For Immediate Release

March 8, 2019

Media Contact: Amy Webb

DHS Chief of Communications & Community Engagement

[email protected]

Marci Manley

DHS Deputy Chief of Communications

[email protected] 

New Performance Center to Show Data DHS Uses to Manage its Operations

Website part of agency effort to provide public more transparency and information about its work

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) – The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) debuted a new website Friday that allows the public to see data that the agency uses to manage its internal operations – the first in a series of informational dashboards and reports that will be released regularly on the site in the months ahead.

“We’ve been working for about a year to build dashboards so that we can use the data to better track, understand, and manage work and workloads in several of our divisions,” said DHS Director Cindy Gillespie. “The dashboards tell us how we’re doing – whether we’re processing applications on time, for example, or initiating investigations when we should. Our focus is on improving our day-to-day operations, and dashboards give us visibility into our performance. That’s why we call the website our ‘performance center.’ The new site allows the public to look over our shoulders, if they wish, and monitor us as we work to improve.”

The data is uploaded daily so managers and employees have a real-time look into how the agency is performing.  To view the new performance center, go to www.humanservices.arkansas.gov and click on “performance center” on the top right of the homepage.

Initially the performance center will include data on:

– Child care licensing application processing, complaints, and monitoring visits

– The timeliness of initiating child maltreatment investigations

– The timeliness of opening and completing adult protective services cases

– The number of Freedom of Information Act requests DHS has received and how quickly they are fulfilled

– The number of appeal hearings requested and heard in dozens of DHS programs

DHS plans to continue publishing operational dashboards to the site as it completes development and the dashboard is actively being used to manage operations. The site will be a one-stop shop for regular reports DHS publishes and reports the agency is required to produce by either state or federal law.

To build the dashboards, the agency started by mapping out work processes from start to finish, including every decision point that needs to be made along the way. Once that is complete, DHS worked with its information technology contractor, Deloitte, to build and maintain the dashboards.

“These dashboards have really helped us as an agency map out plans to deal with serious issues, like backlogs," Gillespie said. "I’m excited that the public now has a chance to see the data.”