CPM Student Projects

Charter Schools in Idaho are relatively new. As such, there was very little information to assist petitioners in how to become authorized to operate a charter school. Furthermore, once authorized, there was no information available to assist charter school boards with the oversight responsibilities.

The lack of information placed a huge workload on the staff of the State Board of Education and the Public Charter School Commission. Staff in my office were spending between five and seven hours per day fielding phone calls and emails concerning charter schools. Those calls came from both petitioners who were attempting to open charter schools and members of governing boards of existing charter schools. While we were usually able to answer the questions, it was taking valuable time from staff. Also, petitioners and board members were making numerous mistakes because there was a general lack of knowledge of both federal and state laws, state rules, and federal regulations. This also took several hours of staff time to work with petitioners and authorizers to correct the mistakes.

Accomplished Goal
Our goal, which was accomplished, was to create a one-stop-shop manual that assists petitioners in creating and submitting charter petitioners for authorization and that assists governing board members with the day-to-day operations of a charter school.

My project involved extensive activities over a period of 14 months. Due to support from Idaho State University and funding from a federal grant, my project went beyond the design phase to achieving the actual laboratory expansion. The recent expansion solved the space related problems we had been experiencing so profoundly, such as crowded working conditions, lack of storage space, safety issues, lack of organization, lack of a private office for the laboratory manager, and inadequate telephone access. The expansion provided an increase of 66% (703 square feet in 2002 to 1171 square feet currently).

Annette Wilkinson developed her CPM project based on her awareness of the critical need to provide state-wide comprehensive services to children under the age of five, specifically 0-3 years, who exhibited social emotional concerns. Knowing the significant effects of early experience on this age gave Annette passion to seek a strategy to ensure Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare (H&W) was meeting this need. Her goal was to develop a cooperative structure within H&W for an Infant Mental Health Program.

Analysis of current practices revealed how current structures and perceptions within H&W prevented adequate attention to the issue. Some needs were met in various programs, but there was not a state plan to alleviate concerns, to provide adequate service, and to reflect integration principles.

To complete her project, Annette worked with a state-wide team of central office staff, her own regional team, and key external stakeholders. Her expertise in infant mental health and her ability to use group facilitation techniques, negotiation, and political savvy provided the vehicles for reaching group agreement. She found the over-riding principles of the Learning Organization as taught in the CPM program were of significant help.

Four aspects of care for Early Childhood Mental Health were developed to serve as a model and the foundation for a state-wide program. They are: 1) Promotion; 2) Prevention; 3) Intervention; 4) Treatment. The assumption being that if most attention was given to the first level of care, promotion, which was then followed by prevention and intervention; the need for treatment was lessened and would be met with more success.

Breaking down "silos" through discussion and consensus, Annette got agreement to use existing department structures to implement the model without creating new programs or hiring additional staff. Each phase of the model found a home, resulting in a uniform approach to address the social emotional concerns of young children state-wide. Definitions, treatment strategies, application strategies, best practices, and templates were put in place as guidelines for implementation.

The following outcomes were achieved:

1. The foundation for a state plan.
2. Buy-in from critical stakeholders.
3. A model of the Early Childhood Mental Health System of Care.
4. A referral protocol for children in need.
5. Instruments for screening and assessment for 0 to 3 year old children.

To realize cost savings, Annette built upon current structures within H&W and the community to implement the program. Direction has been given to community partners to implement their programs. The large costs of working with developmentally delayed children in our school systems and in society in general are apparent. Any positive impact on assisting children to get a better start in life is a definite plus for our economy.

The state of Idaho is now poised to seek appropriate funding streams to address the social emotional needs of children at several different levels, including those of 0-3 years of age.

The Grants Manager Training Plan provides a consistently applied method of training newly hired grants managers. It lists all tasks required for the position, a contact person that will provide training on each task, and the length of time it should take to learn the task. Additionally, the Grants Manager Training Plan provides an objective to the trainer complete with references to written materials. Objectives for new employees begin with providing basic information to the employee, such as introductions to coworkers and a tour of the building, and it ends with complex tasks required of the grants manager position.

My project focused on three general areas. The first focus of my project was to get the Idaho tax forms and tax code changed to better facilitate the filing of nonresident alien returns. I worked with our forms committees to get our nonresident tax form changed, and the form was changed for the 2005 tax year. A bill was introduced into the 2006 legislature to change our tax law regarding nonresident aliens. This law was passed and become effective for the 2006 tax year.

The second goal of my project was to provide resource material to alien taxpayers and tax practitioners to assist them in the filing of nonresident alien tax returns. I was able to get a frequently asked questions section put on the Tax Commission website to assist alien taxpayers and tax practitioners with these returns. I also put together a PowerPoint presentation to assist nonresident alien students at the various universities in the state to prepare their returns. Tax preparation seminars were held at Idaho State University and BYU-Idaho during the 2006 tax year.

The third goal of my project was to develop a resource manual to assist Tax Commission employees in processing nonresident alien tax returns, and in providing taxpayer assistance to nonresident aliens. This manual was presented to tax commission staff in various training seminars, and the manual has been provided to the appropriate employees throughout the agency.

At the time my project was completed I was with the Idaho Transportation Department's Division of Aeronautics. I have since had the honor of becoming a member of Health and Welfare.

My project was in answer to a portion of the Idaho Airstrip Network Action Plan (IAN). This plan was the result of the collaboration of people from all walks of aviation and intended to provide guidance on preserving the airports in Idaho.

The IAN called for a written educational resource that could be used statewide to assist community leaders and others advocate for their local airports. I developed a manual that includes Idaho aviation history, case studies, economic impact studies, and other resources.

I used existing information for the case studies and contracted with a firm from California for the economic impact studies. I received information and a similar product from approximately five states that I was able to use in several areas by adapting it to meet Idaho's needs.

The manual was presented to the Idaho Aeronautics Advisory Board at their August meeting held in McCall.

The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) lacked a strategic direction for development and deployment of GIS technology. The department lacked a GIS plan that facilitates development and sharing of information among applications. This lack of a plan led to an unclear vision, goals, and objectives, which in turn led to inadequate training, ineffective software distribution, and data redundancy.

A GIS Plan was needed in order set strategic direction for development and deployment of GIS technology. The plan also facilitated development and sharing of information among applications.

The project developed an IDPR GIS Plan. This plan ultimately reduced data redundancy by establishing a Central GIS Server and a data-sharing program with the parks. The plan also provides more effective use of skills and resources by:
Allocating licenses to employee who will use the program.
Establishing communications between GIS Users.
Establishing base maps for IDPR GIS Users.

Because our agency is so small (24 persons), we will be severely impacted when four key staff members retire in 2009. Two of the projected retirees are Bureau Chiefs and two are Program Specialists. All have major program responsibilities across the state. The potential loss of technical expertise, institutional knowledge, agency coordination, administrative knowledge, and interagency communication linkages will most likely result in program inefficiencies, a less effective delivery system of services to Idaho's 51 conservation districts, a potential reduction in services provided to farmers and ranchers at the local level, and a potential adverse impact on services to our partner agencies and internal customers. It is imperative to minimize the negative impact the retirement of these staff persons will have on the ISCC and its partners.

Like many other state agencies, the ISCC had no career ladder or career development program in place. Further compounding the problem was the fact that the small staff is located throughout the state, making an internal development process or program difficult to plan and implement. The ISCC needed to create a system for mentoring and developing employees to assume the duties currently handled by retiring staff. My project details the development of management competencies and the exchange of information among current managers, project participants, and me.

Using the information gained from these tools, my project created a comprehensive training plan. Although currently limited to the staff members who volunteered to participate, the curriculum of the training plan gives all staff the opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to participate in this mentoring and development program to enhance their knowledge of management techniques and practices and increase their skill set.

The 2005 Idaho Legislature passed H 300 (Idaho Code 67-1901-1904), which changed the requirements for agency strategic planning and performance reporting. The new reporting requirements include an Agency Profile, ten performance measures for the agency, and strategic plan criteria.

The project resulted in completion of the Agency Profile requirements and development of potential measures for the agency. A strategic planning process had been anticipated by the agency, but was not undertaken during the project timeline. A number of other states were examined for their approaches to strategic planning and performance measures.

The objective of this project was to develop and implement an online nonmonetary determination entry system to assist staff while writing eligibility determinations. Our prior system was not easy to use, not easy to maintain or enhance, and was quite unstable. We developed the ONES system to be easy to use, easy to maintain and enhance, and to be stable.

The ONES system consists of two parts:

Administrative System – The Administrative System is based on a wizard interface. Authorized staff is able to create and edit the templates on which the determinations are based.

User System – The User System is also based on an easy to use wizard interface. The wizard walks the staff person writing the determination through a number of steps to ensure that all required information is present.

This system was developed in such a way that it can be modified to write other types of determinations. Currently, our agency is exploring the possibility of using the ONES system to write determinations for three other bureaus.

Idaho has been using the ONES system statewide since October 2006. Users have found this system easy to use. Programmers and technical staff have found the system easy to maintain and enhance. No major problems have been reported with the system since November 2006 indicating the system is very stable.

When an inmate is released from Prison custody and is unable to have access to basic hygiene items, unnecessary and distracting stress can affect the offender's energies that should be placed towards sobriety and not committing crime.

A "success kit" is designed to promote the message that I (Warden) and staff care about the offender's success in the community and their life beyond prison walls. The kits are basic and simple and include such things as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo, towel, calendar, lotion and a hairbrush. The kits were financed by members of the community and I have enough "kits" to provide one to each offender being released from the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center for one year.

The purpose of this project was to:
Provide safety orientation products to be used by supervisors.
Promote safety awareness within the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Project Necessity:
The National Association of Safety Professionals (NASP) suggests that, “Awareness of safety does not come naturally; we all need to be trained to work safely. The vast majority of workplace accidents are resultant from human error or inattention and are easily avoidable.
Workplace safety is an ethical responsibility. Employers have a duty to do everything reasonable to protect their employees from accidents on the job. Safety training can help avoid serious injuries and even deaths.
Safety training can save many thousands of dollars each year in worker's compensation claims, medical expenses, and lost productivity.
Employees who receive proper safety orientation are more likely to avoid accidents, and employees who avoid accidents save their employers money.

Space vacated within the building gave the Commission for Libraries an opportunity to focus on its changed mission by eliminating collections, selling a storage building, and better integrating space use within one building.

This project used agency vales of collaboration and open communication to achieve the above goals and change the organizational culture from one which focused on sub-units to one that encourages staff to better understand how all staff activities and agency programs support the agency mission.