Academy for Professional Excellence

SACHS

Overview

Research

Literature Reviews

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SACHS Overview

The Southern Area Consortium of Human Services (SACHS) was established in 2001 and consists of human service directors from the Southern California Counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. In addition the directors from California State University San Bernardino’s Department of Social Work and San Diego State University’s School of Social Work are also members. SACHS is facilitated by the Academy for Professional Excellence.

SACHS Mission:
The Southern Area Consortium of Human Services, a county/university partnership, is a forum for county directors to explore and exchange ideas and information on issues facing public human services and to develop strategies for addressing these issues.

SACHS engages in strategy discussions, research, policy development, executive development, and succession planning to improve the quality, accountability, and responsiveness of human services in the Southern California Region.

SACHS Vision:
SACHS will provide dynamic and influential leadership and cutting-edge knowledge in the county human services arena, impacting social policies and advancing organizational excellence to help create safe, healthy, and thriving communities in the Southern California Region.

Structure
SACHS convenes four quarterly meetings rotated in different locations throughout the Southern California Region. As part of the SACHS meetings, a portion of the meeting is spent on a Director’s Roundtable. This roundtable discussion gives each director the opportunity to share information with the other directors, discuss any issues or problems they are currently dealing with, and problem solve with the other directors.

Discussion Topics
At each quarterly meeting, a formal topic of discussion is addressed. Depending on the topic, the county directors invite special audiences such as fiscal staff, local, state, and/or national subject matter experts to present on the strategic uses currently facing the SACHS counties.

For each discussion topic, a panel of facilitators is brought in to lead the discussion. The panel frequently consists of a representative from California Department of Social Services (CDSS), a representative from the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), and a representative from the local county level. By looking at the strategic issue from these three perspectives, the SACHS Members are able to come up with viable strategies to address the problem at hand.

After each discussion, concrete strategies and next steps are identified for the county, university, and SACHS staff to complete.

Research
In the first year, SACHS began by conducting annual research projects. The first research project looked at the following: (1) the issue of service integration and (2) to help inform directors as to whether their counties should adopt an integrated service structure that incorporates all existing county departments that provide health and human services under one super organization.

For year two, SACHS proposed conducting a year-long research project that focused on understanding the impact of budget cuts on California’s most vulnerable citizens. After much discussion, the consensus was to focus on short-term research needs and to capture what is being done in the agencies to best manage service issues. By focusing on short-term projects, the research could be conducted in a timely manner. However, SACHS does continue to pursue funding for and interest in conduct long-term outcome based research projects.

Succession Planning
During SACHS’ first year, a majority of the discussions centered on succession planning, and how to meet each department’s future needs for effective leaders/managers. These discussions would later lead the way for the creation of Leaders in Action, an executive level leadership development program designed specifically to address Southern California’s succession planning needs.

Leaders in Action is a partnership between SACHS, San Diego State University, and the Academy for Professional Excellence. Leaders in Action is a unique concept that is based on extensive research of succession planning and executive development models, as well as a thorough needs assessment process including director and executive focus groups and consultation with technical experts.

The target candidate, selected by the agency director, is a high performing, experienced, upper-middle level manager aspiring to serve in executive positions. In contrast to most conventional executive development programs, Leaders in Action is designed to be a dynamic, ongoing organization development process, thoroughly embedded within the strategic plans and human resources process in each participating agency.