Bureaucracies are forced to concentrate on measuring outcomes as successful results instead of as service processes. This has occurred already in some of the places America Works is operating. In New York State, since contracting with America Works, the Department of Social Services insists that all its contracts be performance-based. Similarly, in Indianapolis, the child welfare system is going to start using totally performance-based contracting. The positive impact of this is to ensure that Government is competitive and is a player in the successes and failures of its contractors.
Government becomes accountable.
In Albany, America Works insists that the county welfare commissioner give referrals to our office and sanction recipients who do not cooperate. If that does not happen we would have trouble meeting our contractual goals for job placement. Linking America Works' success to the local commissioner and holding him accountable assured success for both organizations. This lesson of learning to create performance driven marketplaces goes beyond making Government accountable. It breaks up the monopoly of process and forces competition between outcome and process-based programs.