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| Organizational Management |
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The Rockefeller Foundation has launched a $100 million competition to help 100 cities worldwide to become more resilient to natural and manmade disasters, such as hurricanes, disease epidemics, and even financial shocks. Under the 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge, the foundation will provide support and funding to those cities that outline a practical resiliency plan for different contingencies that their city may face. The foundation will also temporarily fund the newly created position of “chief resilience officer” in the winning cities.
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| Technology |
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The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has compiled a catalog of over 160 apps for other states and the public to sample and replicate. The goal of the growing catalog, which includes apps designed to help sportsmen purchase licenses, assist in the location of polling places, provide practice driving tests, and find tourist attractions, is to encourage states to borrow ideas from each other and spread the word about the best apps for public business. NASCIO officials note that many states are happy to transfer their own apps to other states at no cost.
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| Social Services |
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A pilot program in El Paso County, Colorado, hopes to grow the number of troubled youths receiving treatment in their homes, as opposed to expensive and sometimes ineffectual residential treatment facilities. The preventative program is designed to provide children and teens with treatment plans that coordinate clinicians, school districts, courts, and the state’s Department of Human Services to ensure that care is both comprehensive and not redundant. The program, modeled after Wraparound Milwaukee, is funded by a $300,000 federal grant.
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| Public Health |
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Across the US, more than 85 communities have established task forces to address hoarding, seen by public officials as a significant health hazard. Newly recognized as a psychiatric disorder, hoarding not only affects residents but also the community at large, helping to stir infestations of vermin and disease and increasing the risks of house fires. At the same time, public officials seeking to intervene must balance public welfare with an individual’s right to privacy, and the interventions often involve mental health workers and referrals to prevent relapse. An estimated three to five percent of Americans suffer from the disorder.
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| Service Delivery |
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In an effort to give old pay phones a new purpose in Boston, the city has partnered with private companies to convert 16 existing pay phones into free Wi-Fi hotspots. FreeBostonWiFi will be offered on a trial basis in the downtown area this summer, catering to professionals and tourists alike. Pending city approval, the number of hotspots may expand to 100 later this year. New York City started a similar program last year.
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| Community Development |
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New Jersey is considering the creation of certain incentives to attract young professionals to live and work in poor neighborhoods. Under the Neighborhood Scholar Revitalization Program, recent college graduates would receive limited tuition reimbursement in exchange for living in designated areas of Camden, Trenton, and Jersey City. The program would begin with 200 participants in each city, and would be partially funded by businesses participating in the Urban Enterprise Zone program. One concern stated by critics is that the new residents would not necessarily spend money in the economically depressed neighborhoods just because they live there.
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| How New Orleans Is Rebuilding Its Ruined School System from the Ground Up |
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After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans started over, and a far better school system emerged from the floodwaters. If the current rate of improvement holds, New Orleans is less than five years away from becoming the only major American city in which student test scores exceed state averages.
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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