The accelerating move away from punitive detention recognizes a critical factor: Adolescent brains are different.
Read moreThe Promise and Perils of ‘Moving the Boxes’
Reorganizing a government's agencies and services -- whether consolidating them or breaking them up -- isn't easy. There are some important things to keep in mind.
Read moreWhat Plumbers Can Teach Public Managers
When a program is dysfunctional, the problem is often in the pipes and valves it flows through.
Read morePublic Policy and the Blame Game
Instead of working to solve problems like underfunded pensions, too often we spend our time and energy pointing fingers.
Read moreThe Complex Challenges of Measuring the Impact of Social Programs
As efforts to evaluate housing programs illustrate, it's difficult to make precise comparisons. But it's worth the effort.
Read morePublic Leadership and the Gift of Time Well Spent
Civic innovation can improve the way government works, but it needs a long runway.
Read moreHow Philadelphia Is Watering Community Creativity
A project to fix the city's stormwater problems has blossomed into so much more.
Read moreCan Comprehensive Collaboration Improve Outcomes for Students?
Experiments in the Seattle area that involve an array of organizations have ambitious goals.
Read moreAn Intriguing New Approach to Funding Social Programs
Pay-for-success programs seem to hold promise as a way to find the up-front investments for programs that save money in the long run.
Read moreThe Public-Administration Quandary: ‘Who’ vs. ‘What’
In the end, it's usually better to define what a service should be before deciding who should deliver it.
Read moreWhen a Public Agency Is Badly Broken
What happened to the VA can happen to any government institution. New leadership is just the first step on the road to reform.
Read moreHow a Community's Culture Can Make or Break Government Reform
The story of Italy's effort to decentralize its governmental functions offers lessons for innovators everywhere.
Read moreGovernment Programs and the Challenge of Proving Downstream Savings
The assertion that a program will save more money than it costs in the long term is a difficult one to demonstrate.
Read moreWhen Connection is the Innovation in Human Services
A journal launched by two Philadelphia social services entrepreneurs is going a long way toward spreading the word about what works and what doesn't.
Read moreThe Challenge of the Last Mile of Service Delivery
Sometimes even the best program design and execution fail to get a government service to a recipient who needs it. There are ways to overcome those final hurdles.
Read moreHow Two Princetons Became One
Taking advantage of a state law encouraging local-government consolidations, the two New Jersey municipalities found a path that other places might follow.
Read moreShared Services and the Velveteen Rabbit Factor
One of the biggest barriers to consolidating service delivery is a jurisdiction's fear that it will lose its individual identity. There are ways to deal with that.
Read moreHarnessing the Strength of Teams
Talk of teamwork in public agencies is often just that — a lot of talk. Making them work is about getting the framework right.
Read moreCollective Impact and the Modern City
Tireless collaboration led to a revamped development process that promises to help revitalize Philadelphia.
Read moreA Portfolio of Schools
Treating district-run schools and charters the same promises to turn traditional education administration inside out.
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