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| Transparency |
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New York City is launching a comprehensive subcontractor database that will allow the city and the public to track payments made by prime contractors to subcontractors on contracts valued at over $250,000. Officials expect that the first-of-its-kind database, which will eventually capture around 96 percent of all dollars spent on city contracts, will further increase the city and the public’s ability to monitor billions of dollars worth of contract activity, as well as detect and address potentially fraudulent billing practices. While the federal government requires federal contractors to disclose their subcontractors through a searchable website, New York has gone a step further by publicly disclosing payments made to subcontractors.
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| Courts and Legal Services |
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To address legal shortages in its rural counties, South Dakota has become the first state to offer lawyers an annual subsidy to live and work in these areas, akin to the subsidies provided to medical and dental professionals. The program will begin with up to 16 participants who will be eligible for $12,000 annually if they make a five-year commitment. Even though nearly a fifth of the country lives in rural areas, just 2 percent of small law firms practice there. Iowa has expressed interest in a similar measure.
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| Social Services |
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Faced with a growing homeless population due to recent economic upheavals, New Jersey is launching a new biometrics data management system to help track and manage food, shelter, medicinal services, and other necessities for these persons. Initially, state officials will use web-based fingerprinting to better track usage of services in five locations. The program will be expanded to approximately 224 county and nonprofit organizations providing homeless services in the state if initial implementation is successful.
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| Alternative Education |
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Across the country, early college high school programs are being explored as a way to increase graduation rates among low-income students. Under the model, students take high school and college level courses to receive a high school diploma and an associates degree or up to two years of college credit. Early college high schools employ challenging coursework, not remedial classes, to engage and retain students. While studies have shown that students who take dual-credit courses fare better academically, critics note that no long-term studies have been conducted about the relationship between early college high schools and college graduation rates.
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| Public Health |
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The US Department of Agriculture has launched a new livestock identification program to assist in the rapid identification of livestock when there is a disease outbreak. Under the new mandatory program, animals’ movements to processing facilities across state lines will be recorded so that agriculture and health officials can set up quarantines and take other steps to prevent the spread of disease. The new program replaces an earlier, less successful voluntary program.
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| Technology |
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Cities are finding novel ways to use their rapidly accumulating data to benefit the public. Some cities are creating their own tools for the public, while some publish raw data to allow others to create useful applications with it. Cities are also bringing together data from across departments to improve decision-making. With its data, New York City has learned, for example, that a property with a tax lien has a 900-percent greater chance of fire. Chicago has learned that complaints about rat problems follow complaints about rubbish bins. Cities continue to refine the usage of the data it is constantly collecting to unleash new services and inform real-time policymaking.
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| Can Vocational Education Produce the Citizens We Need? |
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It's important to spend public-education dollars wisely. Students on the technical track need solid academics, not just job training. Massachusetts' experience demonstrates just how well technical education grounded in academics can work
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| Public Workers, Secret Pensions |
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Under an unusual arrangement dating back to 1948, information about the Boston-area transit agency's pension system doesn't have to be made public. If taxpayers are going to be asked to shoulder the burden, they at least deserve to know that state leaders are addressing the lowest of the low-hanging fruit when it comes to costs.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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