Published: October 26, 2009 07:24 pm      

CURRAN: Farewell to the mess!

Final burial services for Indiana’s MESSS, or Maligned Experimental Social Services System, the privatized and largely automated system administering the state’s welfare eligibility programs, will be held Dec. 14, 2009, at county offices, homes, homeless shelters and other gathering places across the state.

MESSS was pronounced dead by Gov. Mitch Daniels on Oct. 15.

The MESSS was born just a few years ago as a contracted baby of Daniels’ and hopes were high it would be a less costly, more efficient and effective method for managing eligibility and enrollment for social services such as Medicaid and food stamps to Hoosiers in need when it grew up. The MESSS just wasn’t strong enough to survive the pressure.

During the MESSS’ short existence, it and its family — contractor and head-of-the-table IBM, the companies working under it and their employees — exhibited many shortcomings and missteps, including the loss of applicants’ important documents, wrongfully denied and delayed services and the invitation of scrutiny from the federal government.

Funeral attendees should not be grieved if they arrive to witness what at first seems to be a party under way. If state and nonprofit employees and welfare recipients appear to be joyously celebrating the passing of the MESSS with balloons, streamers, dancing and cake, it is surely only because they are observing the tradition of holding a wake to celebrate the duly departed’s life.

Mourners have reason to be grateful for the time MESSS spent with them for many reasons. Foremost is the way important discussions may be undertaken and questions asked as a result of the MESSS loss.

Are these types of entitlements doomed to result in inefficient programs and subject to high error rates because of their very nature? Is it possible that successful business principles such as competition are ineffective when applied to government programs because the market is corrupted by government restrictions and requirements?

Those MESSS left behind might refrain from adopting a blame-the-victim attitude. They might reminisce about the previous, state-run program that also had a high rate of errors and a considerably higher fraud rate, for example. They could solemnly reflect upon the stance of the public education industry when faced with MESSS-like failure: Too many of those they compassionately serve are poor and minority. English isn’t even a first language for some of these people. No organization can reasonably be expected to perform under such conditions.

Survivors include Affiliated Computer Services. Most of the workers charged with determining the eligibility for assistance programs of potential recipients were provided by ACS. These likely are the same workers which lost documents and made other errors, but this part of the MESSS is still very much alive.

The list of grieving survivors also includes Gov. Daniels. He should not be too harshly judged for his role in making the MESSS. Daddy Daniels has probably come to expect his privatized children to flourish following the mostly successful lease of the Indiana Toll Road which left Indiana flush with transportation cash. A private company paid the state billions for the opportunity to upgrade the road and try to make it profitable following the state losing money on the road for years.

It is unclear to what extent states’ attraction to privatization, particularly in social services, as a method to try to improve performance and save money will survive. Indiana’s MESSS was preceded in death by a program in Texas which followed a similar life path.

Mourners may visit and still spend time with the MESSS until the final burial by visiting the offices of the counties MESSS served. Expressions of sympathy should take the form of contributions to your favorite local charity or given directly to someone in need.

Mellow but joyful funeral services will also be held in 14 states which have laws allowing the sale and possession of marijuana for medical purposes. The federal government’s policy of ignoring state law and pursuing medical marijuana users and providers as criminals died Oct. 19. It was killed by a U.S. Justice Department memo.

Survivors of the policy include a still-vibrant but misguided effort to prohibit hemp and marijuana cultivation, use and distribution in most other instances. Visitation and burial services will occur at multiple locations in these 14 states.

Expressions of sympathy should take the form of Doritos and Cheech and Chong videos distributed to medical marijuana users and doobies sent to George W. Bush administration officials who are bummed out about their policy being overturned.



Jeffersonville resident Kelley Curran turned in her column too late to get a catchy signature line here. Complain at kelinawriterhat@aol.com