HKS Government Performance Lab

Applications are open for fellow positions at the Government Performance Lab to help state and local governments build more just and effective service systems. Government innovation fellows closely collaborate with government agencies to develop and test promising programs and practices that improve outcomes for residents. The GPL conducts projects in three policy areas: children & families, criminal justice, and homelessness & housing. As core members of the GPL’s staff, fellow positions are full-time, paid, and begin in July 2025. Fellows may work remotely or be placed on-site with a government agency. See our website for more information: https://lnkd.in/eEFidhC Applications are due by February 23, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

EVENT: Curious about strategies to integrate behavioral health professionals in your jurisdiction’s 911 response system? Drawing on our work with more than 30 jurisdictions to establish or expand alternative response, we've identified initial learnings about embedded behavioral health professionals that can help program leaders decide if this is a useful approach. At 1:30 p.m. ET on January 30, join the Government Performance Lab as we discuss how alternative response leaders in Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ integrated behavioral health response in their 911 call centers and insights for the field.     Register here: https://lnkd.in/g4i_KJNw

For the past five years, we’ve worked with jurisdictions to improve outcomes for individuals awaiting trial, reduce costly and unnecessary pretrial supervision conditions, and use pretrial staff resources more efficiently. Today, we’re excited to announce the selection of six jurisdictions to receive applied research and technical assistance from our Pretrial Initiative. The recipients are: the Superior Court of Alameda County (CA); the Clark County District Court (WA); Dane County Pretrial Services (WI); the North Las Vegas Justice Court (NV); the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project (CA); and the Santa Cruz County Probation Department’s Pretrial Division (CA). Through the Pretrial Initiative, jurisdictions will receive support focused on making data-driven pretrial supervision decisions, creating client connections to voluntary supportive services, and building new approaches to release and supervision that allow for alternatives to punitive conditions. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSCDzYvs Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, Clark County WA, San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, Dane County

Carin Clary, Director of the HKS Government Performance Lab’s Homelessness & Housing team, recently sat down with Janey Rountree and Dana Vanderford to discuss the findings from their newly released report on Los Angeles’ Homelessness Prevention Unit, which uses predictive analytics to target services to people at risk for homelessness. Panelists highlighted the importance of homelessness prevention work and gave tips to audience members interested in adopting a similar model in their jurisdictions. They highlighted that while not all communities have the resources to build a robust model and program like Los Angeles, there are many ways to begin integrating data and evidence-based practices into prevention work. Watch the recording of the event here: https://lnkd.in/e_DutXba This event was co-sponsored by the Initiative on Health and Homelessness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Joint Center on Housing Studies, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, and the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative.

What's going on #ThisWeekInData? Check out our quick recap of recent #civicdata and #artificialintelligence news, featuring HKS Government Performance Lab, Neuroscience News, Government Technology, and more!

Join us today at 1:00pm ET! Register for the virtual panel here: https://lnkd.in/ew_NwUq5

We are excited to announce our 2024-25 Alternative 911 Emergency Response Implementation Cohort. The five selected governments will receive applied research support and technical assistance to expand and evaluate alternative emergency responses that redirect 911 calls to professionals trained to de-escalate crises and connect people in need to community-based resources.   The 2024-25 Cohort includes: City of New Orleans, City of Minneapolis, City and County of San Francisco, City of Los Angeles, and City of Madison, WI/Dane County.   Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eZSuDbDv 

EVENT: On November 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET, join the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab for a virtual panel on the use of artificial intelligence for homelessness prevention in Los Angeles. Carin Clary, the GPL’s Director of Homelessness & Housing, will moderate the panel, which will include Janey Rountree, Executive Director of the California Policy Lab at UCLA, and Dana Vanderford, Associate Director of Homelessness Prevention for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. The panelists will discuss a just-released report from the California Policy Lab detailing Los Angeles County’s Homelessness Prevention Unit (HPU), which uses a data-driven model to identify residents at high risk of experiencing homelessness. The HPU pilot fills a gap in county prevention services by proactively reaching residents who may otherwise lose stable housing.  HPU blends predictive modeling with case management to offer a more intensive support model than traditional programs. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ew_NwUq5 Co-sponsored by the Initiative on Health and Homelessness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab based at the Taubman Center for State & Local Government, and the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative.

We're revisiting the City of Long Beach's feature in Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog: in 2020, the City collaborated with the HKS Government Performance Lab to implement an Extreme Procurement Makeover, a comprehensive retooling of Long Beach’s procurement process. The makeover made wholesale changes to procurement practices, solicitation materials, staff training, and vendor engagement, while centering efforts around efficiency and equity. The results speak for themselves: 🏪 Between March 2021 and June 2022, 64% of vendors who were awarded contracts through the Long Beach Recovery Act initiative were first-time vendors with the city  📈 Response rates for priority ARPA procurements doubled from the past year  📉 The average RFP cycle time decreased by 56% from 8 months to 3.5 months. To read more about Long Beach’s inclusive procurement reform, click here: https://lnkd.in/eK6H4fwx

**JOB POSTING ALERT** Are you a strategic leader who enjoys managing a team and working with government leaders to improve operations? Are you passionate about redesigning government systems to better support children and families?  The HKS Government Performance Lab Children & Families team is hiring for an Assistant Director and a Project Leader to help manage and support the GPL’s contributions to the Doris Duke Foundation’s Opportunities for Prevention & Transformation Initiative (OPT-In for Families). The Assistant Director will lead the GPL's contributions to a major initiative in the prevention field focused on preventing child welfare involvement, managing a team helping four jurisdictions to design, implement, and test approaches to engage families in voluntary community-based resources. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/estyfca7 Start date: No later than Feb. 3, 2025. Earlier start date preferred.  The Project Leader will support the GPL's contributions to a major initiative in the prevention field focused on preventing child welfare involvement by offering voluntary community-based resources early. Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eGfk9u6p Start date: No later than July 1, 2025. Earlier start date in spring 2025 preferred.