Child Protection Leader is published six times a year by the American Humane Association, presenting timely information on significant issues related to the protection of children and strengthening families. Yet the overwhelming majority of public and private agencies facing these challenges have difficulty articulating a clear list of qualitative outcomes and benchmarks for which their organizations are accountable. In this environment, agencies that operate without a focus on results may find themselves facing questions about their funding that they are not prepared to answer. Increasing knowledge about promising practices, effective programs, and results-based accountability is a step in the right direction.
More work is needed, however, to develop powerful results-driven organizations.
Currently, too many board members regard their job as serving as a higher level of executive director. The board and executive director may even be content with this arrangement, or the situation may build explosive and destructive tension between the board and the executive director. Either way, it is not an efficient or, usually, a productive use of board and executive resources. Conversely, many executive directors engage in a sort of dance with the board, its executive committee, or chairperson. They feel their way along the changing personalities, often hesitant to lead and sometimes even reluctant to discuss measurable results or strategic questions.