Step 5 of the GFOA 12 steps to recover from financial distress is called “Near-Term Treatments.” Near-Term Treatments build upon the retrenchment techniques outlined in Step 3 and in the GFOA paper “Cash Is King.” Near-Term Treatments are the next level of treatment. They are things you can do to make progress on Near-Term Treatments—and see positive impact from them—during the next year or so. Near-Term Treatments might be enough to resolve minor cases of financial distress. For severe cases, the Near-Term Treatments buy time for extensive changes, such as those suggested in Step 8, Long-Term Treatments.

Below are the links to a two part series of papers to guide you through using the near-term treatments.