Foto: Shape Up Somerville, one of the Top 25 Innovations in Government
No início deste mês, o Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation da John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, divulgou a lista "Top 25 Innovations in Government referente aos programas que estão em competição para o prémio "Innovations in American Government Award". Os casos pré-seleccionados, num universo de 560 candidaturas apresentadas por diversos organismos da adminisntração central, estadual e local norte-americana, constituem excelentes exemplos de programas publicos, em diversos sectores de actividade, que conseguiram resolver e/ou facilitar o acesso a bens e serviços públicos por parte da população dos EUA, conforme se pode constatar da lista abaixo apresentada:
State of Arkansas
Arkansas’s Act 1220 is a multiple intervention approach to preventing childhood obesity that includes an annual assessment and confidential reporting to parents of each public school student’s Body Mass Index (BMI) – a screening tool for obesity.
Center for Economic Opportunity
City of New York, NY
New York City’s Center for Economic Opportunity, within the Office of the Mayor, implements and evaluates innovative anti-poverty initiatives, rigorously assesses their outcomes, and makes funding decisions based on program performance.
Child Psychiatry Access Project
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project is a system of regional children's mental health consultation teams designed to help primary care providers meet the needs of children with psychiatric problems.
City of Parks
City of Louisville, KY
City of Parks is a public/private initiative to buy and develop thousands of new parks, build a 100-mile shared-use path, and make $50 million in improvements to existing parks throughout Louisville, Kentucky.
Citywide Post-Disaster Resilience and Recovery Initiative
City and County of San Francisco, CA
This citywide San Francisco initiative encourages advanced planning to accelerate post-disaster recovery, often partnering city agencies and organizations not normally involved in emergency planning and response.
City Net
City of Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica’s 10 Gigabit Fiber optic network is attracting technology companies that demand a high tech infrastructure in Southern California. The network’s model provides affordable and advanced broadband to businesses.
Civic Consulting Alliance
City of Chicago, IL
The Civic Consulting Alliance builds pro-bono teams of business experts, government leaders, and its own staff to reshape how Chicago works.
Court-Based Homelessness Prevention Law Project
City of New York, NY
New York City’s Court-Based Homelessness Prevention Law Project supports low-income families in distressed communities facing eviction by providing legal assistance, social services, and short-term financial assistance so that families can remain stably housed.
Day and Evening Academy
Boston Public Schools District, Boston, MA
Boston Day and Evening Academy is an alternative public charter high school in Roxbury, Massachusetts which successfully teaches and graduates overage students with challenging academic histories.
Economic Gardening
City of Littleton, CO
Economic Gardening is an alternative approach to economic development which focuses on growing jobs by nurturing local entrepreneurs. The program provides free, high-end, corporate-level tools for all Littleton businesses.
Funders Group
King County, WA
King County, Washington’s Funders Group is a multi-jurisdictional leadership body that establishes regional priorities for homeless housing and services, collaborates on joint funding applications, maximizes resources, achieves efficiencies, and drives system change.
Generating Clean Horizons
State of Maryland
Generating Clean Horizons launched the first utility-scale clean power generation in Maryland by offering solar and wind developers long-term power purchase agreements to serve the state government’s energy needs.
Healthy San Francisco
City and County of San Francisco, CA
Healthy San Francisco provides comprehensive, affordable health care to uninsured adults. Program eligibility does not take into account a person’s income level, employment status, immigration status, or pre-existing medical conditions.
Improved Solutions for Urban Systems
State of Ohio
Improved Solutions for Urban Systems is a learning organization that aligns with government to spark the resurgence of the inner city and assist dropouts and juvenile offenders to achieve academic success.
IntegratedEthics
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
IntegratedEthics is a comprehensive model for improving ethics in organizations. Developed by the National Center for Ethics in Health Care, the program has been implemented throughout the nation's largest health care system.
Mobile Inmate Video Visitation Bus
Pinellas County, FL
The Mobile Inmate Video Visitation Bus provides public access at remote sites throughout Pinellas County, Florida, to facilitate visitations for residents with family and friends incarcerated at the county jail who otherwise would be unable to travel to the jail's on-site visitation center.
New Markets Tax Credit Program
U.S. Department of Treasury
The U.S. Treasury Department’s New Markets Tax Credit Program provides competitive-basis tax incentives to induce private-sector, market-driven investment in businesses and real estate developments located in distressed communities.
NYC Service
City of New York, NY
NYC Service is Mayor Bloomberg's program to leverage citizen service as a core strategy to respond to local needs. It introduces "impact volunteerism"—targeting local need, using best practices, and measuring impact.
One Water One Watershed Planning
Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, CA
Santa Ana, California’s Watershed Project Authority developed an integrated regional water management plan whereby agencies develop management strategies that allow them to meet agency objectives and provide cost savings by leveraging resources.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Ten Northeastern States
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a cooperative effort among ten states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. States auction emission allowances, invest proceeds to benefit consumers, stimulate the clean energy economy, and create green jobs.
Restraint/Seclusion Prevention Initiative
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Restraint/Seclusion Prevention Initiative is a Department of Mental Health quality improvement effort to transform care settings and promote healing and recovery by preventing and reducing violent and harmful restraint and seclusion procedures.
Shape Up Somerville
City of Somerville, MA
Shape Up Somerville is a city-wide campaign to increase daily physical activity and healthy eating through programming, physical infrastructure improvements, and policy work.
SoftSecond Loan Program
Massachusetts Housing Partnership, MA
Created to address mortgage discrimination against low-income families, the SoftSecond Loan Program combines fixed-rate financing from a bank with a state subsidy to keep payments low for first time home buyers.
Statewide Land Use Program
State of Oregon
Oregon’s Statewide Land Use Program conserves rural lands while promoting sustainable urban development, consistent with 19 statewide planning goals and carried out through city and county comprehensive plans.
Teacher Residency
Boston Public Schools, MA
The mission of the Boston Teacher Residency program is to drive significant student learning gains through the recruitment, preparation, and development of highly effective Boston teachers.
