Challenges

State, local, and tribal governments play a major role in administering many Federal assistance programs. Program implementation at all levels of government is often fractured, both within individual programs and across programs serving similar populations. While many states have made significant progress to improve implementation, much work remains to be done. The Partnership Fund is committed to identifying and testing promising solutions.

Challenges to Address:

• Improving Service Delivery and Administrative Efficiency by Better Coordinating Programs
  Many families and individuals participate in multiple Federal assistance programs to address different areas of need. Lack of coordination among these programs means that beneficiaries and government workers alike have to repeat the same process multiple times. As a result, program administration and service delivery efforts can be duplicative, inefficient, and more vulnerable to fraud. How can we use the shared expertise across programs to create a streamlined, interconnected, and targeted benefits delivery system?
• Reversing Growth in Improper Payments
  Despite progress, improper payments totaled an unacceptable $125 billion in FY 2010. Improper payments waste taxpayer dollars, prevent budgeted program funds from being spent on eligible beneficiaries, reduce the total resources available for programs, and consume valuable time, effort, and staffing. How can we improve program administration to prevent this unnecessary and costly drain on resources?
• Serving the Public Better By Reducing Administrative Burdens
  Staff hired to deliver services can have a hard time getting to that most important part of their job. In some programs ^[1], front-line case workers spend less than 50 percent of their time on direct support to eligible families; instead, their time is often consumed by cumbersome administrative duties. How can systems, processes, and information available from sources outside of a specific program be harnessed to free up front-line workers to serve the public.
• Maximizing Public Resources
  In the current economic climate, demand for assistance program services is growing while budgets are shrinking, increasing the urgency to do more with less. How can we make processes more efficient to meet this challenge without significantly increasing the cost to taxpayers?

^{1. Source: Child Welfare - HHS Could Play a Greater Role in Helping Child Welfare Agencies Recruit and Retain Staff, GAO 2003}