Department of Social Services Purchase of Service System

Welcome to the Department of Social Services' initiative to transform our purchase-of-service system. Designing and managing a service system of the highest quality depends on wide participation by service providers, families, community members, state agency staff, and other partners.

DSS is currently engaged in the intensive design work required to produce Requests for Response (RFRs) and an Implementation Plan. In April 2004, DSS convened a Procurement Management Team charged with guiding and integrating these planning efforts and completing the operational design for the new service system.

The CCRS Workgroup was charged with identifying clinical, managerial, and network practices required to support a more thorough connection of residential services to community-based services, providing readiness guidance to the provider community, and informing the state agencies' efforts to support new approaches to residential programming.

One of the key challenges in the design of the integrated service system is clearly articulating the decision-making role and responsibilities that the Department will authorize its contracted lead agencies to hold.