Many of Nessen's observations were confirmed by our research. Government forces providers to waste resources. Contracts, in theory the documents which define the relationship among state, provider, and client, came to be seen as technical filing requirements. No one wanted to read, much less enforce, contracts. Since the system allowed no means, time, or resources to evaluate performance, contracting had become a wasteful and hollow exercise.
Government undermines the independence of providers.
Existing state policies, procedures, and systems were geared to direct service delivery and were applied uncritically to contract systems. Consequently, we treated providers more as subdivisions of state government than as independent entities. The same kind of direct budgetary and program controls were assumed to be appropriate for purchased services. Government helps produce fiscally unstable agencies. Providers have sacrificed the fiscal viability of their agencies to serve more and more clients with inadequate resources.