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| Public Health |
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While many libraries offer wellness classes for their patrons, Arizona's Pima County Public Library offers health care. As libraries have often become de facto shelters for populations of the poor, the mentally ill, and new immigrants, nurses from the county’s Department of Health now roam through six library branches to assist these patrons and other customers with social, behavioral, physical and emotional problems. The nurses can also perform health screenings, arrange medical appointments, and perform outreach with individuals who might not know about available health services. Other library systems are taking note of the Pima County program and similar efforts.
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| Procurement |
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The Urban School Food Alliance is a coalition of large school districts from around the country that are pooling their purchasing power to help drive down costs of healthful food and sustainable supplies. If a city receives a successful bid on menu items or supplies for its students, other schools in the alliance can take advantage of the same contract without having to conduct a separate process per terms of the bid. Possible future Alliance purchases include antibiotic-free chicken, pesticide-free fruit, and goods with less packaging waste. Approximately 2.9 million students will benefit from the partnership.
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| Housing |
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To help homeless families achieve stability, King County, Washington, has unveiled a pilot program designed to “rapidly re-house” 350 families into rental housing and provide them with support services. The Rapid Re-housing for Families pilot program will provide temporary housing supports, financial assistance, and employment and training services to help these families rebound and move toward independence. Studies have touted the cost-effectiveness of the rapid re-housing model, which is being funded by government and nonprofit partners.
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| Health and Human Services |
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New York City has launched the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program, which allows doctors and nutritionists to provide at-risk families with better access to local produce by prescribing fruit and vegetables. Under FVRx, patients at Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx and Harlem Hospital can obtain coupons from the city that can be redeemed for fruit and vegetables at 142 farmers markets citywide. Patients can renew their prescriptions with health providers monthly and get checkups or nutritional counseling. Each hospital will try to enroll up to 70 patients with the goal of having them stay in the program for at least four months. Officials note messages about eating fewer high-fat, low-nutrition foods should accompany prescriptions.
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| Services to Specific Populations |
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In an effort to reduce the numbers of unwanted pets in Indianapolis, the Humane Society of Indianapolis, the Animal Welfare Center, and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department are working together to spay and neuter pets belonging to homeless persons. The surgery is offered free of charge, and workers pick up the pets and drop them off. It is estimated that thousands of adoptable animals are euthanized every year.
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| Government IT and the Promise of Agile Development |
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Most public-sector IT projects use cumbersome, outdated methods. Some could benefit from a faster moving approach that prizes speed and flexibility. Citizens will be better off as more IT services get adopted because governments' productivity goes up and the level of responsiveness increases.
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| How to Kill Competition for the Delivery of Government Services |
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Rather than trying to regulate what private-sector contractors pay their executives, governments should be looking for the best deal for the taxpayers. Maximizing competition is the best way to achieve that goal. Competitive bidding should be used to drive down costs and shift risk to the private sector.
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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