Jump to navigation



Innovators Insights




  • Highways
  • Social Services to Specific Populations
  • Long-Term Care
  • Social Justice
  • Emergency Management
  • Criminal Justice
  • Pluralism and Diversity
  • Homeland Security
  • Courts and Legal Services
  • Mental Health Services
 
October 5, 2007
New on our site
Apply now: Innovations in American Government Awards

 

Each year, the Innovations in American Government Awards Program, sponsored by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, offers $100,000 grants to creative and effective government initiatives. Apply by October 15, 2007. Learn more.

Highways
Related Stories Back To Top

Drivers to test new way to fund roads; Instead of paying a gas tax, you pay for miles traveled

09/21/2007 | USA TODAY

Six US states have decided to test public support for an alternative way to fund highway projects by charging drivers for the miles they drive instead of collecting taxes from the gasoline they purchase. The almost 3,000 volunteers participating in this federally-funded study will receive sample monthly bills based on the distance they traveled. Increasingly, states are unable to afford needed road repairs because of shrinking gas tax revenues, a consequence of higher efficiency vehicles and of the growing popularity of alternative fuels such as ethanol.

Social Services to Specific Populations
Related Stories Back To Top

Free legal help will be available to veterans

09/06/2007 | Chicago Daily Herald

The Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, the John Marshall Law School, and several other entities are partnering to ensure that veterans obtain free legal services to file claims for the health and education benefits they deserve. The project will recruit and train attorneys to represent disabled veterans at hearings on appeals related to their claims.

Long-Term Care
Related Stories Back To Top

Aging in Place Initiative recognizes senior adult program in Raleigh City

09/17/2007 | US States News

The Senior Adult Program in Raleigh, North Carolina, which serves over 3,500 seniors, has been recognized by the Aging in Place initiative as a best practice for programs seeking to improve the livability of communities for older Americans. Rather than meeting at a single senior center for the entire community, the participants of the program are divided into 50 local clubs that manage their own memberships and create their own organizational structures. The different clubs then meet and interact with each other at community centers, churches, and senior housing facilities, and participate in a variety of educational seminars, physical activities, and extended trips.

Social Justice
Related Stories Back To Top

Miami homeless program to go national: Miami's Community Partnership for the Homeless is taking steps to offer cities nationwide its model program

09/21/2007 | The Miami Herald (Florida)

The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, a much acclaimed homeless program run by the city of Miami since 1993, is helping other communities match its success thanks to a national committee charged with sharing best practices. The Miami public-private partnership is known for its continuity of care approach (each bed comes with services such as mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, a caseworker or social worker) and for its outreach method (staff members know most homeless people by name and rely on a database of the entire on-street population).

Emergency Management
Related Stories Back To Top

City's 'Survivor Day' could be real lifesaver: Richmond seminar aims to inform residents how to respond in emergency

09/14/2007 | Richmond Times - Dispatch (Virginia)

The City of Richmond and the Red Cross are training citizens to better handle emergency situations, from hurricanes to terrorist attacks. Survivor Day promotes emergency preparedness through a four-hour training session. Those who complete the training will leave with a host of lessons learned, as well as a backpack designed to give two people the basic tools to survive for three days.

Criminal Justice
Related Stories Back To Top

Taggers spray, parents pay; With graffiti vandalism on the rise, L.A. County officials seek ways to hold the offenders' guardians more accountable

09/29/2007 | Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles officials are considering new kinds of responses to the rising incidents of graffiti in the city. In one idea, officers at the jail where teenagers arrested for spray-painting are being held would meet with parents to emphasize the negative impact of graffiti on the community. Another proposal would create a special "graffiti administrative hearing panel" to swiftly deal with vandalism cases.

Pluralism and Diversity
Related Stories Back To Top

Mexican lesson plans crossing the border

09/19/2007 | The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)

Modeled after a successful initiative of the Yakima School District in Washington, three high schools in Oregon are using Mexican textbooks, curricula, and other educational resources to teach math, U.S. history, and other topics to Spanish speakers in Oregon. The Oregon Department of Education is also collaborating with Mexico's Secretary of Public Education to align curricula and make courses transferable. Public officials expect that this new approach will keep non-native students on track by allowing them to learn in their native language.

Homeland Security
Related Stories Back To Top

Machine aims to ID liquids at airport; Tests may lead to lifting ban

09/21/2007 | USA TODAY

The Homeland Security Department may soon be able to eliminate some cumbersome and unpopular carry-on luggage rules at airports. Next summer, officials will test SENSIT, a scanner that can identify chemicals in fifty different liquids placed in luggage.

Courts and Legal Services
Related Stories Back To Top

Grant will fund 'new life' court

09/20/2007 | The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)

In North Carolina, the Durham County District Court has received federal funding to begin "The New Life Court," an 18-month project that works with previous low-level offenders, such as child support delinquents, trying to reenter the work force. The program will work with 25-30 clients at a time, using social services to help parents having trouble paying child support or people released from jail to avoid the further punishment of unemployment or underemployment.

Mental Health Services
Related Stories Back To Top

Serenity now; Innovative program gives moms, newborns preciousquiet time

09/16/2007 | The Boston Herald

The Melrose-Wakefield hospital has begun a one-month pilot program called "serenity time," a two-hour daily quiet period when new moms can bond with their newborns without interruptions from phones, visitors, orderlies, and nurses checking in. The program was based on research showing that mothers who leave hospitals tired and stressed can be at risk for post-partum depression. Massachusetts General Hospital says it is planning something similar in January.

Newsletter produced by: Vanessa Ruget and Brendan St. Amant (researchers and writers); Maureen Griffin (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 $)