The foremost challenge for human services leaders is meeting the demand for increased services, while grappling with economic turmoil and rapidly changing demographics. Proactive leaders are meeting this challenge by innovating to increase overall capacity while moving toward a more citizen-centered, family first, efficient, and outcome-focused human services delivery system. This paper, “The Pursuit of Outcomes,” will help you improve your human services organization through insights and lessons learned from the 2011 Human Services Summit on the campus of Harvard University.

To help human services leaders form and realize a vision for transforming their organizational capacity, Leadership for a Networked World and Accenture, in collaboration with the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) convened senior human services policy makers and executives at for the 2010 Human Services Summit on the campus of Harvard University. As a product of the summit, this whitepaper will help human services leaders envision a transformation journey and realize their vision through concrete actions. To inspire and guide efforts, the paper couples insights from the Human Services Summit with case-based examples from human services executives nationwide.

Cross-jurisdiction collaboration has the potential to not only dramatically reduce the cost of government, but also to preserve and improve local decision-making and service provision to citizens. This piece illuminates the research, analysis and insights gathered for and during the 2010 Shared Services Summit.

As government leaders consider their new investments in systems for citizen contact, workload tracking, and performance management – known in broad-brush as “311” systems -- they are uncertain about the path ahead. They ask, “Where do I start today – and how? What key capabilities should I look for?” To answer these questions, faculty and researchers at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government convened 25 government leaders and technology and service providers for a day and a half of focused discussion. This is a report of their findings and discoveries.