Effective Decision Making in Social Service Systems Shawn Boles, Ph.D. Center on Early Adolescence Oregon Research Institute Deschutes Research, Inc.

How many people does it take to change a service system?  None. You can’t change systems.  A reasonable number if they can reach the system.

A system is just a set of circumstances that makes something happen in a certain way – Edward de Bono

Social Service Systems Involve citizens, values, and resources Reflect many perspectives (duh) Influence outcomes for specific citizens in specific settings to achieve public values Example: Systems to improve the lives of youth VALUE: Increase healthy and decrease harmful behaviors (measure prevalence) CITIZENS (minors): Early Adolescents SETTINGS: Primarily Middle Schools INFLUENCES: Effective use of evidence based programs (practices, policies, kernels,…)

Socially Valued Outcomes Accountability The ability to count what is valued Responsibility The ability to respond to what is counted Sustainability The ability to maintain accountability and responsibility across time Features of Effective Social Service Systems

$ $ $ $ $ $ Taxpayers’ money supports systems & change agents who may face difficulties reaching a system to change it Barriers

Perspectives on Barriers to Effective Decision Making No Chance to Shine (problem of context) Turnover, Including Reorganization & Changes in Group Membership No record of decisions No measures of valued outcomes Unpredictable resources No public access to results No Feedback about consequences High Costs of good management practices Capricious Implementation Environments No scaling.

Educational and Community Supports, University of Oregon Oregon Research Institute Deschutes Research, Inc. Child and Family Center, University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, University of Oregon Oregon State University, Department of Public Health PAXIS Institute, Tucson, Arizona. Taxpayers also support The Center on Early Adolescence Which includes the following organizations:

Three of these organizations have been developing tools to meet the requirements: Sustainability Educational and Community Supports, University of Oregon Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Accountability Oregon Research Institute Gematri Responsibility Deschutes Research, Inc. Decision Support System (DSS)

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Provides SUSTAINABILITY by establishing a STABLE SETTING Gematri Provides ACCOUNTABILITY by MEASURING CHANGE Decision Support System (DSS) Provides RESPONSIBILITY via a FRAMEWORK for IMPLEMENTING INTERVENTIONS Combining these tools provides a support for change agents

With the help of these tools change agents can more effectively reach and interact with systems

An invitation to participate