The Feds Introduce a Program for Disconnected Youth
The federal government is seeking to partner with states and localities to help the more than 5 million young adults out of school and work.
Authors
Jonathan Walters |
Email : Jowaz22@gmail.comJonathan Walters -- Senior Editor. Jonathan has covered state and local government for more than 30 years, including for publications ranging from The Washington Post to USA Today. His beats include public sector management and administration, with an emphasis on results-based government. He also covers human services-related topics, and does a monthly e-newsletter on human services. He is author of three books, two on performance measurement in the public sector and one on public sector press relations. He started with GOVERNING in 1989 as a staff correspondent, and now serves as the magazine's executive editor. Walters lives in Columbia County, New York, where he serves as chairman of his local planning board. He is also a Class A interior attack qualified firefighter, and serves as president of his local volunteer fire company.
Delaware Revamps Family Services
The division avoided a top-down approach and let front-line workers help shape the overhaul.
Cuts to Child Welfare Force States to Spend Smarter
Several states are piloting programs to develop cost-effective strategies in helping disconnected youth.
A New Direction in the War on Poverty
Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's antipoverty plan may be worth considering.
Young and Old Find Common Ground in Oregon Housing Community
At Bridge Meadows, a special housing development in Portland, troubled foster children and elders live side by side.
Pushing the Community Reinvestment Act into Uncharted Territory
A handful of communities are putting CRA funds toward more than just housing projects.
Affordable Housing Leads to Smarter Kids
A new study finds a link between how much families spend on housing and children's intellectual ability.
Governments Struggling to Get Social Media Right
Social media is the ultimate government transparency, which is why public officials need to not only get used to it but also get good at it. Here’s how.
Ohio's Bad Idea for Boosting Welfare-to-Work
Without any thought to unintended consequences, Ohio legislators have created a damaging pay-for-performance welfare-to-work program.
The Toughest Job in Government
Even when improving the lives of others, the people running departments of children and families can’t escape controversy.
Richard Ravitch: How Budgets Really Work
The former New York lieutenant governor has 50 years of budget experience. Here's how it really works.
How Britain's Getting Public Policy Down to a Science
Britain has a bold yet simple plan to do something few U.S. governments do: test the effectiveness of multiple policies before rolling them out. But are American lawmakers willing to listen to facts more than money or politics?
What's It Like to Work at the Department of Children's Services?
Tennessee asked caseworkers this and more in what is believed to be the nation's first survey of state child protection workers.
Renewable Energy Requirements Get a Second Wind
Conservatives were out in force last year trying to roll back requirements for some states to use alternative energy. They failed. Does that mean attitudes on green power are changing?
A ‘Wraparound’ System of Care for Schools
Several school systems are implementing so-called wraparound programs in an effort to help troubled kids, families and communities.
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Too often, governments simply take savings from successful human services programs and inject them into the general fund. But that's a dangerous practice.
States Reinvest in Once-Abandoned Freight Lines
In the past year, several states have either created or rekindled grant programs dedicated to improving freight service.
Pay for Success Programs Will be Front and Center in 2014
Human services departments are looking for new and creative ways to fund programs.
Coordinating Foster Care Across the 3 Branches of Government
A new initiative in about a dozen states plans to improve the coordination of child services between the administrative, legislative and judicial branches.
Are We Overmedicating Foster Care Children?
A new GAO report finds that states don't do a particularly effective job of monitoring kids on psychotropic meds.
Welfare's Not a Work Issue, It's a Wage Issue
A new conservative report claims welfare benefits disincentivizes people to work. Federal data, however, suggests that's not the case.
N.Y. Offers Volunteer Firefighters a Place to Retire
Since 1895, the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York has operated a home for volunteer firefighters. It’s the only home of its kind in the country.
Agencies Taking a Second Look at Kinship Care
In many children and families agencies, placing foster care children with their relatives was previously taboo.
Why Critics of Workplace Safety Laws Might be Right
The fatal explosion earlier this year at a Texas fertilizer plant that hadn’t been inspected since 1985 brought attention to the nation’s dysfunctional and ineffective system of keeping employees -- both in the public and private sectors -- safe.
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A new trend in the human services field suggests it isn't. Instead of punishing noncustodial parents, officials are trying to help them find and keep jobs.
When Child Services and the Media Work Together
The Colorado Department of Human Services and The Denver Post prove that the relationship between government and media doesn't have to be adversarial.
Blunting the Politics of Public Assistance
An initiative in six states seeks to stabilize the health and well-being of low-income families.
How to Get Out from Under Federal Oversight
Children and family services agencies under federal oversight need to focus on what's best for families and kids -- not just on what's mandated.
Flood-Prone Cities Try Disaster Planning on Their Own
Some places aren’t waiting for another Sandy. They're taking matters into their own hands. But what’s best for one city may not be best for the region.
Management Fads That Make a Difference
New management tools are a dime a dozen and often just old strategies with fancy new names. But a few do make measurable differences.
How Health Reform Could Improve Outcomes in Child Welfare
If human services officials want to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act, they need to get involved in its implementation now.
New York Gov. Cuomo's Pension Proposal Puzzling
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to let municipalities short their pension payments for the next quarter century uses fuzzy math, writes Governing's Jonathan Walters.
Measuring Developmental Disabilities Services' Success
The National Core Indicators project helps states target human services spending to practices that work.
Poverty Among Seniors Getting Harder to Ignore
The gap between what seniors need to live on versus what they have might land squarely on state and local governments.
Social Services’ Challenge of Sharing Data
It takes leadership to implement the type of IT systems that would make human services more efficient and effective.
The Politics of Children and Family Services
A toxic election cycle in Indiana has ended in the resignation of the state's director of children services.
Boomers Want Control of Their End-of-Life Care
A state-level movement has evolved to give terminally ill patients more say in what medicine and medical procedures they want during their final days. View our special series on aging in America at governing.com/generations.
Social Services in an Emergency
Two New York state social services directors found a way to help clients even in the midst of a natural disaster.
Are Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports Useless?
For all their charts and graphs, CAFRs don’t tell public officials -- or the public -- anything about fiscal sustainability or whether a locality’s finances might be trending south.
A Team Approach to Child Services
The decision of where to place a child should be made by everyone in that child's support system.
4 Health and Human Services Officials Worth Watching
Administering services to vulnerable populations is hard work. But tough public-sector jobs have a way of attracting top talent.
Human Services Gets Its Advocacy Group Back
New leadership and energy at the American Public Human Services Association promises to deliver much-need support and expertise.
Are States, Cities Ready for a Wave of Veterans?
Human services officials have a lot of work to do to prepare for the return of war vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Helping Foster Kids Transition to Adulthood
A much-needed study will evaluate the merits of transitional living programs.
Cooperative Federalism Meets Human Services
A better relationship between the feds, states and localities equals better outcomes.
Are Cities' Pledges to End Homelessness Working?
Though the number of homeless has increased since numerous pledges were made in the early 2000s to end it, some progress has been made on the nation's understanding of the phenomenon.
Should Welfare Recipients Be Drug Tested?
While sensible arguments in favor of it can be made, they ultimately don't hold up to scrutiny.
Getting Food Stamps
The lack of research on participation rates make it hard to find best practices.
Making Data on Kids Count
What does the data collected by children and family advocates tell us about where to invest in kids?
Judicious Reform
Three veteran judges are tacking big reforms at children and family services departments in three states.
Human Services by the Batch
Task-based processing systems, instead of traditional case management, could help human services offices process claims faster.
Budget Cuts Hit Talented Social Services Team
Crucial staff and money-saving strategies that have helped kids in jeopardy have been -- or are in danger of being -- eliminated.
TANF at 15
On its anniversary and coming off another bad jobs report, a review of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is needed now more than ever.
Policing in the Post-9/11 Era
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The Price of Medical Illiteracy
Not understanding what doctors say is costly for patients' health and for health care itself.
Human Services Meets Capitalism
One state is hoping investors will happily plop down money for social service programs.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Rewriting State Retirement Plans
States are putting limits on their pension plans and retiree benefits, usually calling for employees to pay more toward their future.
Underinvesting in Children
Cuts targeting poverty-fighting programs will come back to haunt us.
'Catalytic' Change
An experiment by Annie E. Casey Foundation staff in children and family services agencies is improving these organization's performance.
The Human Services IT Opportunity
The health-care reform bill is full of very scary news -- and great opportunities -- for states and localities.
Nonprofits Seek Relief and Support from States
Nonprofits deliver crucial health and human services to the most vulnerable populations, but state budget constraints are endangering their operations.
Punishing Social Workers
When a child is hurt, punishment seems to be the go-to response. But pursuing that direction has serious consequences.
Implementing Electronic Health Records in Doctors' Offices
For e-health records to work, physicians need to be brought online.
Auditing Health and Human Services
As state and local human services departments pinch pennies, they'll also be looking to cinch fraud.
Peer Assistance Review Helps Teachers in Toledo
When it comes to easing inept teachers out of the classroom, Toledo has been charting the way.
Peer Assistance Review Helps Teachers in Toledo
When it comes to easing inept teachers out of the classroom, Toledo has been charting the way.
Establishing a True 'No Wrong Door' Approach to Human Services
To reach all their clients, state human services officials say technology and less rules and regulations are key.
Are State Efficiency Commissions Effective?
Why are some state efficiency commissions helpful in streamlining government and others an expensive waste of time?
When Privatization Becomes a Problem
Indiana had to cut its 10-year welfare-privatization contract short, showing that there is no silver-bullet for improving human services.
Investing in Families Using Data
The smartest investment a state can make is in its children and families. The best way to do that is through results-based government.
Firefighting Through a Performance Management Lens
Executive Editor Jonathan Walters sheds light onto how he approached his January feature on cuts to fire departments as journalist and as a volunteer firefighter.
Firefighters Feel the Squeeze of Shrinking Budgets
In small and large cities alike, firefighters have gone from heroes to budget bait.
4 Ways to Rethink the Firefighting Game
Former president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Jeff Johnson shares his thoughts on the firefighting game.
Back to School: Performance Measurement Workshops
There is value in all-day workshops beyond tuning up one's performance measurement game. Worshops offer a rare opportunity for those in the human services business to rub elbows and compare notes.
The Flip Side of Welfare Reform
We've gotten people off the rolls. But we aren't paying most of them enough to live on.
Registering the Homeless
Once a system starts getting to know more about its homeless population, it's much easier to develop targeted, strategic interventions.
Maintaining Political Balance Through Redistricting
Bringing truth, light and perhaps even fairness to redistricting.
Too Broke to Fix
If we want a health care system that works, we need to start some radical experimenting.
Tackling the Telecom Giants
Rewriting the 1996 reform law could make it better. It could also make it worse.
Poverty's New Population
Within the past year, the struggling middle class has given in and applied for everything from food stamps, to energy assistance, to help paying rent.
The Politics Behind Not Levying Personal State Income Taxes
In the nine states that don’t levy a personal income tax, the politics of staying that course remains powerful.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Beating Poverty With Cash Incentives
A new way to help the poor become self-sufficient raises hackles at both ends of the political spectrum -- and questions about effectiveness.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
FEMA: Making a Comeback
An invigorated FEMA is on the comeback trail. Do the federal agency's local partners see any progress?
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Gutting the Clean Water Act
Wetlands can protect cities from floods, but it's no longer clear which wetlands the Act protects.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Computing Performance
More governments are turning to technology to help them budget and manage for results.
Preventing Government PR Disasters
Agencies caught in the eye of a scandal need a pre-plan for defusing the storm of media attention.
Policing the Police
Though troubling, the recently leaked video of a Springfield, Mass., police officer beating an apparently helpless suspect with a metal flashlight while three other officers...
Using Performance to Deliver Promises
Call it the great intergovernmental camera caper. Although it might not have involved millions of dollars in spending, it did illustrate the sometimes absurd consequences...
Performance Auditing: Beyond 'Gotcha!'
It's been about five years since Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag announced the launch of his ambitious effort to bring a new style of performance...
For Unions, Tough Bargaining Times
This summer, St. Petersburg, Florida, Mayor Rick Baker declared a fiscal emergency. He wanted to reopen a union contract and put the brakes on scheduled 2010...
Is Hydrofracking for Natural Gas Worth the Risk?
Learn why hydrofracking is important to Russia and the Middle East for accessing reserves of natural gas a mile-deep.
Iowa's Lean Initiatives
While charter agencies may have disappeared in Iowa, the spirit of charters lives on in the state's "lean" initiative. According to John Baldwin, head of...
Lean Legacy
The deal seemed too good to pass up or to ever undo: Iowa would create "charter agencies" and give them unprecedented freedom and flexibility to...
'Creaming' Clients
There is a consistent concern with performance-based contracting in education, physical and mental health, and social services: Providers will want to sign up only those...
Investing in Outcomes
While pondering how to help people recovering from a mental illness, Elise Sanford, a photographer and mental health advocate in Athens, Ohio, had a hunch:...
Courting Talent
Last year, the City of Boston needed help, and a lot of it. Its top management team was suddenly full of holes. In the space...
Paying for Promises
Call it the six stages of GASB 45: anger, denial, sorrow, acceptance, study and action. That's been the general response to a new set of governmental...
The Disability Dilemma
When it comes to the growing costs of government, one thing particularly rankles Dean Rich, the finance director for O'Fallon, Illinois: two police officers claiming...
Turning the Lottery Loose
With Virginia struggling to pay for such pressing priorities as transportation and education and the legislature exhibiting its traditional lack of appetite for raising taxes,...
The Struggle to Streamline
Texas' first foray into a high-profile streamlining of social and health services delivery paid off impressively: In 1993, the Lone Star state won an Innovations in...
Risky Business
In 2006, Georgia's information technology systems were a borderline mess. No one was a harsher critic than the man in charge of them. "Our business model...
Is Welfare Working?
Twelve years ago, Bill Clinton and the U.S. Congress ended "welfare as we know it." Gone was the idea of an open-ended entitlement for...
Neighborhood Eyes and Ears
If the physical condition of a neighborhood is a significant indicator of its overall health, then few cities in the country are taking the measure...
Reporting Results
In Rich Siegel's view, there isn't a more over-rated document in state and local government than the comprehensive annual financial report -- "CAFR" in public...
Benchmarking
In the late 1990s, Hickory, North Carolina, was flunking Pothole Patching 101. "Pothole patching is a big deal to citizens," says Karen Hurley, a city budget...
Auditing Performance
In the ongoing debate over which came first, government opacity or citizen apathy, there are two basic schools of thought: One side argues that citizens...
Dollars and Results
In the late 1990s, as an alderman in Somerville, Massachusetts, Joseph Curtatone was perpetually frustrated by the budgets his local legislature was supposed to be...
Citizen Surveys
With the city of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, facing a quarter of a million dollar revenue shortfall, as well as a continuing and contentious political dispute...
Getting the Public's Attention
When it comes to public-sector performance measures, collecting and verifying data are hard enough. Then comes the challenge of trying to actually get the attention...
Data on the Beat
You get lied to a lot out there," says Brian Joseph Tierney, a burly beat cop with the Chicago Police Department. Tierney is referring to...
Benchmarking Livability
When Oregon launched its statewide performance measurement initiative called "Oregon Benchmarks" back in 1989, the whole effort took a considerable amount of explaining. At the time,...
The Millennial in the Cubicle
It takes a single-minded sense of purpose for a government worker to rack up 349,170 Web-site visits during work hours over five months. That sense of...
Focusing on Accountability
By the time Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell left office in 2000 -- riding a bribery and tax-evasion scandal out the door and into federal prison --...
Stat Governor
Martin O'Malley, the governor of Maryland, thought his question was reasonably straightforward. He was meeting with state parole and probation managers, and O'Malley wanted to...
Novices with the Numbers
In his first job out of graduate school, Will Barnow practices performance measurement every day. Barnow works in the Maricopa County Office of Justice Systems...
O Citizen, Where Art Thou?
Bev Stein remembers with dismay the public budget hearing that marked her debut as the chief elected executive in Multnomah County, Oregon. Although it happened...
Faith and Innovation
The mixture of religion and social service worries a lot of people. But is it really a problem?
Pension Fund Follies
Do recent investment scandals mean public retirement systems need a quick fix?
Chip On Their Shoulders
`Use it or lose it' is no formula for effective federalism.
Managing Performance: Leadership's Challenge
When it comes to governing in the United States, "there is more that unites us than divides us," declared Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, as he welcomed more than 350 high-level local and state officials to Governing's annual management conference, held in Baltimore October 10-12.
Gone With the Windfall
States are finally getting their federal care package. Local governments would like to see some of it.
Capital Gains
The District of Columbia, once the nation's poster child for managerial incompetence, is staging a comeback.
Miami Inc.
Infamous for living 'la vida loca,' Miami now answers to a business beat.
Deeds, Data and Dollars
The idea of crafting a budget based on performance measures is catching on--slowly.
Feds Bearing Gifts
Lobbying Washington for state and local budget aid isn't the gentlest game in the world.
Railroad Realism
It will take more than platitudes to save Amtrak. But good ideas are out there.
Rationalizing a Bond Binge
Florida has recently become one of a handful of states to adopt a formal system of debt analysis aimed at helping guide debt-issuance decisions.
The Buzz Over Balance
The balanced scorecard is the latest private-sector managment trend to hit governments. What's it all about?
The Welfare Bonanza
The private sector is moving quickly to cash in on the new world of public assistance. Can the for-profits do a better job than government workers?
The Land-Use Busybodies
Property rights activists want local land-use cases thrown into federal court. Judges are starting to do it.
Who's Afraid of The DMV?
For most people, motor vehicle offices are the face of government. It's not a pretty face.
Cash Backs Iowa's Promises
Taking a page from the nation's top retailers, Iowa is making a new promise to its citizens: If you're not happy with the services you receive from state government, you get your money back.
Management's Challenge: Leadership for Changing Times
"Change is going to happen," declared Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt in his keynote address at Governing's annual management conference in Salt Lake City.
Open Season on Middle Managers
In the latest round of budget cuts, mid-level managers are considered the easiest and most defenseless target.
Going Outside
The push to privatize is expanding beyond service delivery into the areas of policy making and program design.
On the Brink of Brac
Cutting back on military bases makes economic sense--unless you happen to live near one.
Busted By The Feds
The Justice Department spends a lot of money tracking down state and local corruption. Is that necessary? Unfortunately, yes.
House of Loopholes
The more tax cuts Congress passes, the more trouble states and localities will have making ends meet.
Raising Alabama
A reform-minded governor thinks performance measurement is the first step toward a healthy state future.
Preempting Washington
State regulators need to work together if they want to keep the feds from moving in on them.
Introducing Our Public Officials of the Year
Across-The-Board Innovator
No issue is beyond his realm of interest.
Peformance-Driven Government: Using Measures to Manage
Is performance measurement living up to its promise? When it comes to measuring the impact of government programs and services, its potential is now widely accepted.
Modest Mandate Relief
The federal anti-mandate law is almost 10 years old. It hasn't worked any miracles, but it hasn't been a total loss, either.
States, Feds and Special Ed
The standard for evaluating states' special education efforts is shifting from access to outcomes.
Government by the Numbers
A once-obscure cost-accounting method is becoming the clearest path to tracking the real costs of delivering services.
Fear of Fingerprinting
There's a form of gun regulation that could save thousands of lives a year. If we weren't so paranoid, we'd adopt it.
Tracking Team
When citizens take to the streets, they learn more than just where problems are; they learn whose job it is to fix them.
Skewed Results
Performance measurement has become a powerful tool for some government agencies. For others, it's been useless.
Toil and Trouble
Illegal immigrants working as day laborers present one of the toughest, most divisive issues to land on local government's doorstep in recent years.
Fraud Squad
Appointing inspectors general to probe reports of wrongdoing is politically popular. And some IGs are becoming very powerful.
Civil Service Tsunami
Florida's radical overhaul of its personnel system is making big political waves.
Safety is Still a Local Issue
This is a time for every level of government to remember the things it does best.
The Snoozing Watchdogs
States have done better on a whole lot of fronts in recent years. Corporate regulation isn't one of them.
Block That Grant
The White House can't wait to sell off federal programs. The states might want to look before buying.
Low Power, Low Payoff
There's a cheap and simple way for governments to get their message out. It's called radio.
Scrutiny by the People
Washington State is making a big push to get citizens more involved in the performance auditing process.
To Take or Not To Take
A Michigan court ruling on eminent domain has national implications.
Uncivil Disunion
States Won't Find It Easy To Resolve The Gay Marriage Issue. The Federal Government Could Make The Task Even Harder.
Who's Guarding the Bank?
Financial deregulation offers the public some neat opportunities. it also offers the potential for disaster.
The Fine Art of Reporting Results
A growing number of localities are experimenting with alternatives to annual financial reports to inform citizens about government performance.
Road Blocks
In hard times, good sense should prevail. But that's not what's happening with the re-crafting of transportation policy.
Anti-Box Rebellion
There's no easy way for a small community to fight monster retailers. But there's a right time to do it: before they show up.
The Welfare Spin
You can read the numbers on welfare reform in lots of different ways.
'Save us From the States!'
To a business community confronting 50 sets of rules in 50 state capitols, Washington suddenly looks like a friend.
Spoiled-Food Federalism
When it comes to protecting the food supply, states leave it to Washington. Maybe they shouldn't.
Leaving It to the Court
More and more issues of federalism are ending up in the Supreme Court. There's a reason for that.
Rivals with a Cause
Comparing local government practices and performance among neighboring communities is rare but rewarding.
Negotiator-In-Chief
To say that Christine Gregoire's start as governor of Washington was inauspicious would be an understatement. After an apparent 130-vote win in November 2004, the election was marred by multiple recounts and a lawsuit. When the Democratic majority in the legislature moved to certify her election, Republicans mustered on the front lawn of the statehouse chanting, "Revote! Revote!"
Solidarity Forgotten
What started as a rift in the AFL-CIO has intensified into a fervent contest between the public employee unions over new recruits.
Time to Cooperate
There's nothing we need more right now than teamwork among state, local and federal government. It doesn't come naturally.
Guide to Transportation Spending: Signs of the TEA Generation
ISTEA and TEA-21 were designed to overhaul state highway habits and refocus spending. Is that what's happening?
A Lesson in Brown
The feds have learned what to do with polluted industrial sites. States and cities taught them.
I Have to Talk to You About Your Job...
Job reviews are nerve-racking for both managers and employees. Some places are trying to make them less stressful and more meaningful.
The Testing Panacea
School reform through saturation testing is a simple and seductive idea. It needs scrutiny.