Competency Restoration Project Management,Strategic Support, and Procurement Strategy

Nov 17

Ikaso partnered with a state agency to decrease the wait time for competency restoration services for adults deemed incompetent to stand trial (ICST) and in need of care in state psychiatric hospitals from 4+ months to 4 weeks.

The Challenge

Accelerated by COVID-19 and a staffing crisis at the state’s psychiatric hospital network, wait times for individuals in need of competency restoration services drastically increased.

The Outcome

We leveraged the Objectives and Key Result (OKR) goal-setting framework to develop a collaborative project structure, across divisions, centered on ambitious data-informed goals and a series of focused workstreams. Some workstreams focused on goals in the hospital setting, some focused on legislative hurdles, while others established alternative restoration settings – but all shared the same goal: reducing the wait time for competency restoration services. Within the first year, the team exceeded the project objective and other key performance indicators, lowering the average wait time below the 4 week goal – a goal many dismissed as impossible. We further supported our client in updating project goals to focus on sustaining progress, while also setting new challenging targets across key result areas.

To further drive progress, the Ikaso team partnered with the state to support the end-to-end procurement of licensed in-patient psychiatric hospitals to bolster the state’s capacity to provide competency restoration services to justice-involved individuals determined incompetent to stand trial - outside of the state psychiatric hospital setting. Through a strategic procurement approach, we helped revise compensation structures and care requirements to better align with and prioritize program outcomes.

Values-Centered Approach

While employing the values of collaboration and excellence, the Ikaso team supported the creation of a strong project culture among all team members with dedicated leadership support that encouraged innovative, metric-driven solutions.

Highlighted Results

Project leaders reported a 77% reduction in competency restoration service wait time on average during project duration and attributed the project goal-setting and structure as a critical factor to success
Convened two competency restoration symposiums bringing together judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and clinicians to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing
Supported 6 unique workstreams through 8 quarterly OKR cycles
Facilitated the procurement and re-procurement of cost saving alternative restoration pathways, resulting in $19.8M+ saved for our client and reduced overall wait time for competency restoration services
Conducted outreach and engaged stakeholders to advocate for statutory changes, culminating in the passing of legislation supporting process standardization and improvement
Hosted human centered design workshop, resulting in development of person-centered journey map that has been used to engage hundreds of stakeholders to explain a misunderstood and complex process

Meet the Experts

Strategic Initiatives and Executive Support

Sara Graham

ENGAGETASTE IS A WEB DESIGN, BRANDING AND CONTENT CREATION AGENCY BASED IN THE U.S.

Sara Graham is a Squarespace Expert, Certified Squarespace Trainer and a Top-Level Designer on Squarespace-partner-agency, 99designs, and has worked with more than 700 clients in dozens of countries. Her passion lies in creating beauty, compelling stories and tools that drive business growth. Her design philosophy centers around function, simplicity and distinctiveness. As both a designer and a writer, she crafts rich experiences that express depth, personality, and professionalism in a wholly unique way. She finds immense joy in fostering a sense of connection between website visitors and the business owner.

https://www.engagetaste.com