Case #1162.0

Competing Demands: Henry Solano and the Colorado Department of Institutions

Publication Date: January 01, 1992
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Abstract:
When one of the last Colorado residential facilities for the developmentally disabled is faced with federal action aimed at closing it, the newly appointed head of the state's Department of Institutions finds himself quickly confronting a crisis with complex political dimensions. Although federal regulators seek to close the Pueblo Regional Center, state legislators feel strongly that it should remain open, as do state employee unions and local community leaders. The department itself had historically been pushing toward deinstitutionalization.

Learning Objective:
This political management case is designed to provoke discussion about how the head of the Colorado department might assess the many forces that comprise his "authorizing environment"--among them the federal government, state government, community groups, state legislators and employees, the press--and determine his next course of action.

Other Details

Case Author:
Marty Linsky
Faculty Lead:
David Eddy Spicer
Pages (incl. exhibits):
16
Setting:
United States
Language:
English
Funding Source:
Executive Programs Office, Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government