How To Fix America!

While I’ve said and thought that people should look out for themselves, the sad fact is that sometimes we just need help from something bigger then ourselves. Something that has the power to help the little people and those like them, AND has the power to stand up to Big Business, and even certain Government agencies.

Thus I propose the creation of the Individual Advocate Bureau. Funded, staffed, and controlled by the US Government it would have wide ranging powers to help Individuals in all kinds of situations.

Services would include (but not definitely not limited too):

Think of it as your own personal Social Worker/Government Representative.

Now to discourage abuse and help fund the program, Clients would be charged $45 per incident. If it was a return issue, then the price would drop to $20/session. These consultations could also be direct charged to insurance like regular doctors visits, and even replace mediation services that a lot of companies are paying out of pocket for or are adding to their own employee benefit packages. Proof of low-income status would result in extremely reduced prices for this service also.

This would give up to 60-90 minutes one on one with someone who would be dedicated to helping solve their problem, or at least help point people in the right direction. This person could be part social worker, friend, coach, mentor, advocate, research specialist, or even just somebody to talk to. Their job would be to non-judgmental, helpful and knowledgeable about… well everything. Or at least able to help people get pointed in the right direction. They would not be there to physically do the work people need done, but to help them help themselves.

A side job of this program would be to track social trends and make recommendations either internally, to a Government oversight committee, or to another agency, about specific issues. A rise in immigrants in a certain area could automatically trigger and increase in services dedicated to helping the immigrants. Multiple complaints against a certain individual, landlord, company, or employer would result in a more in depth investigation of such. Trends could be tracked and dealt with better then they currently are resulting in faster response not just to individuals but to the community as a whole.

I believe a program like this would have several benefits for the Individual. A person who is having trouble with a landlord could approach the IAB and get knowledge about their options and if needed referrals to specialists. They could get help with understanding how to get through bureaucratic red tape and what to expect. Or they could simply get a friendly ear to listen to them while they pour out their troubles. The upshot is that more people, would get more help. It’d be quicker, cheaper in most cases, more directed towards their specific problem, and hopefully more helpful and time saving then other options.

Communities would greatly benefit. All these services would be in one place and could streamline the process for people to get help before things get out of hand and cost even more money and time. Or lead to even bigger problems.

From an infrastructure stand point there would be a lot of benefits. Private and Public companies that provide these types of services could be integrated into the IAB or used as referral services, they would benefit by not having to provide the first line contact. Non-Profits who raise money and provide these types of services could be rolled into the bigger picture and could even receive additional public money to provide their services.

There are downsides to this type of program of course. The added cost of buildings, personnel, office equipment, etc would be substantial. Especially to be able to provide nation-wide services. My gut feeling is that the fees would help offset this by quite a bit once the service became known and well used.

Something like this could be seen as an attempt by the Government to regulate people’s lives. But as the services prove themselves that should go away. The goal would be to continue to help as many people as possible in the most cost efficient way, but to not neglect the needs of the individual.

A specialized computer program would be needed to be written and maintained to help provide these services. Something like an IT call center help tree would be perfect. The nature of the problem would be entered in, the system would spit back a set of questions to narrow the problem down, or even a solution to the more simple problems. It could even be put online for free/home access to provide the basic information, and then be programmed to recommend that someone comes in for direct services as certain thresholds are hit.

Information for localized areas (such as local referrals for services,) could be entered by the client or their helper, then vetted by a supervisor, or even a trained person who’s whole job is to verify the integrity of the data. Information for outside services would be reviewed every six months, or immediately as needed when an issue with that information is discovered.

I’d also suggest that security be drastically increased, things such as a fingerprint of the client would be needed to open their records at any time. Records of companies and organizations would only be limited to specially trained personnel, investigation officers or certain supervisors who are automatically flagged to take action. Each step should be designed to keep personal details secure from even the people who work there except when dealing directly with a client.

The down side to such a program is the initial cost. It’d have to be rolled out in stages and in certain areas. Large cities would be the logical first choice of course, and would have the immediate affect of helping the most people possible at a time. A boot strap approach would be best. Each city acts as a major hub for an entire area. As needs are evaluated branch offices are split off from the main one to address the needs of specific suburbs or neighborhoods. Initial data entry would be done on an as needed basis, and could be pulled from other agencies as needed also, this would increase the initial time to resolution for most services, but would quickly get more efficient as data is collected and corrected.

There is also the possibility of stepping on other people’s or organization’s toes when providing these types of services. That is unavoidable but things could be worked out as everyone begins to recognize the benefits of this agency.

Overall such an organization would help the entire Nation. People have easy access to services they need, or don’t know exist. The little guy is stood up for by a impartial third party. The decrease is all kinds of costs across the board would greatly help everyone, individuals, the Government and even Business.