Improvement Strategies covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative Improvement Strategies Laura Heller, Systems Analyst Supporting Families National Program Office Look under tab number

What Changes Can We Make That Will Result in Improvement? covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative What Changes Can We Make That Will Result in Improvement? Broad Improvement Concepts Specific Improvement Strategies What type of actions can we take that should result in an improvement? We develop broad concepts for improvement and break them down into specific strategies. As we develop these concepts and strategies we look for best practices. Ideally any strategies that we come up with would have already been tested and proven to be effective. Kind of like not having to reinvent the wheel

How do we know that a change will work? covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative How do we know that a change will work? By Identifying: Best Practices Promising Practices

covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative Best Practices - Organizations or agencies that have implemented strategies that have proven to be effective in addressing a specific problem and data analysis verifies its effectiveness. Promising Practices - Strategies that have been identified by experts and others in the field. All indications are that the strategy will improve or remove the problem and there is preliminary data to support it effectiveness. We know we have a problem. What can we do that will result in an improvement? What have others done in similar situations? We look for best practices where an organization that has had similar problems has put strategies into practice that solved their problem. There is also data to support the implementation of the strategy. The data proves it works. If we can’t find a best practice site then look for promising practices. These are strategies that researchers and other experts have indicated would work but there is no real proof other than their experience with the issue. Some of these strategies have been implemented at sites but there is no data to substantiate it’s effectiveness.

Improvement Strategies Package covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative Improvement Strategies Package Provides teams with improvement concepts and strategies that have proven to be effective when addressing specific problems. Includes references to sites that have tested or implemented the strategy. Based on the best and or promising practices that have been identified put together a package or document that highlights the practices. Broken down into broad concepts and then more specifically strategies associated with the concept that can be tested on a small scale to determine the impact implementing it might have on the problem. As a tool to assist teams as they test specific strategies, references to sites and in some cases references to federal policy have been included in the package. This is to give teams support for testing a strategy or possibly a lead to another organization that has implemented or is in the process of testing or implementing a strategy. They may be able to provide feed back on what didn’t work or how to make adjustments to make the strategy work in a particular organization.

Improvement concepts Improve Customer Service covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative Improvement concepts Improve Customer Service Improve Policy/Procedures Improve Work Flow Change Work Environment Improve Intra-system Communications Error Proofing Focus on Variation Producer/Customer Interface This is a list of broad improvement concepts that are included in the improvement package in your notebooks under tab ??? They are broad because they

Strategies to Improve Customer Service: Improve legibility of notices covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative Strategies to Improve Customer Service: Improve legibility of notices Simplify and improve the process for customers to provide information Minimize requirements for multiple interviews Develop electronic applications and renewals (Excerpt from the Improvement Strategies package)

covering kids & families Process Improvement Collaborative This is a page from the improvement strategies package. The package consists of eight concepts with specific strategies attached. The implementation of the strategy refers to the site or location where an activity has taken place to correspond with the strategy.