Minnesotans want to know why the fraud and waste have not been eliminated. That’s no surprise.  What has surprised me, however, is the multitude of calls and emails I have received on the subject every year since I stepped into office.  Agencies like Dept. Human Services (DHS) impact and touch lives regularly, especially our state’s children, elderly, and most vulnerable.  Why should we put up with mismanagement and abuse from a system that offers such necessary and life-impacting services?

       Over the last eighteen months, there has been a disheartening headline almost daily: “MN DHS announces mistakes or overpayments that will cost taxpayers millions,” “DHS head says agency is cleaning up issues that go back 10 or 20 years,” “Audit Finds More Violations at Minnesota DHS.” The pressure to do something is strong and breaking up DHS is tempting, but it will not mend the tear in our system. We would be forced to restructure without first learning  the extent of the real problems. We want answers and a solution, and the first step is getting a deep dive review and full life-cycle audit of all activities.

       My proposal for a full life-cycle audit of DHS means dedicating eight to nine full-time staff from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), our legislative and citizen watchdog organization for all state agencies, to DHS’s review. It’s clear from the dozens of violations and fired whistleblowers, that we need full-time OLA staff present with the sole purpose of uncovering mismanagement. There is pressure to use a third party for this task. I believe that will result in an imperfect summation of DHS’ issues. The OLA has full access and subpoena power to execute it’s tasks, which outside organizations do not. That power gives them access to all information within the agency, allowing a floor to ceiling scrub-down of every detail. This initial step will help us discover how DHS is functioning. It will take a couple years and will provide the critical information needed to help guide the legislature on how and where the changes are needed. Restructuring may be a part of this future fix.      

        In addition to restructuring, we need to reform how our agencies deliver the critical services we depend on. This starts with implementing a training and organizational structure which would drive management and decision-makers doing the “boots on the ground” jobs.  Every person creating agency policies and practices should know how their decisions impact the individuals delivering services to the public. This includes our county caseworkers and the very providers who deliver care, such as nursing homes. Currently, DHS and the decision managers are disconnected from the results of their decisions. Implementation of practices that attach the decision makers to their decisions is the only way to dramatically improve the process and ultimately the value of services delivered to our citizens. Implementing this type of reform and training process will greatly improve the work environment and lead to a more productive workforce. Those delivering our key services need to know their vital positions in our communities are worth more than just a paycheck.

Part of my career background was spent at the Department of Revenue for just under eighteen years. That experience provided a priceless education on the business model of government delivery of service. From that vantage point, I was able to drive some of the most significant transformation of their tax filing and payment process through the creating of electronic filing and payments. If I had not seen how my decisions impacted employees working with the public, that system would have been filled with unnecessary steps. We all want the same thing, no matter our political leanings: highly functional agencies free of waste and fraud.  I think this program could lead to an impeccably run state, where money meant for our children, elderly and most vulnerable actually reaches them.