With new program, Montco aims to cut red tape for residents

Montgomery County hopes to revolutionize the way constituents connect with county services.

A new program aims to streamline services for residents, who often need help from multiple agencies and are at a loss about where to begin.

"There are people who just don't know what to do. Or people who've been told five different things and not been successful," said Eric Goldstein, director of the Behavioral Health/Developmental Disabilities Department.

Instead of the typical "silo" approach - in which each department works in isolation and constituents must figure out the system on their own - the county wants to have a one-stop shop in each community where a constituent could speak to a single person.

That person would help navigate the bureaucracy and follow the constituent through the system until all the needed services are obtained.

The county has outlined a broad - and very ambitious - vision, and is ready to start working out the logistics. Commissioner Josh Shapiro, who announced the initiative Thursday morning at a gathering of regional human-services providers, said the program is fully funded in the 2013 budget, a draft of which is expected Nov. 15.

He said the project "will not add a burden to county taxpayers," but did not reveal how it would be funded.

Goldstein said the idea has been around for years but came to life under Shapiro's leadership.

The task force - led by department chiefs from Child Care Information Services, Behavioral Health/Developmental Disabilities, Aging and Adult Services, and Children and Youth - knew what it wanted to provide. But members struggled over what to call it.

Should they be advisers? Concierges? Gatekeepers? Caseworkers? Sherpas?

In the end, they settled on navicates - a combination of navigator and advocate that tripped up many tongues at the conference.

At the conference, nonprofit organizers, government officials, funders, and others were excited about the program. They used words like "energized" and "passionate," and praised the commissioners' willingness to overhaul the system.

But they also had questions about training and placement of navicates; the size of their caseloads; the extent of follow-ups; the input of constituents, churches, and community groups; and the location of these local entry points.

Many of those questions are still being worked out. But there was one for which Shapiro had an easy answer:

"Is there room for nonprofits or other agencies in the community to come alongside and add to the navicate base?"

"Yes."