Accountability for Government Funded Non-Profit Service Providers

yasmin_fodil

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Local governments across the United States partner with countless non-profit service organizations to provide all kinds of services to constituents - education, health, children's services, etc. The government spends billions through grants and contracts to these providers, but often does not have the capacity to ensure that these organizations are meeting their goals. For example, supplementary educational organizations that receive title I or NCLB funding may provide services that have no impact on student achievement, yet they remain funded year after year. The idea here is to create an independent organization that would support governments to monitor and hold accountable organizations that are receiving funds to provide services to the public.

This organization would be funded by the government and foundations who also have an interest in strengthening the non-profit sector. This organization would create an information system that would 1) collect and aggregate funds that are being spent by governments on service providers 2) collect data about the intended impacts of these programs 3) monitor and evaluate these programs to understand how they are tracking back to their goals and 4) publish the data for governments and constituents so they can understand what kinds of impacts are being made, hold accountable ineffective organizations, and further support organizations that are making a positive impact.

Why Is This Idea Important?

Non-profit organizations receiving funds from the government are often supporting people who are traditionally under-served and who do not have a choice in what service provider to use, so they can't hold them accountable in the same way that someone who has a market choice can. The service provider essentially has a monopoly. Therefore, it is extremely important that the government regulates and evaluates these organizations to ensure quality.

Idea # 914Public-Private Partnerships, data, non-profit, service providers, information systems

Comments

tchorba 9 months ago

Though I agree more oversight is called for, this proposal does not address the current barrier faced by organizations already struggling to comply with the current request for reporting and substantiation. Results reporting is a very costly endeavor. Most orgs. are left with the choice of accomplish what we hope or spend all the money available just proving what we could have done if only all the fund were not diverted to producing proof that our mission and strategies are viable. I am a consultant for both the Not for profit and For profit communities and proof has historically come at too high a price. It is not the lack of willingness but rather the lack of capacity that has resulted in the limited verification. If we can fund the evaluation process, all of my clients would eagerly comply and assist in the effort.

yasmin_fodil 9 months ago

Thank you for the comment! I wholeheartedly agree. What I suggest is an independent entity that would be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation. It would provide the capacity to non-profits who as you noted are already struggling and who may not have the skills or expertise to conduct this kind of work. It would be like an evaluation firm that works on behalf of the government and for non-profits. There would also have to be funding attached so as to not disrupt the core work of the organizations. This entity would be doing much of the work, taking the burden away from the service organizations without sacrificing the need for oversight and accountability.

kmccarron60 9 months ago

Agree that there must be additional oversight but of both the government, non-profit and private sector. But most of all nothing will happen without cooperation and transparency. Take the issue of childhood obesity where many government dollars have been spent on the issue with lack of quality control measures for spending and research. ShapingAmericasYouth.org is a one of a kind national cross sector effort that is a leading example of breaking down the barriers. If proper reporting requirements are established before programs are funded and criteria for success of a program is established, we can save and direct funding to sucessful endeavors. We (government, private sector and non-profit) all need to listen and ask the needs of those whom we are serving before establishing program goals that do not meet our clients needs. Reporting does not need to be complicated and complex but we do need to measure outcomes but across the board for all organizations. From our experience in just sampling over 1,100 respondants of childhood obesity programs, 91% of childhood obesity programs surveyed expressed a strong desire for a national dialogue, partnerships and national standards. Only 53% of the programs had plans to measure outcomes and determine effectiveness with only 4% reporting outcomes. We can do better an dhave a positive impact.

owen 9 months ago

Hopefully, AIIM's emerging Strategy Markup Language (StratML) standard will help to support this proposal. Part 2 of the standard will address the elements of performance plans and reports, including outcomes. http://xml.gov/stratml/index.htm

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