This report is submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly pursuant to C.G.S. § 4-70b(c), which requires the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) to "establish uniform policies and procedures for obtaining, managing and evaluating the quality and cost effectiveness of human services purchased from private providers."  Further, the Secretary of OPM is to "ensure all state agencies which purchase human services comply with such policies and procedures."  This is the fourth in a series of reports on the status of Connecticut's contracted human service system submitted to the General Assembly.

This report reviews the history and intent of the Purchase of Service (POS) Project, which originated from the work of the Commission to Effect Government Reorganization in 1991. It also serves as an update of the reports published in 1994, 1996, and 1998.

Contents:

• The origins of the POS project
• An overview of project accomplishments from 1993 to 1998
• Recent improvements in the contracting process
• New areas of interagency and private provider cooperation
• Anticipated future steps for the POS Project
• Related attachments

In summary, this report reveals the changing nature of POS. It documents how the project in the past decade has evolved – from a high profile, ambitious attempt to overhaul the human service contracting process in a compressed time period – to an ongoing, cooperative venture of interested and committed parties.  Six human services agencies (namely, the Departments of Children and Families, Correction, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Mental Retardation, Public Health, and Social Services), the Office of the Attorney General, representatives of the nonprofit provider community, and the Office of Policy and Management continue to pursue the goals of the original legislation by adapting their efforts to the ever-changing reality of state government.

2003 Report to the Legislature 

2008 Report to the Legislature