Page contents
- DoCS funding reform: Update February 2007
- DoCS funding reform: major impact on youth services
- DoCS Funding Policy Summary, by Dr Gul Izmir, DoCS Deputy Director-General, Research, Funding and Business Analysis
- More information on DoCS website: About our funding reform
DoCS funding reform: Update
by Dr Gul Izmir, Deputy Director-General, NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS)*
Where are we at? The DoCS Funding Policy
Since the release of the DoCS Funding Policy over a year ago there has been much debate about the policy and analysis of its implications for the sector. Much of the debate has been useful in drawing out the practical implications of the policy and has provided the opportunity for DoCS to clarify some early misconceptions about it. It should be now crystal clear that the intention of the policy is not to squeeze out small service providers or to only do business with large organisations!
Recently the debate has become more informed and the sector is beginning to acknowledge the potential of the Funding Policy to improve the service system and outcomes for children, their families and the community. This clears the way for us all to look forward and to do the most we can do for our sector.
In particular, a more in-depth understanding of the underlying framework of the policy, Results Based Accountability (RBA), has redefined the debate.
RBA is an approach that has, at its core, principles of simplicity and common sense and provides us with the common ground from which we can all work.
A key message from Mark Friedman, founder of the Results Accountability Framework, is “helping people get from talk to action”. This recent shift in the debate is doing just that. An example of this action can be seen in the work currently being undertaken by NSW Family Services Inc. (FamS) and Local Community Services Association (LCSA) to develop a results accountability map for their service sector.
What is Results Based Accountability?
Government and service providers increasingly need to show that they are achieving results and are accountable for the money that they administer.
RBA is a structured approach to thinking about service delivery, which starts with defining the ends we want (results and indicators) and works backward to the means to get there.
RBA is an approach that can be understood and applied at all levels of the service system, ranging from Government Departments, through to small community based organisations, to demonstrate that we are getting results for the children, families and communities we serve.
The value of this approach to the community services sector is that all service providers, large organisations and small grass roots agencies alike, have a role in determining the means (or service response) to get to the results we want.
RBA is an approach that is being taken up widely by human service agencies in the US and Australia due to its simplicity, effectiveness and the ability to steer away from getting caught up in defining numerous and meaningless performance measures.
“We must insist that programs and agencies identify the three or four most important measures; make sure these measures focus on customer results, not just amount of effort.“ - Fiscal Policy Studies Institute.
DoCS is working hard with the sector to make sure that we come up with measures that focus on client results and enable us to demonstrate that we are achieving sound results for the wider community.
For further information on Results Based Accountability go to:
www.resultsaccountability.com or www.raguide.org
Funding Reform Project updates
Good Practice Guidelines for DoCS Funded Services
Many funded services have already begun to implement the Good Practice Guidelines for DoCS Funded Services. The Good Practice Guidelines have also been attached to the Early Intervention Program Service Specifications.
A comprehensive “How To” manual, (Good Practice Guidelines for DoCS Funded Services Manual) is being developed and will soon be released by DoCS, complete with implementation tools and information on how the Guidelines relate to DoCS approach to performance management. The manual will be available on the DoCS website. Service providers will be notified as soon as the manual becomes available.
To find a copy of the Guidelines, visit the For Our Partners pages at DoCS' website: www.community.nsw.gov.au
Directions for the Community Services Grants Program (CSGP)
Work will be undertaken throughout 2007 to define the future directions for the CSGP. A consultant will be engaged to first:
- Identify the objectives of the CSGP and how these align with the Department's core objectives
- Develop options for reconfiguring the CSGP service system to align with DoCS core objectives
- Define the clear benefits and results achieved through CSGP for children, families and the community
- Draft a business case suitable for presentation to NSW Treasury outlining the costs and results to be achieved by the revised CSGP.
DoCS will then work with the consultant's results to further define the CSGP, taking into account the Results Based Accountability approach and future client need and demand.
DoCS Head Office and Regional staff will then be involved in ensuring that the CSGP delivers planned and effective support services to our community.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the Performance Monitoring Framework be operational?
The DoCS Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF) has been implemented in the Early Intervention Program and High Needs Kids from 1 July 06. Some SAAP services have been implementing the PMF on a trial basis since July 2006, with full implementation due in SAAP from1 July 07.
It is envisaged that the PMF will be rolled out to other DoCS funding programs progressively through to 2009/2010.
What are these “outcomes” that DoCS keeps talking about?
The DoCS Corporate Plan 2004/5 – 2008/9 has clearly stated results, or outcomes, DoCS expects each of its funding programs (eg SAAP, CSGP, OoHC) to achieve for children, families and communities.
Funded services are being asked by DoCS to show how the service they provide contributes to achieving these program results. DoCS is encouraging services themselves to identify the service response that will best achieve the results, (also referred to as outcomes), and ensure that the desired service result contributes to achieving the results for the whole program.
This is a shift away from DoCS prescribing the service response, to fostering innovation in the service sector. However, this also presents a challenge to services not used to developing results statements for their service.
DoCS will be assisting services as much as possible to make the shift to a results focus, and accepts that some services will be more skilled than others in relation to this.
The more that we all work at it, the more familiar this will become. The LCSA and FamS Results Based Accountability project, for example, will help the sector to build a bank of results focussed service descriptions. Initiatives such as the DoCS Research to Practice Program also contribute to the bank of information we can draw on when developing our own results focus.
Standard Chart of Accounts
DoCS has commenced a standard Chart of Accounts project for community services NGOs in NSW, based on the work of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Queensland Treasury.
A standard Chart of Accounts provides a common approach to accounting by community organisations, using the same standard terms and categories, eg. Wages & Salaries, Printing & Stationery, to refer to the same activities. This simplifies the work of community organisations when acquitting government grants.
The Queensland Standard Chart of Accounts was developed by Queensland University of Technology, working jointly with Queensland Treasury and the five largest government funding departments, as well as community peak bodies and a group of finance officers from community organisations. It is now being implemented by Queensland Treasury working with all government departments. For more information visit the Chart of Accounts on the QUT website
www.bus.qut.edu.au/research/cpns/whatweresea rch/chart.jsp
*Extracts by YAPA from Funding Reform Update: February 2007 at www.community.nsw.gov.au/html/comm_partners/funding_reform.htm – scroll down and click on February 2007
from YAPRap January 2006 (written in December 2005)
DoCS funding reform: major impact on youth services
by Kristy Delaney, YAPA Executive Officer
The NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS) has released a new funding policy which heralds radical changes in the way that youth services are funded, planned and delivered.
The new policy applies to all DoCS funding programs including:
- Community Services Grants Program (CSGP) general youth projects and adolescent and family counsellors (AFCs)
- salary subsidies to local councils for youth development workers
- Area Assistance Scheme (AAS)
- Better Futures
- Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) which funds youth refuges.
YAPA believes that DoCS will:
- not cut funding to NSW as a whole, but seek to make funding more equitable and focused on achieving the best outcomes for clients
- replace historic based funding with more competitive and contestable based funding
- work out a model of how much a "youth service" costs
- plan what services are needed on a regional basis (using the 7 existing DoCS regions)
- call for expressions of interest from large agencies and consortiums of small agencies who want to deliver services in these regions
- allow "for profit" agencies to also compete for service funding
- replace input-based reporting with client outcome-based reporting and data measurement
- negotiate longer service agreements with services that are performing well
- stop funding local governments and other government departments, ie. local government salary subsidies
- introduce service standards for all DoCS funded programs. (Draft standards have already been developed and signed off by the major peaks including YAPA).
There are many positive aspects to the new Funding Policy as well as a number of risks.
How to survive the DoCS funding reform
It is important to note that DoCS are moving away from funding "small" agencies to larger agencies or consortiums of small agencies. DoCS define "small" agencies as those that receive less than $1 million per year from DoCS (basically everyone except a few major charities).
If you are a "small" agency you will not receive funding unless you successfully bid for services as part of a larger consortium.
In many cases where a consortium is funded a lead agency will be identified who will receive the funding and be accountable to DoCS. Smaller organizations will effectively be accountable to the lead agency and will report and receive funding from the larger agency.
You will need to strengthen your existing partnerships with other agencies and work towards a regional basis of planning and delivering youth services.
This is no small task. Youth services and their management communities have a strong tradition and sense of ownership about the way their service operates.
To survive the new funding policy agencies will need to work together to identify regional needs, service duplication and gaps and how funding can be better used to meet the identified needs.
Start talking with your local youth network, your council youth development officer, your staff and your management committee about these changes.
What is YAPA doing?
YAPA will be working with DoCS to ensure the best possible outcome for disadvantaged young people in NSW.
YAPA is currently:
- mapping what funding is provided to each region in NSW from the NSW and Commonwealth Governments to identify how funding is currently distributed
- identifying factors which identify "need" in a community such as geographic isolation, rate of early school leaving, employment rate, and number of migrant and refugee young people
- asking the NSW Government to invest funding in a project to assist small organizations to do integrated service delivery and planning
- asking the NSW Government to inform services about these changes
- asking the NSW Government for community input into the regional planning process which identifies community need
- advocating on your behalf through forums such as the NSW Youth Policy working party, the NSW Youth Interagency Taskforce, the Community Services Grants Program Roundtable, the DoCS Communities Division Partners Reference Group and the DoCS Stakeholder Forum.
Disclaimer & more info
We have written this article as our own summary and interpretation of the DoCS Funding Policy.
You can read the DoCS Funding Policy for yourself at www.community.nsw.gov.au/documents/funding_policy.pdf
December 2005
DoCS Funding Policy Summary
by Dr Gul Izmir, DoCS Deputy Director-General, Research, Funding and Business Analysis
The Department of Community Services (DoCS) has released its new DoCS Funding Policy which outlines the Department's broad direction for DoCS funding practices over the next five years.
The Funding Policy was developed following a period of consultation to ensure that the best possible services are purchased for children, young people and their families.
While DoCS has funded community services for around 30 years, this role has grown substantially since the allocation of the $1.2 billion budget enhancement in 2002 and the transfer of a range of funded community services from other departments such as Families First, Community Solutions and the NSW Strategy to reduce Violence Against Women programs.
The enhanced funding presents the opportunity to inform funding practices and plan to meet the current and future funding demand of our clients.
The Funding Policy outlines the vision for DoCS in the longer term while giving some concrete policy direction for the short term.
DoCS Deputy Director-General, Research, funding and Business Analysis, Dr Gul Izmir, said the that the new policy will be implemented progressively.
"Initially the policy will apply to programs funded under DoCS' budget enhancement - the Out-of-Home Care High Needs Kids program was tendered this way and we are currently working out the contacting details with our Early Intervention Program service providers. Over time, the policy will be applied to all established funding programs."
The Funding Policy has three key themes: increasing the capacity of all service providers, shifting to performance based contracting and approaches to funding services.
"It will be important to understand the profile of the service sector, and where we need to work together to build an effective service system," said Dr Izmir.
"We are working to anticipate future demand and build on service networks with the right range, mix, quality and quantity of services. Of course, we will also need to deliver value and make the best use of our resources."
DoCS is committed to maintaining a diverse, robust and viable service system. Services will be supported to develop their capacity is increased and additional practical tools and training will be developed to assist organisations improve their governance and reporting processes.
A variety of funding approaches and incentives will be used to develop service capacity and accelerate service expansion to address service gaps.
DoCS will work closely with the service sector to ensure a smooth transitions to the new system.
Another critical element of DoCS' Funding Policy is the shift to performance based contracting which will link funding to outcomes. Current funding arrangements often focus on inputs of service, rather than results for children families or communities. This limits the ability of services to tailor programs and services to their client base.
Performance based contracting will give providers more flexibility in how they meet client needs by focusing on results rather than process. It will clearly set out both parties' expectations and put in place measures that will assist both service providers and DoCS to better demonstrate the benefits.
This move is an important change and will be the basis for agreements and reporting arrangements with all DoCS funded services over the next few years.
The Funding Policy outlines the types of funding processes DoCS will use and in what circumstances. This is important to ensure that the best placed provider is selected to deliver the service required.
There are a number of funding options available and DoCS will continue to employ a range of them, from the most contestable EOI processes, to direct allocation of funding.
The Funding Policy is an important document for DoCS and service providers. It will be the cornerstone of changes to come. Services are encouraged to read the policy and consider how they align themselves with its broad direction.
The policy can be found on the DoCS website at www.community.nsw.gov.au/documents/funding_policy.pdf
February 2006
More information on DoCS website
See the DoCS web page About our funding reform, and the link to Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
