The Concept of Program Reengineering

J. Olivia Prince-Griffin

PAD 500 Modern Public Administration
Professor Popejoy
May 19, 2012

Abstract
This assignment will cover 4 specific areas as it relates to Mayor Schell’s unique initiative to eliminate homeless in Seattle. This report will cover Mayor Schell’s policies choices and their practical outcome. It will cover restructuring Mayor Schell’s program to fit new objectives. Lastly, the report will analyze the importance of conducting assessments prior to new program implementation.

Introduction On June 2, 1998, Mayor Schell made a daunting pledge to the community regarding Seattle’s homeless population. He pledged that by Christmas of that year, there would be no more homeless on the streets of Seattle. During the following months Mayor Schell and his Director of the Community Services Division of the Department of Housing and Human Services, Alan Painter, diligently strategized on how to successfully meet this pledge while weighing all the applicable factors.

Four Policy Choices of Mayor Schell At the time of Mayor Schell’s pledge, there was an estimated 5,500 homeless on the streets of Seattle nightly (Draft, 2010 pg.1). Of those, 1,300 were homeless while 4,200 had temporary housing (Draft, 2010, pg.1). At that point in time, Seattle had several local programs, such Operation Nightwatch, that assisted such ones with transitional living. One of the first policy choices Schell had make was to insure such programs continue to function. In addition, these programs would need to be supported to help provide long-term housing for the population they served. Instead of providing housing for that night, the new goal would be lasting housing so as to reach the goal by Christmas. Another one of his policy choices would be to create additional shelters and housing options for homeless. Mayor Schell’s pledge included not just those on the streets of Seattle but surrounding areas. Thus there was a need to address the expansion of services within the board geographic area. Mayor Schell would have to also address the factors leading to individuals becoming homeless. There were three major drivers for this which included, “inadequate income, the high cost of housing, and personal and family problem” (Draft, 2010, pg 2). In order to effectively reach their goal, transitional housing programs would need to be structured to address the causes for homeless. Lastly, Mayor Schell would have to convene a housing summit. In order to keep people from becoming homeless, Mayor Schell had to address the current housing market that had been driven up into the double-digits. Affordable housing would be crucial in keeping local citizens from becoming homeless while providing housing to those currently homeless.

Analyzing the Pre-Implementation and Design Strategies A major piece of Mayor Schell’s campaign was housing, which became a focal point for his administration with his pledge. With the needed policy choices identified, strategies would be needed as well to insure successful implementation. Mayor Schell would need to obtain outcomes from his policy choices and implementation. First, Mayor Schell would need to reach his goal of eliminating all homeless by Christmas of 1998 through long-term transitional housing for the homeless. Second outcome needed would to ensure that all had access to affordable housing. New housing programs would need to emerge so as to reach their pledge. A third outcome would need to be re-designing of the city’s current programs. In particular, this re-structuring would need to be proactive in prevention homeless and create long-term stability. Fourth, in order to achieve their outcome the original goal would need to be adjusted to address the size of homeless. Being able to adjust the goal is needed to add longevity to the outcomes.
Four Steps to Reengineer the Program Mayor Schell worked closely with Alan Painter to reengineer the program(s) to meet the Christmas deadline. First, the community needed to build new shelters. Mayor Schell knew that this was going to quite expensive. For example, a new shelter would run with estimated cost of $300,000 per staff even though it’s only open a night (Draft, 2010, pg 6). So, Mayor Schell needed to identify the most economically options to increase the number of shelters in Seattle. Secondly, the current programs were re-structured from short-term housing to provide more affordable long-term housing. Third, involvement for local housing and homeless projects was needed to obtain their goal. With their support, resources could be utilized to reach their goal and assist with the financial cost of reaching the goal. Lastly, Mayor Schell had to address the affordable housing with the summit. This was a major piece in Mayor Schell’s political platform during his campaign.
Four Reasons to Conduct Assessments Prior to Implementation
In order to have any type of effective initiative is analyzing the program before it’s implemented. Painter pointed out that prior to reaching their goal that a realistic breakdown of statistics was needed. Without having the appropriate data, implementation would be faulted. Second, the data pulled from various organizations needs to be examined. By assessing who is providing the numbers you can ensure that you have a comprehensive database that includes are the demographics involved. Third, it is important to outline the area you wish to service. Mayor Schell did exactly that when he stated that the pledge would include the surrounding areas of Seattle (Draft 2010 pg 2). By outlining the area you will be serving, it will help in identifying the resources you will need prior to implementation. Lastly, any plan needs to have a cause and effect determination. Mayor Schell’s pledge was so very unique and ambitious that it gained notoriety across the country. Assessing how such an initiative would affect other programs whether it’s within your community or not, is essential prior to implementation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Mayor Schell’s pledge made headline due to the weighted consequences it would hold for the community financially and through the re-structuring of their current programs. Through Mayor Schell’s pledge, gave the public an opportunity to re-assess their homeless program and create similar initiatives.

References:
Daft, R.L. (2010). The leadership experience. In M.Staudt & M.Stranz (Eds.), Leadership communication (pg 262). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Denhardt, R.B. & Denhardt, J.V. (2010). Public administration: an action orientation. In
M.Straudt & M.Stranz (Eds.), Planning, implementation, and evaluation (pg 197). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Stillman, R.J. (2010). Public Administration Concepts and Cases. 2010 Custom Edition. (9th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin - Cengage Learning