Update on Child Welfare commission

According to an editorial in the Denver Post today the first due date for the governor's 18 month child welfare commission will be this October. They will deliver an interim report on October 31st. Presumably so some action can be taken in the 2009 legislative session. This is good and I was glad to see that some action is going to be taken in a timely manner.

Still, the Post voices some of the same concerns I raised yesterday:

Gov. Bill Ritter was right to take a passionate stand on the matter Wednesday, saying all Coloradans should be "outraged."

And then he appointed a committee to study it further.

Perhaps another committee is the right way to approach a system as complicated as the child welfare program, which is overseen by the state but carried out by counties.

But we can't help but think about the efforts of other recent blue ribbon committees that quietly toiled only to produce reports that, for all practical purposes, were shelved.

The Post is pointing to a distinct pattern that we have seen played out in health care, transportation and (apparently) education. A commission of experts is appointed, they spend a year or more studying the issues. They compile an in depth report and... that's it, nothing is actually done. Their recommendations are, literally, ignored and discarded and decisive action is postponed.

The Post concludes,

The deaths of 13 children last year are a call to action that must be answered in a timely and effective way.

Indeed.

One also has to wonder if the luster of being appointed to these commissions is going to wear off soon. If you are asked to serve on such a commission you are being asked to dedicate a significant amount of your personal time and energy to work on these complex issues. If, ultimately, nothing ever comes of the recommendations of the commissions why should people bother to serve? Indeed it is an honor to be asked to contribute your talents to dealing with these complex issues but if at the end of the day your work is ignored why should you bother to take on the project?