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Iowa Reinvention Partnership

“Charter Agencies” is only one of many reinvention activities in Iowa.

To help the state change the way it does business, Iowa’s Department of Management issued an RFP in 2002 for a “Reinvention Partner.” This partner would engage with agencies and Management to create major reinvention projects and drive culture change.

Because Iowa had no money lying around to pay a consultant, the RFP required bidders to propose ways to make the contract self-funding. The Public Strategies Group of St. Paul, MN did so and won the competition.

In this partnership, Iowa and PSG’s interests are aligned around results for Iowans: Iowa wins when PSG wins, and vice versa.

The contractual arrangement provides PSG no hourly or flat fees. PSG only gets paid when results improve, the customer certifies the work product as satisfactory, and/or savings occur. Reinvention savings and revenues contributed to balancing the FY04 budget. The same was true in FY05 and will be again in FY06.

FY 2004: Three Major Projects plus Reinvention Services

  1. A child welfare redesign that will pay more for results, not activities; and cut paperwork to increase face-to-face time with at-risk kids and their families.
  2. “Charter Agencies” that put results ahead of paperwork and help solve the budget problem.
  3. A new framework for the local-state government relationship, best practices and service designs for local governments, and a virtual marketplace for sharing purchasing and services.

Reinvention Services Highlights

  • Results Iowa website: www.resultsiowa.org Performance data across Iowa government available to all, 24/7
  • Flexible Performance Agreements for all Directors
  • Seventeen “front line redesign teams,” all with quantified improved results
  • “Learning on the Go” reports exploring what worked, and what did not
  • More than 200 peer-to-peer “Butterfly” awards for excellent service:  www.iowabutterfly.org

FY 2005 and FY 2006 Projects

  • Developed the Governor and Lt Governor’s recommended FY06 & FY07 budgets via “Purchasing Results”
  • Complete Child Welfare redesign implementation
  • Deepen Charter Agency results and innovation
  • Strengthen and support Entrepreneurial Management in the Department of Administrative Services
  • Create better accountability and savings in State Appeal Board processes (claims against the state)
  • Find cost savings in the Department of Corrections
  • Deepen transformation in the Department of Corrections
  • Introduce World Class Benchmarking in Iowa state government
  • Review and Document learning fro the Iowa Reinvention Partnership

For more information, contact:

  • Jim Chrisinger, Iowa Department of Management, at Jim.Chrisinger@iowa.gov or 515.281.6537
  • Babak Armajani, CEO of Public Strategies Group and Iowa’s Reinvention Partner, at Babak@psg.us or 651.227.9774