Innovative government programs have staying power, report says

Despite government's aversion to change, several of its most innovative programs have shown remarkable staying power by taking root in other communities, according to a new study. Of the 150 Innovations in American Government award winners honored over the last 15 years, 136 programs have successfully replicated themselves in other places, according to a new report from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment for the Business of Government. Inexpensive programs with simple concepts, quick results and mass appeal are the most resilient, concluded the report's author, Jonathan Walters, a staff correspondent for Governing Magazine. Walters received a grant from PricewaterhouseCoopers to write the report. Government programs that are easy to put into place without legislation or administrative rule changes and that connect with the most people also tend to thrive, Walters wrote. "In the face of overwhelming odds, innovative ideas continue to bubble up out of government-from the smallest local government to the most bloated federal bureaucracy-pushed by everyone from frontline staff, to middle management, to lofty politicos, to outside agitators," wrote Walters in his study, "Understanding Innovation: What Inspires It? What Makes It Successful?" Since 1986, the Innovations in American Government Awards, which are funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council for Excellence in Government, have honored creative government programs that help solve economic and social problems. Winning programs must be original, effective and capable of being replicated nationwide. According to Walters, winning programs like the New York Police Department's Compstat, an initiative that uses information technology to map crime trends, take a basic idea and present it in a powerful way that captures the public's attention and inspires replication. Compstat, which was a 1996 Innovations award winner, has been adopted to address a host of issues from law enforcement to street sweeping in cities from Los Angeles to Baltimore because the concept is relatively simple, Walters said. Programs that promise relatively quick results also have a longer shelf life, according to Walters. Perritech, a high school-based computer consulting firm operated and staffed by students and a 2000 Innovations award winner, was originally set up to troubleshoot an individual school's computer system. But now Perritech is working as a consultant to local businesses in Ohio, including a nuclear power plant. Initiatives that depend on regular funding from a legislative body or the star power of well-heeled politicians often have difficulty staying afloat, according to Walters. For example, Minnesota's Strive Toward Excellence in Performance (STEP) program, a 1986 winner, aimed at improving state administrative services, was closely aligned with a political appointee and did not survive a change in administrations. Although innovative government programs share a set of common characteristics, people with creative ideas and the will to make them succeed are the driving force behind change at the local, state and federal level, the report said. "Ultimately such initiatives are all about the direct action of people, people who are tired of being part of systems that are focused more on preserving turf, longevity and resources than on achieving results," Walters wrote. Last week, the Veterans Affairs Department received an Innovations in American Government award for its patient care program, which examines how and why medical mistakes happen and encourages health care professionals to report errors. Federal finalists in the awards competition included the Child Welfare Outcomes Initiative, a program of the Health and Human Services Department's Children's Bureau and the General Services Administration's FirstGov Web site. Finalists each receive a $20,000 grant by the Ford Foundation, and winners get $100,000 awards to help them replicate their efforts in other areas. Approximately 1,300 applicants from federal, state, county and city governments, school districts, tribal governments and government corporations compete for the awards annually. This year the Ford Foundation moved to guarantee the program's future by creating the Institution of Innovative Government through a $50 million endowment. The new institution now houses the Innovations in American Government Awards program.