A Management Information and Program Evaluation System for the State of Maryland
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A Management Information And Program Evaluation System For The State of Maryland A REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON MODERN MANAGEMENT in cooperation with The University of Maryland under the auspices of Title I of the Higher Education Assistance Act JANUARY 1989 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT |) STATE OFFICE BUILDING ^I^L^If89 301 WEST PRESTON STREET BALTIMORE. MARYLAND 21201 MARVIN MANDEL GOVERNOR March 11, 1969 MEMORANDUM To: Department Heads and Seminar Participants in the Management Information and Program Evaluation System From: John J. McCormick, Jr., Director Management Information Program Re: Report - "A Management Information and Program Evaluation System for the State of Maryland" The report on our efforts during the summer and fall is attached. In the front are some recommendations and review notes. I took as samples for the review notes several programs that were'done rather well^and which illustrate some typical types of questions which we hope will be raised by this effort. I appreciate the time and effort you all put in on this project and I hope to work with you again this year in a continuation of the program. Thank you. JJM/mch Attachment K* MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND PROGRAM EVALUATION SYSTEM A Report to the Governor and General Assembly January, 1969 CONTENTS Page Number PROGRAM SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS i LETTER TO GOVERNOR ii REVIEW NOTES • . • ix DEPARTMENTAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS Section Number Assessments and Taxation, Department of 1 Bank Commissioner, State 2 Board of Natural Resources 3 Board of Trustees of State Colleges 4 Building, Savings and Loan, Department of 5 Chesapeake Bay Affairs, Department of 6 Civil Defense Agency, Maryland ..'..• 7 Comptroller of the Treasury 8 Correction, Department of 9 Crime Commissionj Governor's 10 Economic Development, Department of 11 Education, Department of 12 Economic Opportunity, Office of 13 Employment Security, Department of 14 Forests and Parks, Department of 15 Game and Inland Fish, Department of 16 Hall of Records 17 Health, Department of 18 Higher Education, Advisory Council for 19 Insurance Department, State 20 Labor and Industry, Department of 22 Loan Laws, Administrator of 23 Mental Hygiene, Department of 24 Motor Vehicles, Department of 26 Patuxent Institution 28 Personnel, Commissioner of 29 Planning Department, State 30 Police, Maryland State 31 Public Improvements, Department of .... 33 Public Service Commission 34 Retirement Systems, Employees' 35 Roads Commission, State 36 Salisbury State College 38 Treasurer, State 39 Social Services, Department of 40 University of Maryland 41 Water Resources, Department of 42 APPENDIX Instructions for Completing the State of Maryland Program Description Form 43 PROGRAM SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS This report describes a Management Information and Program Evaluation System for Maryland. All state functions are defined in "programs" and the basic objective of each is stated in writing. For each program certain "measures" are defined for reporting purposes. These include (1) a measure of the cost of the program (2) a measure of the physical activity or produc- tion of the program (3) a measure of the program's success in meeting its stated objectives and (4) unit costs per amount achieved such as cost per patient day or per license issued which are called measures of efficiency. This report contains program definitions and statements of objectives for approximately 85% of state efforts. Measures for each are identified. Information will be accumulated beginning January 1, 1969 on a quarterly basis and should be available next year to help the executive branch in its manage- ment of state efforts. It will also help both the executive and legislative branches to evaluate the desirability and priority of individual programs. MIPES was developed with the help of a federal grant under Title I of the Higher Education Assistance Act of 1965. An application for a further grant is being prepared to allow training of local officials in the system and to help them apply it to their own situations. Recommendations for 1969. 1. The MIPES System should be continued and expanded to include all state programs. 2. Local officials should be offered training in MIPES and en- couraged to apply it to their own operations. 3. Both the Executive branch and the General Assembly should carefully review the statements of program objectives to identify any areas where clarification is needed or where a change of emphasis is desirable. The enclosed statements of objectives were prepared by the departments which actually administer the programs. 4. The definitions of program measures should be reviewed to determine (a) where additional information will be required or (b) where information is unnecessary and should be deleted. The accumulation of information is both time consuming and costly and should not be undertaken unless beneficial results can be anticipated. 5. An evaluation of the future scope and role of the program should be made at the close of 1969. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT ANNAPOLIS. MARYLAND 21404 SPIROT. AGNEW GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE GOVERNOR ON MODERN MANAGEMENT kJOHNG. LAUBER January 6, 1969 DIRECTOR ROOM 1506 STATE OFFICE BUILDING DR. JEAN E. SPENCER 301 WEST PRESTON STREET ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21Z0I 301 - 383-3010 EXT. B970 To His Excellency Spiro T. Agnew Governor of Maryland To the Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen of The General Assembly of Maryland This report describes progress to date on the establishment of a Management Information and Program Evaluation System in Maryland. The system is designed to strengthen the Governor's management of the executive branch of State Government by providing him with a systematic and compre- hensive flow of information on the progress and problems of all state ac- tivities. It will also assist the Governor and the General Assembly by supplying information required for a regular evaluation of all state pro- grams, so that desirable efforts can be emphasized and unproductive efforts curtailed. Needs The executive branch of Maryland State Government consists of approximately 250 departments, offices, boards and commissions which report independently to the Governor. Historically, lobbyists interested in special programs have sought departmental status for their activities in an effort to emphasize their prestige and importance. So many separate agencies have been established that none can receive adequate attention from the Governor and General Assembly. Both branches of government have expressed dissatisfaction with the type, frequency and adequacy of information which they receive for management and program evaluation purposes. A reorganization of the executive branch of government is badly needed and will help alleviate the problem. In addition, an orderly method must be initiated for supplying the Governor and the General Assembly with information so that they may carry out their consti- tutional responsibilities. A word of caution is necessary. No system can be designed which will furnish the answers to all possible questions concerning state activi- ties and programs. This system attempts to supply information necessary for ii an over-view of state programs. The wise legislator or administrator will use it to quickly identify questions of policy or program which require more de- tailed analysis or justification. It will not substitute for the inquiring mind or the need to ask the right question at the right time. MIPES The Management Information and Program Evaluation System requires that everything the state does be broken down into programs or sub-programs. A program is defined as a set of related activities which are coordinated and designed to lead to a given objective. Thus, by definition, the identification of a program is tied to a statement of its objectives. Both the description of the program and its objective must be stated in clear, unambiguous terms. These programs will not necessarily correspond to the present program breakdown in the budget. After the objectives of each program are identified, certain measures are developed for reporting purposes. These are: (1) A measure of cost. In every case this will be stated in dollar expenditures, but it also might involve some other limited commodity such as personnel, land, or equipment. (2) a measure of activity or production. This might be the number of licenses issued, forms processed or patient-days of care provided. It measures the effort expended by the staff in terms of tangible units which can be counted. The fluctuations of this measure will probably have some direct relationship to man-hours of work and/or the cost of the program. It will not necessarily measure the extent to which the stated objectives of the program are being met. (3) a measure of effectiveness. This attempts to measure the success of the program in meeting its basic objectives as stated in the definition of the program. Although it is desirable to identify measures which have a direct and total causal relationship, these will be rare. In most cases the efforts of the state program will be only one of many factors which affect the measure of effectiveness. For example, a state program to combat tuberculosis must use the morbidity rate of the disease as a measure of effectiveness, although it may fluctuate because of economic factors (which change dietary patterns) or the effectiveness of the reporting system (which may induce false changes in the index). In many cases there may be complimentary state, local and private programs attempting to solve the same problems. It is difficult to isolate the impact of any given program in meeting the need. Even though such measures of effectiveness must be examined carefully and used with caution, they must be considered in any evaluation of the iii effectiveness and/or desirability of the program. (4) a measure of efficiency. Such measures emerge when there are meaningful relationships between the measures of cost and the other measures. The cost per patient-day or the cost to reduce an accident or disease rate by a given per- centage are examples of measures of efficiency.