States explore government-nonprofit streamlining

National Council of Nonprofits Tracks Changes

Since the publication of Costs, Complexification, and Crisis: Government’s Human Services Contracting “System” Hurts Everyone last year by the National Council of Nonprofits, numerous states have been considering measures to address the issues identified: lost resources due to complex application and reporting processes; lack of funding for the full cost of providing services; late payments on contracts; and changing contract requirements.

The Illinois Legislature has approved a bill to simplify the contracting process between human service providers and the state, a measure which was based upon recommendations developed through the Donors Forum (the Alliance counterpart in Illinois). The measure will consolidate the pre-qualification process, develop a cross-agency master service agreement, and codify common service taxonomy across agencies.

In New Jersey, Governor Christie signed into law a bill that will establish a web portal through which nonprofits can access funding opportunities and other information from state agencies. And in North Carolina, the Senate passed a measure to reduce redundant monitoring by establishing a task force to compare national accreditation requirements with oversight regulations.

These are among the measures tracked by the National Council of Nonprofits, to which all nonprofit members of HANO belong as affiliate members.