Top Programs Win Innovations in American Government Awards

The District of Columbia’s “Data Feeds: Democratization of Government Data,” Kingsport, Tenn.’s, “Higher Education Initiative” and the Chicago Public School District’s “New Leaders for New Schools” received grants of up to $100,000 to support dissemination of their innovative practices.

Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority and Idaho’s Mapping Evapotranspiration program round out this year’s honorees.

Data Feeds, which received the first Innovations award in urban policy, consist of raw data from multiple agencies that are housed at the Citywide Data Warehouse and supplied over 320 feeds to online sites, citizens and government agencies.

Residents have created their own websites populated by the data feeds, and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer holds an annual Apps for Democracy contest that solicits new ways to crunch data. Applicants saved the district an estimated $2.6 million in internal development costs last year.

Making raw data publicly available, rather than in edited, static reports that are outdated by the time they are printed, has reduced requests for information. Data feeds also serve as the backbone for the CapStat internal performance management system used by the mayor and other officials to track agency performance.

“The district’s Citywide Data Warehouse allows residents to hold their government accountable,” said D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Kingsport’s Higher Education Initiative revitalized a region with an over-reliance on heavy manufacturing, an aging population and a shrinking work force that threatened to further depress its standard of living.

Officials developed several new programs to build a more qualified work force. A unique K-14 program extends public high school by an optional two years to provide students with additional training requested by local employers.

Kingsport built an academic village near its business center and developed new areas of study at the secondary and college levels that reflect its growing number of industries. High school students may take college-level classes and graduates are eligible for scholarships at Northeast State Technical Community College.

The city now has a more diversified economy with new jobs in health care, hospitality and information technology. Sales tax revenues are up, property values are increasing and the number of residents aged 20 to 24 has risen.

“It’s not anything that any city cannot do,” said Kingsport Mayor Dennis Phillips at the September 14 awards ceremony.

The Chicago Public School District partnered with the nonprofit New Leaders for New Schools to recruit and train high caliber principals from both the academic and corporate sectors to lead historically underperforming schools.

Applicants chosen attend a four-week organizational leadership institute followed by a year-long residency in which they work alongside mentor principals and receive ongoing coaching and professional development support.

After placement, they continue to attend periodic training seminars and can call on a cohort in the 12 urban areas the program serves for support. Nearly 125 Chicago schools have New Leader principals.

The program is built on the premise that any student can succeed under the supervision of supportive school leadership. Findings show improved proficiency scores and higher high school graduation rates.

Massachusetts’ public-private Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority helps citizens comply with the 2006 law that requires most adults to purchase insurance.

Commonwealth Care offers subsidized coverage for low-income adults who are not eligible for employer-sponsored insurance or Medicaid and cannot afford non-group coverage. Commonwealth Choice helps individuals and small businesses find appropriate plans.

Since the connector’s inception, the state’s uninsured rate dropped from 10.4 percent in 2006 to 2.6 percent in 2008, and use of free clinics has decreased by 37 percent.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources is the first government agency in the nation to develop and use satellite-based evapotranspiration imagery to enhance understanding of agricultural water usage. The Mapping Evapotranspiration program is more efficient than former methods and enables tracking of water usage on a field by field basis.

Data has been used to implement stream flow restoration projects and help settle water supply disputes, which is critical in a state where more than 90 percent of water is used for irrigating crops.

“Such public sector innovations demonstrate creative approaches to previously intractable civic challenges,” said Ash Institute Director Anthony Saich.

The winning programs were chosen from nearly 700 applicants. Fifty semi-finalists were named on March 31. Sixteen finalists were chosen in May to make presentations before a selection committee chaired by former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Federal, state, local, tribal and territorial programs in all policy areas were eligible to apply. Applicants were judged on their novelty, effectiveness in achieving tangible results, success in addressing a program of public concern, and transferability to other jurisdictions or policy areas.

The Innovations Awards were launched in 1985 by the Ford Foundation, which in 2001 endowed the program in perpetuity.

The application process for the 2010 awards will open in January. Visit www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu for more information.

Details: To learn more about the awards, contact Kate Hoagland, communications coordinator, Ash Institute, at (617) 495-4347 or kate_hoagland@harvard.edu.

For information on the winning program in D.C., contact Ayanna Smith, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, at (202) 724-5178 or ayanna.smith@dc.gov.

For information on the winning program in Kingsport, contact Morris Baker at (423) 224-2918 or baker@kingsport.tn.us.

For information on the winning program in Chicago, contact Margot Lowenstein, New Leaders for New Schools, at (646) 792-1054 or mlowenstein@nlns.org.

Milwaukee Managed Care Program for Youth Wins Annie E. Casey Foundation Award

Wraparound Milwaukee, the nation’s first government-operated managed care program for emotionally disturbed youth, has received the fourth annual Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family System Reform for the Department of Health and Human Services in Milwaukee County, Wis.

Unlike most treatment models, which institutionalize youth and limit family participation, Wraparound’s individualized treatments allow clients to remain at home. Youth receive one care plan operated by a single case manager.

More than half of the youth come from families at or below the poverty level. The program utilizes a Medicaid waiver and includes the country’s first publicly operated public benefits corporation.

“Wraparound Milwaukee makes the seemingly impossible, possible,” said Bruce Kamradt, the county’s director of children’s mental health services. “The program integrates services and funding across child serving systems to achieve the best possible outcomes for children with serious emotional and mental health needs.

“Through its very individualized, strength-based, comprehensive services and focus on family involvement, Wraparound demonstrates that even children with the most complex needs can be effectively and safety cared for in their homes instead of institutions.”

The program reports significant cost savings and reduced residential placements over its 14-year history. In 2002, the county closed its 80-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital for children.

Wraparound Milwaukee was recognized at the Innovations in American Government Awards ceremony.

Details: For more information on the program, contact Bruce Kamradt at (414) 257-7639 or bruce.kamradt@milwcnty.com.