Sure, Kentucky needs comprehensive tax reform yesterday. But you know what would be excellent? If we took a “No Wrong Door” approach to human services. Comprehensive service reform.

What a crazy idea!

From Governing Magazine:

For starters, panelists agreed, a true no-wrong-door approach to health and human services would be founded on a new definition of poverty that would much more accurately reflect the real cost of living. “We figure it costs a family of four $96,000 a year to live here,” noted panelist Uma Ahluwhalia, director of the Montgomery County, Md., Department of Health and Human Services. “But one parent loses their job and suddenly they’re down to $35,000 and they still don’t meet the definition.”

To the extent that individuals do qualify, though, there are still way too many rules and regulations that prevent the easy and sensible sharing of information that would make “no wrong door” more than a hopeful slogan. For efficiency’s sake, Ahluwhalia says the county has been working to take an astounding 136 different computer systems and consolidate them into about 10, “but confidentiality rules make integration very difficult; we operate within a very complex grid of policies and rules.”

For example, Ahluwhalia said, Montgomery County schools aren’t allowed to inform her office of which students qualify for free or subsidized breakfasts, which would likely help the county key in on families that need other services.

If Kentucky tried to put something like this into place, we could reduce the duplication of services and streamline those that are truly necessary. That’d save the state money and cost us all less. It would also mean that those who need services could get them more quickly – maybe even helping folks get back on their feet in a timely manner. And maybe – just maybe – that could help them be contributing members of society (on the financial/tax front) quicker than they would otherwise.

A resourceful gubernatorial candidate or two should snatch this up and run with it.

Wish this could happen in Kentucky.