The case of the Jacks/Fogel family is hardly simple because it touches upon the deaths of four young girls. Their bodies were found in their house, and multiple investigations began to understand who was responsible for this tragic accident. The mother, Banita Jacks, was charged with murder, and such issues as poor social support, imperfect law, and mental health problems provoked negative outcomes. Several aspects had to be considered to understand if “the system” could save the girls, including structure, culture, and craft dimensions and the roles of public managers and frontline workers.
There are three main public management dimensions that regulate the work of public agencies. The structure is a dimension that includes lawful delegations to administrative authorities to act in accordance with policies and programs. In other words, formal structure is what public agencies can do to promote social well-being. In this case, several communication processes on a legal basis and steps for prescribing and following specific standards were observed. There was also a need for an official withdrawal of children from schools that could require parents to fill out a form and share some helpful information. Still, the charter school did not have a policy at that moment.
Another element of the analysis is based on the cultural dimension. According to Hill and Lynn, culture concentrates on people’s beliefs, values, and norms that could affect employees’ completing their duties. The government and public managers worked as per the already established norms and standards, which was not enough. For example, the nurse was concerned about the parents’ condition (the father was diagnosed with leukemia, and substance abuse issues were reported by both parents). The Child and Family Service Agency (CFSA) was informed, but the hotline worker closed the case because of a lack of a fixed address (a family lived in a van). Thus, all the norms of communication and public management were followed, but they were not enough.
Finally, the craft dimension should be mentioned in this case as it aims at analyzing managerial competence and judgment. Craft includes the public manager’s decisions and actions to achieve the required public policy outcomes. The social worker from Booker T. Washington Public Charter School demonstrated her concerns about the family, relying on her observations and beliefs. She reported that the house was not clean enough to raise children in it. She also admitted that the children did not appear clean and the mother had some mental illness. The social worker tried to reach the family, but she was not allowed to enter the house, turn to the police, or use personal observations and norms as evidence to break down the door.
In general, several key players could be identified in this case. The nurse from George Washington Hospital and the police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department who arrested Banita was the frontline workers. Their roles were not only to keep order but to recognize a social threat. Public managers are responsible for policymaking, creating opportunities, and achieving results (creators), as well as for following policies and goals (creatures). In this case, public managers were Mayor Adrian Fenty, the CFSA, public schools, police departments, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Health.