinvention and innovation will occur only when the factors inhibiting them are understood and removed. • Services must be decentralized. When the client is removed from the decision-making process, the "system" is less likely to experience, and learn from, the impacts of its own policies and programs. It is, therefore, less likely to modify them. • Services must be based on net budgeting. The real costs and benefits of services, and budget limitations, must be understood. Areas where greater efficiencies or effectiveness are needed must be addressed. The work of the Commissioner of Services for Children has been undertaken in a context in which the Government of Alberta is restating its goals and re-examining the ways it has been carrying out its mandate on behalf of Albertans. Among its recent initiatives: • Three-year business plans have been prepared by departments and agencies across government. Fundamental themes include: eliminating waste and duplication; reducing bureaucracy; moving away from the direct delivery of services; and increasing opportunities for private initiative and community-based, not-for-profit agencies. • With respect to children’s services, four government departments and five Alberta communities are working together in the Coordination of Sendees for Children