Members of the non-profit community, trade unions, state
legislators and legislative staff tackled some of
the tough issues surrounding social services privatization at a State Issues Forum workshop at NCSL. Participants met to share factors state governments should consider when privatizing human services and gain a "beyond the beltway" perspective on privatization.
Texas state representatives Garnet Coleman and Elliott Naishtat
described cases of public sector privatization in Texas.
Privatization initiatives there, parts of which
were struck down for violating federal guidelines, were problematic because they required little spending accountability from the state executive office.
Others raised questions about market-driven management of
public assistance: "Profit motive must never interfere with people getting their basic life necessities," said panelist Greg LeRoy, Assistant Research Director of the Service Employees International Union. Virginia canceled a $45 million private-sector contract in April because the project was 20 months behind-schedule and produced an error rate of more than 50 percent, said LeRoy.
Many states have turned to the faith community as an alternative
to government assistance organizations or businesses. While religious
organizations will always have a role to play in community caregiving, noted J. Kevin Appleby, Deputy Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, in some cases churches are not equipped to provide the specialized care some public assistance families need. And, churches run the risk of casting themselves as a `government agency’ in the eyes of their community, a misconception that can raise troubling constitutional issues.
The State Issues Forum meets periodically to discuss front-burner
issues in the states and to share solutions across government and sectoral lines.
For more information on the NCSL privatization workshop or the SIF,
contact SIF coordinator Darold Johnson ([email protected]) at CPA.
