Advancing a "community-first" approach to public safety
During the past year the U.S. saw a significant increase in racial justice activism, including a growing chorus of residents calling on governments to transform public safety systems. The City of Saint Paul, Minnesota has been engaged in this work since 2018, when it started increasing investments in “...
The GPL team was excited to welcome back four alumni fellows at a recent all-staff virtual convening. In a keynote conversation, Robert Fisher (GPL Fellow 2017-19) shared his perspectives on public service, writing his own job description, and how the skills he gained from his time as a GPL fellow translate into his current work as Deputy Chief of Staff to Nashville Mayor John Cooper. Highlights from his comments are included below.
The GPL child welfare team in New Hampshire led by Assistant Director Jessica Lanney was recently recognized by the state’s Division for Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) for contributing to the transformation of the agency’s child well-being services and improving outcomes for Granite State residents.
The award, presented to Jess on March 30, 2021 at Granite State College in Concord,...
Lisa Morrison Butler was the Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), Chicago’s combined human and social services agency, from August 2015 – February 2021. She spoke with the GPL about her experience using Requests for Proposals (RFPs), results-driven contracting, and data-driven collaboration with nonprofit providers as core department strategies to drive better outcomes.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
What problem were you facing that prompted you to reach...
Managers everywhere use performance dashboards as a way to visualize project data and easily track program capacity, efficiency, and outcomes. In government, we have worked with public agencies to develop and use performance dashboards to monitor and improve the performance of internal units and contracted service providers.
The GPL’s projects are helping to set national standards in state operational excellence and outcome-based contracting. Results for America (RFA) recently released their...
Earlier this month, GPL Director Jeff Liebman led a lively conversation about improving early childhood outcomes at a panel for Results for America’s Economic Mobility Summit in Washington, DC. The panel featured former GPL government partner Christian Soura (previously with South...
The GPL held our annual summer convening for 3 days in late June 2019, welcoming a cohort of new fellows and training both new and existing staff. Our summer training is designed to prepare our team members to be embedded in state and local governments, helping jurisdictions design, implement, and sustain engagements.
As the backbone of the Lab’s model for providing assistance to governments, our frontline team members advance key reforms, including carrying out rigorous data analysis, identifying high-impact areas for systems re-engineering, implementing pilot projects to...
Government agencies frequently ask us for advice about how to improve their social service delivery systems so that the clients they work with are identified, referred, and enrolled in the right services. In our work with dozens of state and local government agencies, we have found that governments struggle to connect clients with the services that can benefit them most. Often...
