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AHS says outreach reached 1,000+ people; outlines agency-wide budgeting and next steps for implementation
Summary
Agency officials told House committees their Act 119 review gathered more than 1,000 responses through surveys, focus groups and visits, and said some Tier 2/3 reforms can proceed administratively while Tier 1 items will be refined with cost estimates and timelines.
Agency of Human Services officials told a joint House hearing they used broad outreach and iterative prioritization to develop recommendations under Act 119 (2024) and that the next phase will focus on implementation and timetable.
Method and scale: "We had over 1000 people who engaged with us and participated in that information gathering," Jacqueline Holden, director of performance improvement, said when describing outreach that included staff, partner organizations, focus groups, and anonymous public comments. The team combined that qualitative input with operational data and peer-state comparisons, then ran a prioritization survey to identify the top themes.
Internal reforms and budgeting: Presenters said the executive leadership team has begun treating the agency budget as a single, agency-wide process for the coming biennium so departments make joint decisions about priorities. The secretary’s office said it asked commissioners to approach the budget both as department heads and as agency leaders, and that initial work has already reviewed Medicaid programs and evaluation data to align investments with agency priorities.
Tier 2 and Tier 3 work: Officials said many Tier 2 recommendations (agency-wide operational reforms such as workforce supports, technology modernization and improved program planning) and Tier 3 items (smaller, program-level fixes) can be advanced without legislation. The team offered to return with timeframes and progress reports and agreed to share the survey instrument upon request.
Transparency and follow-up: Committee members pressed for clearer timeframes and metrics. "We'd be happy to come back and share progress updates with all of you," Ted Fisher said; the agency committed to ongoing staff feedback and stakeholder engagement as it translates the recommendations into actions.
The hearing closed with presenters noting the statutory reporting timeline: a status update and the expectation of final recommendations due by 2025-11-01. No committee votes were taken; presenters said some Tier 1 options may still require legislative or gubernatorial action depending on the final implementation strategy.
