Success Stories

20 success stories available
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Block Grant application time reduced by more than 50%

Problem Statement

The Arizona Department of Housing receives 40-50 Community Development Block Grant applications each year from small cities and counties (serving populations under 50,000). These rural Arizona governments are applying for approximately $10 million in federal grants for a wide range of infrastructure, community and housing needs. The time required for the review of CDBG applications was 90 days, and too much time was spent requesting missing information from applicants or...

Action Taken

The Community Development and Revitalization team used problem-solving techniques to remove ambiguities and eliminate redundancies in the Community Development Block...

Veterans' Services improves access to GI Bill for veterans

Problem Statement

The Arizona State Approving Agency was not meeting the turnaround goal time for the disposition of applications for educational institutions that can accept GI Bill funds.

Action Taken

The team conducted a process mapping exercise and a monthlong data collection process for each key step and then made three major process changes: 

  • Simplified the...

Veterans receive long-awaited high school diplomas

Problem Statement

There was no program in place to meet statutory requirements to award honorary diplomas to veterans who did not receive a high school diploma due to their honorable service in the U.S. military.

Action Taken

The Department of Veterans’ Services created a problem-solving group with the Arizona State Board of Education and the Arizona Department of Education to determine...

Mitigating opioid impacts on the state workers' comp system

Problem Statement

Many stakeholders were unaware of the efforts to reduce the number of opioids in the Arizona workers' compensation system. Opioid use long-term or in high doses can lead to addiction and can delay an injured worker’s ability to return to work.

 

Action Taken

The Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Medical Resource Office, which annually publishes the Workers' Compensation Fee Schedule, began to track the MRO's outreach efforts...

Reducing wait time for residential facility licensing by more than half

Problem Statement

In July 2017, the average time at the Arizona Department of Health Services for processing initial and change of ownership applications for residential facility licenses was 50 calendar days. Licensure delays impact citizens' access to licensed assisted living facilities, behavioral health facilities for children and adults, adult day health care facilities and more.

Action Taken

Because processing time greatly impacts the customer experience, the Bureau of Residential Facilities Licensing made a goal to reduce the lead time for issuance of a...