Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL’S ASH INSTITUTEANNOUNCES TOP 50 INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNMENT

and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School today announced the Top 50 Programs of

the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards competition. Selected from a

pool of nearly 1,000 applicants, these programs represent the best in government

innovation from local, county, city, tribal, state, and federal levels.

Established in 1985 at Harvard Kennedy School by the Ford Foundation, the Innovations

in American Government Awards Program is designed to improve government practice

by honoring effective government initiatives and encouraging the dissemination of such

best practices across the country. Over its 20 year history, the Innovations in American

Government Program has honored 181 federal, state, and local government agencies.

Many award-winning programs are now replicated across policy areas and jurisdictions,

serving as forerunners for today’s reform strategies and new legislation. Such programs

also inform research and academic study at Harvard Kennedy School and other

academic institutions around the world. In the midst of widespread cynicism in

government, the Innovations in American Government Awards Program provides

concrete evidence that government is working to improve the quality of life of citizens.

Each of the Top 50 programs underwent several rounds of rigorous evaluation from a

committee of practitioners and policy experts from Harvard Kennedy School as well as

renowned institutions nationwide. Selected programs address a number of important

policy areas including health and social services; management and governance;

community and economic development; education and training; criminal justice;

transportation and infrastructure; and the environment.

Representing a range of jurisdictions from across the country, the Top 50 Programs

include seventeen cities/towns, four counties, six federal agencies, three school districts,

nineteen states, and one tribal government. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut,

and Maine have multiple programs represented in the Top 50.

“The 50 best innovations for the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards

demonstrate effective solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing issues,” said

Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American Government Awards

Program, Harvard Kennedy School. “From child welfare reform and improvements in

homicide case review to promotion of our nation’s parks, these programs are improving

the way we live our daily lives.”

“We commend the innovative initiatives of these Top 50 Programs,” said Gowher Rizvi,

director of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation. “In their path to

finding new ways for doing the public’s business better, these programs are paving the

way for nationwide - and even global - reform strategies.”

Finalists will be announced on June 3, 2008. On June 12, 2008, finalist programs will

present their initiatives before the National Selection Committee, chaired by David

Gergen. The event is free and open to the public. The winners of the 2008 Innovations in

American Government Awards will be announced and honored at an awards gala and

reception in September of 2008.

The Roy and Lila Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence

in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research,

publications, leadership training, global network, and awards program – developed in

collaboration with a diverse, engaged community of scholars and practitioners – the Ash Institute

fosters creative and effective government problem-solving and serves as a catalyst for

addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world

’

founding donor of the Institute. Additional information about the Ash Institute is available at

www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu

Awards are encouraged to apply at

www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu

.

Santa Cruz County’s Constructing Circles of Peace program is a long-term, restorative

justice counseling program that brings together multiple stakeholders – the perpetrator,

victim, family, and community – in response to crimes of domestic violence.

Maricopa County’s Election Reporting System is an online database for capturing and

categorizing information, recording the source, and assigning resolution to staff that

receive instant notification based on the issue category.

Arizona’s Department of Corrections’ real world re-entry effort, Getting Ready, begins

the day inmates are admitted and continues throughout their sentence. This systemwide

reform measurably reduces relapse, revocations, and recidivism.

Bank on San Francisco addresses the needs of unbanked residents by moving the

marketplace to offer suitable financial products. Through a coalition of 15 financial

institutions, the original goal of banking 10,000 unbanked San Franciscans was met in

just one year.

In a collaborative Action Team partnership, the Stockton Police Department is using

market-based policing and code-enforcement strategies as the foundation of an

innovative renaissance movement in a distressed neighborhood.

The City of Los Angeles’s Operation Archangel, in partnership with the Department of

Homeland Security, developed Automated Critical Asset Management System, a secure

interoperable web-based system to manage critical asset information.

San Francisco’s Welcome Back Center assists internationally trained health

professionals as they pursue re-entry into the health workforce.

Climate Wise is a voluntary program that assists local businesses in Fort Collins to

reduce greenhouse gases and increase cost savings by reducing consumption. Climate

Wise provides businesses with practical tools, measurement techniques, and public

recognition.

The focus of Old Saybrook’s De-Illumination Program is the reduction of streetlamp

wattage and the elimination of roadway illumination in order to save money, reduce fossil

fuel consumption, and limit illumination pollution.

Connecticut’s Family Civil Intake Screen Process is a scientifically-validated,

comprehensive assessment methodology designed to identify parenting conflicts and

match the dynamics of the family with a corresponding array of evidence-based

alternative dispute resolution services.

Connecticut’s No Child Left Inside initiative reconnects families to nature by exposing

them to outdoor recreational opportunities, thus growing healthier kids, fostering

environmental stewards, and showcasing the joy of playing outside.

The District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services is becoming the

nation’s first juvenile justice agency based on the tenets of Positive Youth Development,

an effort to meet the needs of young people by building their competencies and enabling

them to become successful adults.

Thirty-nine chronically low-performing schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School

District are provided extended day and school year instruction that utilizes researchbased

educational materials and focuses on literacy as the core component.

An arts-education partnership led by Kentucky Educational Television, Arts Toolkit

created multimedia classroom resources that have expanded student experiences and

engagement in the arts, boosted teacher preparedness, and improved test scores.

Maine has achieved child welfare reform over the past six years through conscious,

data-driven management, driven by the vision that every child needs a family.

Maine’s Youth Leadership Advisory Team, a national pioneer, engages youth in foster

care with state and federal policymakers to create significant improvements in child

welfare policies, legislation, and programs.

Maryland’s domestic violence Lethality Assessment Program is an on-scene process by

which law enforcement immediately identifies and links victims at risk of being killed to

service providers.

Baltimore, through the Responsible Community and Economic Development Initiative,

addresses the physical, economic, and human conditions of a neighborhood in one

comprehensive plan and is seen as the new model for revitalizing the nation’s cities.

The Town of Barnstable restructured town government and established programs to

increase citizen participation in order to implement creative smart growth strategies that

protect its historic character and natural environment.

Demand Response Program is a no-cost contract that motivates and facilitates the use

of regional utility programs by state agencies. This Commonwealth of Massachusetts

program protects the electrical grid and has earned over $500,000 for state facilities.

Boston’s Foreclosure Intervention Initiative is a comprehensive proactive strategy

designed to curb mortgage foreclosures on owner-occupied homes and prevent blight

through foreclosure prevention and foreclosure intervention.

MassDocs makes affordable housing development in the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts easier by creating one set of loan documents that simplifies the closing

process, saving time and money.

The Boston Teacher Residency, the Boston Public Schools’ own teacher recruitment,

preparation, and retention program, takes a medical residency approach to addressing

the issue of teacher quality for a major city.

Suffolk County’s Teen Prostitution Prevention Project is a partnership among criminal

justice, child protection, legal advocacy, and others who believe that only genuine

collaboration can yield positive outcomes for prostituted youth. This non-traditional

alliance affords increased safety and well-being for often forgotten victims of exploitation.

The strategic purpose of Michigan’s Leadership Academy is to select high potential

leadership candidates and accelerate their development over two years to prepare them

to step into high-level positions.

For 41 years, Oakland County’s Transportation Improvement Association has developed

a “culture of traffic safety” with its innovative traffic management system focusing on

programs that support the 3E’s of traffic safety: engineering, education, and

enforcement.

A national model for juvenile justice reform, Missouri’s Division of Youth Services has

achieved exemplary results and cost effectiveness through regionally-based, small,

humane treatment centers; group and family systems approaches; universal case

management; and community engagement.

The Jersey Fresh Marketing Program is a promotional and quality-grading effort aimed

at emphasizing the freshness, safety, and superior quality of New Jersey agricultural

products.

The Santa Fe Home Program requires 30 percent of new ownership housing and 15

percent of rental housing to be affordably priced, based upon earnings of 50 percent to

100 percent of the area median income.

New York City’s Acquisition Fund is a $230 million partnership that finances the

purchase of land and buildings for affordable housing. Private finance tools allow smaller

developers to compete in a tough market.

The Fire Department of the City of New York’s (FDNY) Officers Management Institute, a

customized management training program for senior fire and EMS chiefs, has catalyzed

the FDNY’s rapid enhancement of operational and technological capabilities to meet the

complex challenges of a post-9/11 world.

New York City’s Department of Probation’s Project Zero enhances public safety and

reduces the number of juvenile delinquents removed from home and incarcerated in

New York State facilities through family-focused, community-based programs.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Cold Case Homicide Squad pairs detectives with a

volunteer review team that determines which cold homicide cases are worthy of

reinvestigation and conducts analyses.

North Carolina’s Learn and Earn Initiative allows high school students to jumpstart their

college education or gain job skills without the burden of tuition expenses.

Home Again is a plan to end homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County by

focusing on the chronically homeless, coordinating access to services, and investing in

programs that offer measurable results.

To create transparency in government, Portland requires lobbying entities to register

with the city and report whom they lobbied and the subjects discussed. Elected officials

are also required to report any gifts over $25.

Pennsylvania’s Fresh Food Financing Initiative increases access to fresh, affordable

food by providing grants and loans to supermarkets and grocery stores in underserved

communities.

ACCESS Plus is a groundbreaking way to deliver health care services to low income

children and families that takes the incentives for prevention and disease management

found in managed care and adapts them to fee-for-service settings.

West Columbia’s Family Violence Reduction Project uses enhanced investigation

techniques in combination with advanced technology to curb domestic violence; child

and elder abuse and neglect; and sexual assault within the city.

Through the collaboration with the South Dakota Department of Health and the South

Dakota Division of Parks and Recreation, South Dakota’s state parks have become

vibrant, outdoor wellness centers.

The United States Forest Service cultivates young and new employees as future agency

leaders through a self-sustaining development program largely run by the future leaders

themselves.

The United States Department of Transportation’s Maritime Safety and Security

Information System is a novel, low cost, and rapidly deployed, global vessel traffic

monitoring system used to enhance Global Maritime Domain Awareness.

The United States Navy’s Service Support / Fast Forward aligns Navy and Marine Corps

funding directly to engineering, logistic, and program management knowledge products

in a fully measurable fashion leading to a continually improving organizational response.

The Intelligence Community Civilian Joint Duty Program requires intelligence

professionals to complete assignments outside their agency to achieve executive rank,

with the goal being to develop leaders that can break through stovepipes that prevented

the intelligence community from “connecting the dots” prior to 9/11.

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation fosters students’ academic, social,

and professional integration through summer bridge activities, skills-building, research

experiences, mentoring, and scientific conferences. Among 200,000 minority participants

annually, more than 25,000 receive Bachelor’s degrees.

The United States Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit Program provides tax incentives,

on a competitive basis, to induce private-sector, market-driven investment in businesses

and real estate developments located in distressed communities.

Sixty-six indigenous tribes have improved the solid waste systems on the Yukon River,

removing six million pounds of hazardous materials and recyclables through

“backhauling” – loading waste onto planes and barges that would otherwise return to the

mainland empty.

Knowledge Management supports the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in

achieving its mission by strengthening VDOT’s ability to share critical knowledge and

experiences to improve ongoing processes and products.

Washington’s Government Management Accountability and Performance’s improves

government performance by relying on performance measures, citizen participation, and

a disciplined approach to executive decision-making to achieve better results.

This innovation addresses two large-scale problems: transportation inefficiency and

childhood inactivity. Partnerships between Auburn School District and community

residence and professionals increase safe walking and cycling routes to and from

school.

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