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Public Services Model

The “Public Services Model” provides a broad conceptual picture of how public programs and services work to improve the communities or regions they serve.  Experienced government performance auditors should be familiar with these concepts.  As depicted in this graphic of the model, program inputs such as personnel, equipment, or money work through processes such as program operations to produce service outputs.  If the service works as designed, outputs should lead to desired results for the people or communities served, some of which may be seen sooner and be a reasonably direct result of the service (“intermediate outcomes”) and some later (“long-term outcomes”) and may be a less direct result.

Used with Permission from Stephen L. Morgan, Colleen G. Waring, and EGAPP, Inc. (Click here or graphic for larger version)

Long-term outcomes and the overall impact on the community depend not only on the government program, but also on “other contributing factors” that may be beyond the control of program managers, but not always beyond the control of the government that authorizes the program (e.g., the government could fund complementary programs or coordinating government services with nonprofit providers addressing the same community conditions).  Some may be beyond the government’s control (e.g., the regional or national economy, weather conditions).  In a broad sense, this model can help auditors analyze programs and community issues for performance audits and program evaluations (Practice 1a. Audit performance).

The expanded view of the Public Services Model indicates that there are potentially many things in each segment of the model for auditors to evaluate when conduct­ing perform­ance audits (Practice 1a. Audit performance), and many opportunities to develop performance measures or expected levels of performance (Practice 3a. Help choose measures or targets). 

Used with Permission from Stephen L. Morgan and EGAPP, Inc. (Click here or graphic for larger version)

While any of the detailed items in the graphic may be measured or provide a source for determining measures or targets, the expanded model suggests that the most relevant measures (Practice 2a. Test relevance or reliability) would provide a picture of:

• The “demand” for the program or service (suggesting how much it is needed);
• The “economy” of the inputs (whether their cost is appropriate);
• The “efficiency” of the processes used (relationships of outputs or outcomes to inputs); or
• The “effectiveness” of the outputs and outcomes (how closely they approach or achieve program goals or objectives).