Expanding high-quality pre-K services to over 2,600 children over four years

Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) has been working to improve performance outcomes achieved by the shelter system, including addressing low exit rates into permanent housing, long lengths of homelessness, and a rising unsheltered population. To assist these efforts, the GPL:

1. Assessed the current shelter system through site visits and analysis of historical performance data, and
2. Executed $19 million in results-driven RFPs for the Department's shelter portfolio to reflect an updated understanding of the system's spectrum of services and emphasizing program goals,
3. Is working to implement active contract management for all shelter providers with the goals of adjusting service offerings to better meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness and to reduce lengths of stay before transitions to permanent housing.

Improved transparency and decision-making for students and parents by developing a user-friendly website that matches labor market outcomes (such as wages) to every school and program of higher education in Illinois

Developed Pay for Success strategies to improve outcomes of youth dually-involved in child welfare and juvenile justice systems

Rebalancing the mix of services and programs provided to 40,000 individuals to reduce recidivism, improve sentence credit access, and reduce the overall prison population

Developing a results and performance management system to drive improvements across juvenile justice system

Restructuring independent service coordination contracts and internal processes to obtain better outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities

Improving employment outcomes for individuals exiting incarceration by reforming in-facility vocational programming

In Illinois, approximately 700 youth per year become simultaneously involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These dually-involved youth experience very poor outcomes; on average 1,300 arrests per year and 230,000 days spent in congregate care. With pro-bono technical assistance from the GPL, the state tested a new model for supporting families involved with multiple agencies and has re-engineered data systems to improve performance management and referral processes. It now takes the state child welfare agency less than three days to identify a dually-involved youth, down from over 90 days on average. Once flagged as dually-involved, youth are matched to a wraparound facilitator who serves as their primary contact for support and refers them to appropriate services in a coordinated manner.  As part of the project, Illinois is also expanding the clinical and social services available to dually-involved youth (including family therapy and community-based placement), with the goals of reducing days spent incarcerated and in congregate care and improving child well-being.

As part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative, the GPL provided pro bono technical assistance to help Naperville adopt results-driven contracting strategies for its IT support services contracts, to increase vendor competition, improve service quality, and enhance Naperville’s IT capabilities.

In Naperville, Illinois the city aimed to improve the quality of its IT support services procurement in order to increase vendor competition, improve service quality, and enhance Naperville’s IT capabilities. The GPL provided pro-bono technical assistance to help the city develop a concrete set of desired outcomes and then release an outcomes-based request for qualifications. Proactively identifying and targeting potential vendors led to a 300 percent increase in downloads and 150 percent increase in respondents compared to previous procurement attempts. Naperville then implemented a two-phase selection process that prioritized the city’s needs for high performance and knowledge transfer. Through the use of results-driven contracting approaches, the city increased its focus on outcomes, competition, and performance in IT contracting, and adopted templates and procedures that it can apply to other strategic procurements in the future.