At the State Oversight Academy Symposium on June 26, the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State university Law School released a new report on People-Centered Oversight (PCO) in the nation’s state legislatures.
The report is the product of months of work examining how legislatures in every state incorporate into their oversight efforts the experiences of program users and implementers. It offers case studies and recommendations to help reorient legislative oversight away from tracking bureaucratic compliance and toward assessing the human impact of public policy.
Drawing on both broad data and in-depth case studies, the report highlights innovative practices from across the country — from using constituent casework data to drive oversight, to improving fieldwork in formal program evaluation. It also includes actionable recommendations and summaries of PCO-related practices in all fifty states.
“Legislative oversight is a powerful tool for making sure that government delivers on its promises,” said Jim Townsend, director of the Levin Center, “but lawmakers need to be asking the right questions. These include inquiring into how citizens experience government services and how front-line public workers fare in implementing the systems designed to deliver those services. This report shows how legislators and staff across the country are conducting such oversight and identifies how many more can follow their lead. We hope that practitioners of oversight everywhere will use this report as a resource to strengthen their work and help rebuild public trust in government.”
The full text of the report and a recording of the symposium presentation and discussion are available at go.levin-center.org/pco.
The report is the product of months of work examining how legislatures in every state incorporate into their oversight efforts the experiences of program users and implementers. It offers case studies and recommendations to help reorient legislative oversight away from tracking bureaucratic compliance and toward assessing the human impact of public policy.
Drawing on both broad data and in-depth case studies, the report highlights innovative practices from across the country — from using constituent casework data to drive oversight, to improving fieldwork in formal program evaluation. It also includes actionable recommendations and summaries of PCO-related practices in all fifty states.
“Legislative oversight is a powerful tool for making sure that government delivers on its promises,” said Jim Townsend, director of the Levin Center, “but lawmakers need to be asking the right questions. These include inquiring into how citizens experience government services and how front-line public workers fare in implementing the systems designed to deliver those services. This report shows how legislators and staff across the country are conducting such oversight and identifies how many more can follow their lead. We hope that practitioners of oversight everywhere will use this report as a resource to strengthen their work and help rebuild public trust in government.”
The full text of the report and a recording of the symposium presentation and discussion are available at go.levin-center.org/pco.
