Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions and Recommendations

Debate about the public and private sectors should focus on the ultimate goal of providing cost-effective, high-quality public services. This is a difficult goal to achieve. State and local governments should not shed services in hopes of minimizing this burden, nor should they vainly search for "silver bullets" to solve long-standing problems. They should be wary of simple cost-benefit analyses of complex problems; this is especially true of studies produced by firms with a stake in the process or by groups that believe in reducing government at any cost.

The mission of serving poor children and at-risk families should not be subject to the profit motive and other influences that corrode the social safety net. Rather, this mission should remain a core public function, responsive to democratic principles and accountable to elected officials.

AFSCME members and their state and local government employers have embraced new and innovative ways to provide cost-effective, value-added public services to assist those in need. The workers on the front lines of social services stand ready to carry their mission forward in the future.

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