- Public Contract Operations “Bid-to-Goal”, created by San Diego Public Contract Operations. Melding the best of public and private enterprise, Bid-to-Goal offers a cost-effective new way for cities to choose the best service providers to operate critical public infrastructure facilities. The program has saved San Diego $53 million.
- Care 7-Crisis Response Services, a partnership among citizens, mental health professionals, police and fire personnel in Tempe, Arizona. Providing immediate, comprehensive services – including crucial mental health services – to victims of trauma and violence around the clock, Care 7 has assisted more than 11,000 adults and children while saving the city nearly $400,000.
- Center for Higher Education, a consortium of 10 Ohio colleges and universities. Helping to break the cycle of poverty and unemployment in predominantly rural Appalachian Ohio, Center for Higher Education grants help more than 14,000 citizens obtain higher education and brighter futures.
- Citywide Geographic Information Systems, managed by New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. This digital mapping program provided critical information to responders during 9/11, the West Nile virus outbreak and the anthrax threat. It integrates a myriad of data to chart every important physical feature of the city, saving precious time in emergencies.
- Consortium for Court Interpreter Certification, founded by four states and the National Center for State Courts. By creating an economical, rigorous system for training and certifying skilled court interpreters, the Consortium – now 29 states and growing – is helping to ensure equal justice for non-English speakers.
- Energy Efficiency Utility, run by the non-profit Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. Since replacing a patchwork of 22 programs, the nation’s first independent, ratepayer-funded energy efficiency utility is saving more than 58,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually - more than three hydroelectric dams in Vermont generate per year.
- Families Together for Therapeutic Visitation, a partnership between Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families and the Providence Children’s Museum. This program has pioneered a fresh approach to therapeutic visitation for families separated by court order due to abuse and neglect. Through shared learning and play, Families Together helps participants rebuild relationships and strengthen parenting skills.
- FirstGov.gov, administered by the U.S. General Services Administration, is the federal government’s official comprehensive web portal to government services and information. FirstGov’s links to more than 180 million pages of information from federal, state and local governments provide secure, constant access to the government – and attract more than 1.4 million visitors per week.
- La Bodega de la Familia is a collaboration with the New York State Division of Parole. This trailblazing family-focused partnership within Manhattan’s multicultural Loisaida community has significantly decreased drug use, improved treatment outcomes and reduced rearrests among drug offenders on parole and probation.
- Multi-State Clean Diesel Initiative, created by two national associations of air quality officials. This first-of-its-kind regulatory alliance is helping states reduce pollution by adopting California’s tough emission controls for diesel trucks. It could lead to environmental and health benefits equal to removing 30 million cars from the roads.
- Oso de Oro Lake Park, created by the Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District. A pioneering advance in accessible, multi-use recreational space, this 10-acre park in a stormwater detention basin combines environmental benefits with recreation, wildlife education and a California history theme. Citizen volunteers helped design the park to open doors for the disabled while preventing floods.
- Public Safety Collaborative, a partnership among the Knoxville police department, correctional and social service organizations. Through timely information sharing and well-coordinated, multidisciplinary case management, this effort in Tennessee has dramatically reduced recidivism by helping high-risk offenders overcome substance abuse, poverty and other problems to successfully transition from prison to the community.
- Structured Decision Making, created by Michigan’s Family Independence Agency. This groundbreaking and widely replicated case management program helps child services workers more accurately and consistently determine risks, prioritize responses and target resources to families most at risk.
- 311 System, the gateway to a vast array of programs and services offered by the city of Chicago. Since the program’s inception in 1999, 311 has become a comprehensive, high-tech, customer-focused online and telephone information and response service, boosting efficiency across city government.
- Community - University Information Initiatives, created by UCLA. This unprecedented use of public university resources has spawned two information-rich web sites that are helping to transform lives and communities throughout Los Angeles. They are models for a range of university-community technology projects and have sparked the first community information system to serve users statewide.
These outstanding programs were among nearly 1,000 applicants for the 16th annual Innovations in American Government Award. Each of the 15 finalists will deliver a presentation at the National Press Club on May 7, 2003. After a full day of presentations the National Selection Committee will select five winning programs and announce them the following day. Chaired by David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University and editor-at-large of U.S. News & World Report, the distinguished Committee includes new members: former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding.
About the Innovations Award
For 16 years the Innovations in American Government Award has recognized quality and responsiveness at all levels of government and has fostered the replication of innovative approaches to the challenges facing government.
The award – a program of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government – is administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program was founded by the Ford Foundation to identify and promote excellence and creativity in the public sector.
The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, established through an endowment from the Ford Foundation, fosters excellence in governments throughout the world. It serves as a global hub for public-sector innovators through networks, conferences and research.
The Council for Excellence in Government is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve government performance by strengthening results-oriented management and creative leadership in the public sector, and to build understanding by focusing public discussion on government’s role and responsibilities.
For more information on the Innovations in American Government program and this year’s finalists, please visit www.innovations.harvard.edu or www.excelgov.org.
Quelle: The Council for Excellence in Government
