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| Public Health |
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The Peace Corps is partnering with the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Health Service Corps to send doctors and nurses abroad to serve as mentors and medical educators in areas where there is a severe shortage of medical workers. In return for their service, part of the volunteers’ school loans will be paid by a nonprofit organization. It is also hoped that the volunteers will learn how to make the most of available resources and apply those lessons when they return to the US, benefitting the health system in general. The Global Health Service Partnership plans to send 36 health workers to Tanzania, Malawi, and Uganda by next July.
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| Policing and Crime Prevention |
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The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., is working with area residents and businesses to help them prevent crime through smart design. Police commanders are being embedded with real estate developers to add both routine safety measures, such as the optimal placement of surveillance cameras, and more subtle interventions such as planting spiny blackberry bushes that deter burglars and trimming hedges so front doors are visible.
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| Performance Measurement and Management |
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Louisville, Kentucky has unveiled a data tracking system that allows the city to reveal weaknesses in government performance and processes. LouieStat, overseen by the city’s Office of Performance Improvement, uses data to determine areas where improvements could yield cost savings such as unscheduled overtime, sick time usage, work-related illness and injury, and responsiveness to citizen concerns. The data reports have already identified slow hiring timelines as the source of some of the resulting overtime from existing employees.
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| Housing |
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Under a new program, San Luis Obispo, California, is accommodating individuals and families who live in their cars with a safe place to park at night. The goal of the program is not only to provide these persons with a safe place to sleep but also with case management services and eventual housing. Only those persons who commit to receive these services and remain drug- and alcohol-free are candidates for the program. The city recently decided to make the program a permanent feature after a successful pilot.
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| Community Development |
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Springfield, Missouri, has joined a growing list of municipalities that will lend tools to its citizens to help improve their homes or spruce up their yards. Akin to a library, citizens check out tools that they prefer not to buy or cannot afford to do so, and return them when they are finished with their project. Lending tools also helps the city of Springfield, as it encourages residents to beautify their community.
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| The Teachers We Need (and the Ones We Don't) |
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Evaluating teachers based on students' test scores isn't a perfect way to identify the best and the worst. But test scores should be part of the process. Rigorous evaluation systems that reward teachers who consistently improve student achievement and encourage those who don't to seek a different career are one important way to make teaching more appealing to talented, ambitious young people.
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| Rolling the Dice with Taxpayer Money |
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Governments aren't very good at picking business winners with grants, loan guarantees, or tax breaks. Both taxpayers and state revenues would be best served if state officials realize their limitations, focus on creating an environment of economic opportunity, and let the market sort out the details.
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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