Toward Results-Oriented IntergovernmentalSystems: An Historical Look at the Development of the OregonOption Benchmarks

by Mark G. Popovich, Partner
The Public's Work
for The Alliance for Redesigning Government
of the National Academy of Public Administration

July 1996

This research was performed with support provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Education. This report represents the views of the author and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the Federal Government or of the Academy as an institution.

Foreword
Table of Contents
Overview

CHAPTER I Creating a Vision for Oregon's Future: Confronting Change; Leaders Dedicated to Shaping Change; Oregon Benchmarks -- Vision to Measurable Objectives; Measuring the Priority Benchmarks; Oregon Benchmarks Pave Way for Oregon Option

CHAPTER II Oregon Option - Partnership for Results: Revamping Intergovernmental Roles; From Idea to Action; New Partnership Takes Form; Ongoing Experiment

CHAPTER III Workforce and Education Benchmarks: The Focus; Evolution of the Workforce Benchmarks; Evolution of the Oregon Workforce Benchmarks; Observations on the Oregon Workforce Option Benchmarks

CHAPTER IV Family Stability Benchmarks: Introduction; Evolution of the Family Stability Benchmarks; Observations on the Family Stability Benchmarks

CHAPTER V Healthy Children Benchmarks: Focus on Children; Evolution of the Healthy Children Cluster Benchmarks; Observations on the Healthy Children Benchmarks

CHAPTER VI Observations and Conclusions

APPENDICES: Appendix A: Evolution of the Oregon Workforce Option Benchmarks; Appendix B: Evolution of the Family Stability Benchmarks; Appendix C: Evolution of the Healthy Children Benchmarks

Officers of the Academy

Peter Szanton, Chair of the Board

C. William Fischer, Vice Chair

R. Scott Fosler, President

Feather O'Connor Houstoun, Secretary

Howard Messner, Treasurer

Alliance Advisory Board Executive Committee

David Osborne, Co-Chair

Gail C. Christopher, Co-Chair

Barbara Roberts, Co-Vice Chair

William Hudnut, Co-Vice Chair

R. Scott Fosler

Neal Peirce

Camile Cates Barnett

Project Saff

Mark G. Popovich

Foreword

Over the past 18 months, the Oregon Option brought together federal officials and their counterparts at the state and local level in Oregon to test new approaches to doing business in the intergovernmental system. The Academy's Alliance for Redesigning Government was engaged early on as a facilitator and constructive critic. From that vantage point, this report was developed to detail the origins and evolution of the Oregon Option and the benchmarks that are the focus of this intergovernmental initiative.

Clearly, the time is ripe to consider improvements to the current intergovernmental system. A 1995 study by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations identified 618 intergovernmental categorical programs. As the number and complexity of these intergovernmental efforts have grown, so too has the list of requirements and restrictions imposed through statute, regulation, and custom. In this kind of centralized, prescriptive system, there is limited ability to experiment and to learn how to get the public's work done better, faster, and cheaper. What is needed is a more balanced approach that affords the system greater flexibility in return for accountability for achieving results. The Oregon Option is a laboratory for testing some of these ideas in a real-world context.

The Academy is pleased to have been asked to carry out this study. We hope that it will yield lessons useful to policymakers at all levels as they consider reforming and implementing new approaches to doing the public's work through our intergovernmental system. I commend consideration of this report to both policymakers and practitioners seeking to develop more results-oriented intergovernmental systems.

R. Scott Fosler

Academy President

OVERVIEW

This paper was prepared through the support of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education. It is intended for policymakers and practitioners grappling with the development of performance partnerships and other efforts to form more results-oriented governance systems. It reviews the development and evolution of benchmark goals set under the Oregon Option. Through the Oregon Option, federal officials and their counterparts on the state and local levels in Oregon are testing new ways of doing business in the intergovernmental system. The experiment seeks to develop and test approaches that are more focused on results, reduce red tape, devolve greater authority to front line service providers, and that promote investment in prevention and the integration of services across programs and levels of government.

The Oregon Option builds on the foundation of a strategic vision -- Oregon Shines -- and specific goals -- Oregon Benchmarks -- developed by Oregon beginning in 1989. Over the past 18 months, the Oregon Option partners adopted 20 priority outcomes for improving education and workforce development, reducing dependency and increasing self-sufficiency, and protecting the health of the youngest Oregonians. These Oregon Option Benchmarks are more, however, than a statement of the partners' good intentions. The first principle of the Option is that it would be structured, managed, and evaluated on the basis of results. Reviewing what those goals are, how they were set, and how they are measured is critical, therefore, to understanding the promise and challenges presented by the Oregon Option.

The paper attends to three broad issues:

Setting and Aligning Priorities: What are the Oregon Option benchmarks? How were they set? How do they relate to priorities in Oregon and on the federal level?

Monitoring Progress: How is progress toward achievement of the benchmarks measured? What data sources and systems are used?

Public Engagement: How have the public and key stakeholders been involved in setting the benchmarks?

To address these issues, the paper's six chapters are organized into three groups:

The Foundation for the Oregon Option: Chapter I documents the antecedents to the benchmarks adopted by the Oregon Option. It describes the development of the state's remarkably durable strategic vision in Oregon Shines. And it reviews how then-Governor Neil Goldschmidt used Oregon Shines to engage the public and key stakeholders in shaping a comprehensive strategy for long-term growth and improved competitiveness in the national and world economies. This chapter also tracks the efforts by the Oregon Progress Board and others to translate that vision into the Oregon Benchmarks. Chapter II follows the key steps taken so far under the Oregon Option. As a pilot in intergovernmental reform, what principles guided its development? How have these principles been converted into practice? The section concludes with a brief description of some hard-won accomplishments from the Oregon Option's first 18 months.

Setting the Goals and Reaching for Alignment: Chapters III, IV, and V offer more in-depth reviews of three groups of Oregon Option benchmarks. These benchmarks guide the partners' efforts to improve workforce development, reform the welfare system, and enhance the health of children. Each of the Oregon Option benchmarks is detailed, the benchmarks' origins and how they were set are described, and how they relate to overall priorities in Oregon and on the federal level is discussed.

Some Lessons Learned: Chapter VI suggests some preliminary lessons drawn from the development and implementation of the Oregon Option.

This is one of three concurrent papers on the Oregon Option. The second paper, also sponsored by the Alliance and supported by the same grant, is written by Barbara Dyer. It examines efforts to establish results-driven accountability under the Oregon Option. A third report is sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and is being written by Christina H. Macy. It will provide a broad overview of the development of the Oregon Option and some of the lessons learned.