Assessment and Transformation Project

State of Pennsylvania - 2010 - PA Governor's Award for Local Government Excellence

Summary

Description

The Court of Common Pleas of Adams County has begun a high level operational review of the entire Court system and related offices, the first judicial project of this kind and scope in Pennsylvania. The Assessment and Transformation Project (ATP) has broken down the traditional hierarchy of the Court system, energized employees and focused the Court on service delivery. Collaboration and cross departmental teams have resolved issues to create a successful operational model for other Courts to follow.

The ATP consists of five phases:

1. Vision, Mission, Principles, and Values Implementation

2. High Level Business Process Review of the General Court System

3. Business Process Review of Specific Offices

4. Gap Analysis

5. Implementation

Many of the ATP recommendations were implemented in 2009, including:

> An employee review system to improve hiring, training and retaining a competent workforce and the creation of cross departmental teams to handle employee orientation, budgeting and succession planning

The ATP especially helped to foster a collaborative spirit between the Court and the Commissioners as they worked to avoid layoffs. The Commissioners have fully embraced the ATP and have their own forward looking project with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), with recommendations to be implemented. The GFOA report endorsed the ATP as a fiscally responsible plan for the County.

The ATP has been so successful that four additional offices have asked that the ATP be extended to their areas when funding is available.