Jump to navigation



Innovators Insights




  • Criminal Justice
  • Performance Measurement and Management
  • Water Supply and Distribution
  • Public Safety
  • Higher Education
  • Recycling
  • Policing and Crime Prevention
  • Public Health
  • Community Revitalization
  • Corrections, Probation, and Parole
  • Transparency

  • A Resource for Public Managers
 
July 13, 2007
New on our site
Decentralizing Governance: Emerging Concepts and Practices

In Decentralizing Governance, experts in government and public management trace the evolution and performance of decentralization concepts from the transfer of authority from the central government to the sharing of power, authority, and responsibility among subnational and civil society institutions.

This book is the first in a series on innovations in governance published by the Ash Institute at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, in collaboration with the Brookings Institution.

Criminal Justice
Related Stories Back To Top

Offenders pay back the planet

06/25/2007 | Government Contracting Opportunities

The U.K. Ministry of Justice has asked environmental organizations to develop projects suitable for convicted criminals who are serving their sentences in the community under a new government scheme. Under Planet Payback, offenders can be sentenced by the courts to perform up to 300 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the environment. Projects range from reforestation to recycling.

Performance Measurement and Management
Related Stories Back To Top

Hospitals brace for life-and-death look; Federal website compares survival rates of heart patients

06/22/2007 | The Baltimore Sun

To further increase transparency in health care provision, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has added survival rates of heart patients on its Hospital Compare website. In the site's initial phase, most hospitals on the list appear as average because statistics have been risk-adjusted to control for size, location, and specialty. Hospitals, on the other hand, have access to more detailed patient-level data to help them improve their care.

Water Supply and Distribution
Related Stories Back To Top

City offers new payment option for water customers

07/03/2007 | US States News

Homeowners in Sterling Heights, Michigan, can budget their water bill payments with more predictability thanks to a new city initiative. Three of their quarterly bills are based on their average consumption over the last two years; the fourth one is a settlement bill. Half of the annual water consumption of most households happens during the summer.

Public Safety
Related Stories Back To Top

Cab company cashes in on public-funded programs

07/01/2007 | The Santa Fe New Mexican (New Mexico)

Two programs offering free cab rides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have been set up to increase safety in the community. The city's program offers women rides home every day from evening to dawn, while the county covers the taxi fare of individuals who are too intoxicated to drive home on Friday and Saturday evenings. So far, the city has reimbursed 860 rides, the county 358--thanks to liquor exercise-tax money. The safe ride for women was created in response to several unresolved rape incidents.

Higher Education
Related Stories Back To Top

Online database would help make college search easier

06/27/2007 | Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities will vote on a proposal this fall that would lead to the creation of an easy-to-read, identical-format online database to give prospective students information on schools' costs, student bodies, academic achievement, and campus activities. Currently, prospective students have to purchase or borrow a disparate array of college guides that often include distracting or irrelevant information. With college costs rising, proponents argue that making the college search easier will be a boon to students and parents as they work towards the best fit for their family's financial situation.

Recycling
Related Stories Back To Top

New law means certain stores must take back plastic bags

07/01/2007 | Oroville Mercury Register (California)

While numerous municipalities recycle plastic containers, few have targeted the billions of plastic bags that carry store purchases--until now. A new state law in California requires most grocers and other large retailers to set up recycling bins for plastic bags at prominent locations. Some California cities, such as San Francisco, are preparing to ban them altogether. Cities are also encouraging consumers to use reusable bags or biodegradable ones made of corn starch or processed sugars. According to the Plastic Bag Alliance, 9 percent of waste in landfills is plastic, and half of that is plastic bags and film.

Policing and Crime Prevention
Related Stories Back To Top

State changing sex-offender tracking system

07/03/2007 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)

Texas is planning to redesign its system for categorizing sex offenders, helping law enforcement to focus more on violent predators over low-risk statutory offenders. Under the current system, those individuals unlikely to reoffend were vulnerable to a high-risk classification that would lead to increased stigmatization, and difficulties securing housing and employment. The state is joining the growing tide of government entities that are adjusting their prosecution, incarceration, treatment, and reintegration strategies for sex offenders.

Public Health
Related Stories Back To Top

Vienna to fight pigeon plague with new lofts

06/13/2007 | AUSTRIA TODAY

Vienna has joined a growing number of cities that have erected pigeon lofts to control the bird population. The program follows a successful intervention in Germany, where pigeons moving into the "residences" have remained in them for up to 70% of the time, keeping their noxious droppings inside. City workers are also swapping plastic eggs in place of real ones; pigeons will roost on the fake eggs for longer periods of time and lay fewer eggs of their own. There are an estimated 130,000 pigeons in Vienna, and past projects like contraceptive pills and the introduction of falcons have proven unsuccessful in reducing their population.

Community Revitalization
Related Stories Back To Top

Newark is taking change to the streets

06/27/2007 | The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)

In a bid to make Newark more pedestrian friendly, the city is undergoing a makeover financed by a $17.5 million public-private project. This endeavor will include color-coded signage; larger, more visible intersections; graffiti-proof trash cans; old-fashioned streetlamps; more benches; and more trees. Street corners will have granite curb cuts, allowing for smooth access to crosswalks for all pedestrians.

Corrections, Probation, and Parole
Related Stories Back To Top

'Intermediate punishment'; New initiative tackles prison overcrowding

07/01/2007 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

Pennsylvania is looking to address its surging prison population, provide alternatives to incarceration, and save money and cell space through its Intermediate Punishment Program. In 24 months, program participants follow four phases that include confinement, community-based therapeutic treatment, outpatient treatment, and supervised reintegration. Officials cite the continuum of care for low-level offenders--an approach that can reduce recidivism--as one of the programs' main benefits.

Transparency
Related Stories Back To Top

States' colleges sign code of conduct; Rules govern ties with students lenders

06/23/2007 | The Baltimore Sun

Attorneys general in several states are advocating the adoption of student loan codes of conduct to prevent revenue-sharing arrangements between schools and lenders. In Maryland, all private and public colleges have signed a code, which sets rigorous standards regarding the relations between financial aid officers and lenders and increases the transparency of schools' preferred lenders lists.

A Resource for Public Managers

In this week's Management Insights column, H. George Frederickson, writes on whether it's possible to manage innovation.

Newsletter produced by: Brendan St. Amant and Vanessa Ruget (researchers and writers); Joellen Secondo (editor).

Back To Top
NOTE: The articles in this issue will remain active for approximately 90 days.

You were emailed this "Innovators Insights" of the latest government innovations news because you are a registered user of Government Innovators Network® who previously asked to receive it. Please feel free to forward this message to colleagues.

To unsubscribe, first login to http://innovations.harvard.edu using your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, click here to recover it or set a new password. Once you are logged in, choose "User profile" from the top right corner, then uncheck the box at the bottom labeled "Innovators Insights", and click the "Update Your Profile" button at the bottom of the page.




(HTML template: $Id: innovators_html,v 1.4 2005/08/24 20:08:31 mike Exp $)