As Tommy has me work on several policy fronts with the Committee on Human Services, I have to make sure I look at care and service delivery from several perspectives -- the government, the provider, the client, and the public. 

Although we cannot determine when court oversight of some of the agencies under the purview of the Committee on Human Services will come to a long awaited end, we must begin to look now toward the future and work on the development of a mechanisms that will be used to provide quality monitoring and oversight of the agencies as they exit current class action litigation.  We are striving to implement effective tools for monitoring and oversight that will replace those functions currently provided by the court.  I truly believe that our human service agencies, with strong leadership and a true visionary at the helm, can effectively govern themselves. I also believe that the Council of the District of Columbia is capable of performing its full oversight responsibilities without the involvement of the court. As agencies are working feverously towards reaching their court established benchmarks we must ensure that there is equal focus on ensuring quality practice.

Although reaching the court established benchmarks will end court monitor involvement in our agencies, this cannot be to sole focus for any agency. Quality practice must work hand in hand with benchmark attainment. Failure to focus on quality practice and lack of a plan to continue this focus post litigation will end us right back where we started and the residents of this city and more importantly the vulnerable populations that these agencies serve deserve more than a repeat of past failures. Children in the DC child welfare system who have already experienced more heartache than any child should, deserve more than a repeat of past failures. Our developmentally and physically disabled residents who may be totally dependent on grossly underpaid, under trained, and under appreciated direct care workers for most, if not all, of their daily living needs, deserve more than a repeat of past failures. Our committed youth who have fallen prey to the pressures of their economically burdened and violent neighborhoods, deserve more than a repeat of past failures. Although significant progress has been made within our human service agencies, more must be done in looking toward and planning for the future.

That drive is what keeps me, and many others throughout city government, coming back every morning to work on these difficult issues.