January 2002Vol. 3, No. 1HHS Honored by Harvard University for Child Welfare Outcomes Initiative
In August, Harvard University recognized the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by selecting its new initiative to measure child welfare outcomes in the States as one of 15 finalists for the Innovations in American Government Award. The finalists were selected from more than 1,000 nominations.
The HHS Child Welfare Outcomes Initiative, which is implemented by the Children's Bureau, was one of three Federal agencies distinguished as finalists in the competition. The other Federal finalists were FirstGov.gov, a Web portal administered by the General Services Administration that provides access to 47 million Federal and State Web pages; and the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for Patient Safety, which helps prevent health care errors.
Although HHS was not chosen as one of the 5 winners announced December 13, it will receive a prize of $20,000, which is awarded to all finalists.
Celebrating its 15th year, the Innovations Awards Program honors creative problem-solving in the public sector with funding from the Ford Foundation. Harvard's Institute for Government Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government administers all stages of the competition, including the finalist presentations to the National Selection Committee. The 13-member Committee for the 2001 award was chaired by David R. Gergen, a commentator, author, and professor who has served in the administrations of four U.S. Presidents.
As a partner to the Institute for Government Innovation, the Council for Excellence in Government--a national, non-profit, and nonpartisan organization--administers the Ford Foundation awards. The Council, whose 750 members have served as senior public sector officials, also serves as a resource to all winners and finalists by helping to replicate and publicize their innovation.
The five winners and their programs each receive a $100,000 award. For the complete list of winners and finalists, visit the Innovations in American Government website at: http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/award_landing.html under 2001 Winners.
Contact information:
Innovations in American Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
79 John F. Kennedy St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-495-0557
Fax: 617-496-4602
Email: innovations@harvard.edu
Website: http://www.innovations.harvard.edu
Related Items
Visit the Child Welfare Review Project's website, which disseminates information on behalf of the Children's Bureau about the Child and Family Services Reviews, consultant recruitment, and training (http://www.childwelfarereview.com). (Editor's note: this link is no longer available.)
See the article "States Begin to Receive Final Reports of Child and Family Services Reviews" from the November/December 2001 issue of the Children's Bureau Express.
