ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Government Performance Management: Key Considerations for Implementing Cross-Agency Priority Goals and Progress Addressing GAO Recommendations (GAO-21-104704)

U.S. Government Accountability Office

In this report, GAO identified key considerations to facilitate CAP goal implementation. In addition, it notes that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and agencies have made notable progress in implementing 82 of 106 GAO GPRAMA-related recommendations made since 2012.

An Analysis of Florida Contract Performance

Public Administration Review (pre-publication)

Analyzing more than 20,000 Florida contracts over a three-year period, this research explores whether competitive sourcing procedures lead to improved contractor performance. The authors found that existing relationships, and lower transaction costs, are more likely to lead to better performance than competitive sourcing.

Data Science and the Art of Persuasion

Harvard Business Review

This article proposes a way for those that aren’t getting the most out of their operations to free data scientists from unreasonable expectations and introduce new types of workers to the mix.

Oakland, Calif., Housing Dashboard

The city of Oakland, California, is committed to producing, protecting, and preserving affordable housing, with a focus on the delivery of homeless housing. This dashboard identified key metrics and progress towards that goal, by Zip Code, within the community.

State, Commerce Data Strategies Underpin Broader Agency Goals

Federal News Network

The State Department and Commerce Department are both launching strategies to maximize the use of their data.

Webinar: Applying Evaluation in the Justice40 Initiative – October 14, 2021, 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Data Foundation

Based on past efforts at the Environmental Protection Agency and ongoing implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act across the federal government, this 90-minute webinar will discuss opportunities for prioritizing evaluative thinking and practice in implementation of the Justice 40 Initiative.

Resource of the Week:  List of IBM Center for The Business of Government Reports on Improving Government Performance – ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

This link provides a curated list, and thumbnail summaries, of over 60 IBM Center reports between 2000 and 2021 on the topic of performance management.

A Framework for Customer-Focused Leadership in Government

Partnership for Public Service

To deliver results and restore public trust in government, federal employees need to lead with a customer focus. . . This report outlines what those approaches look like—with specific examples of how leaders have employed them.

Americans’ View of Government: Low Trust, but Some Positive Performance Ratings

Pew Research Center

Just 20 percent of U.S. adults say they trust the government in Washington to “do the right things” most of the time.  Yet majorities in both parties say the federal government should play a major role on public health, the economy, and other areas.

When PerformanceStat Comes to the State Legislature

Governing

A New Mexico legislative committee is believed to be the first to try the management approach in a lawmaking context. It’s an effort that bears watching, and some lessons are being learned.

A New Culture of Engagement: Insight & Data-Driven Decisions

PublicInput.com

What does it mean to create agility in public engagement and using a unified approach? How do you adjust the culture of engagement to accelerate trust-building, efficiency, effectiveness, and true data-driven decision making?

States and the Fiscal Experiment Flowing from Washington

Governing

Despite predictions that COVID-19 would crush state tax revenues, most of them didn’t need megabillions in pandemic aid to balance their budgets. But for the most part they seem to be spending the money wisely.

Putting Evidence to Use

Stanford Social Innovation Review

Research does no good if its insights are irrelevant or not applied. Ensuring that evidence influences policy requires developing the right ecosystem and levers for accountability.

Transforming Service to Veterans: How I Pursued Performance Excellence at the Veterans Benefits Administration in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Paul Lawrence

Transforming Service to Veterans presents Lawrence’s journey from a business executive to political appointee charged with providing benefits to Veterans and implementing high-profile Veteran-focused legislation. He describes how he and his executive team assessed VBA’s performance, identified problems and solutions, and determined an effective path forward. A key part of his work was hands-on management and a relentless focus on performance improvement.

Webinar:  How Are Innovative Cities Using American Rescue Plan Act Funds? Sept 21, 2 p.m. (Eastern)

Results for America

How are cities using funds t address local challenges with data and evidence? Speakers include head of the White House ARP Implementation Team and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs along with three mayors.

Resource of the Week:  The Center for Accountability, Modernization, and Innovation

Provides thought leadership designed to help government work better for the American people via partnerships that drive innovation in and enhance the performance of federally funded public assistance programs, while also improving the quality of service to beneficiaries.

Tips for Building Bold Strategic Plans and Turning Them into Results

Partnership for Public Service

When done well, strategic planning can help federal agencies develop an ambitious vision for the future—and a roadmap to get there—that inspires and guides agency employees and delivers results for the people of this country.

Maine Towns Are Banding Together to Coordinate Their Spending of COVID Fiscal Recovery Funds

Bangor Daily News

Maine communities are mostly still unsure what they’ll do with an influx of tens of millions of federal dollars from the latest congressional COVID-19 relief package. But leaders from about three dozen communities across the state have teamed up to coordinate their spending so they can use their individual awards to make larger, more enduring investments.

Transparency Stars Shine in Texas

Government Finance Research Center

Texas state government has created a “Transparency Stars” program that celebrates local governments that go above and beyond previous basic standards for open government, and aims to create a culture of transparency throughout Texas government by recognizing and rewarding exceptional transparency efforts.

What Makes Public Sector Measurement Meaningful?

Australia-New Zealand Schools of Government (ANZSOG)

Public services see quantitative measurements and targets as a key part of accountability, but a growing movement is questioning whether this focus has distorted priorities and led to the decline in less-measurable capacities.

Four Years Later, the Evidence Commission’s Impact Now Widespread in U.S.

Data Foundation

It’s no secret that the government collects a trove of data from the American people – estimated to cost $140 billion each year. But the value of that information is much higher, if it can be successfully and securely applied to make decisions about policies that improve lives and the economy. 

OMB Makes Major Updates to Customer Experience Guidance

NextGov

The Office of Management and Budget expanded the definition of customer experience and made significant additions and changes regarding how agencies should serve customers and deliver services in an update to its Circular A-11 guidance.

Resource of the Week:  Compilation of Links to State Fiscal Recovery Plans

National Association of State Budget Officers

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), allocated $195.3 billion for states and the District of Columbia and $4.5 billion for territories. States and territories are required to submit annual Recovery Plan Performance Reports. First plans are due to the U.S. Treasury; here are links to their plans and performance to date.

Mainstreaming the Outcomes Mindset of Results-Based Financing

Brookings Institution

Today there are over 200 registered impact bond transactions globally and 19 transactions in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last decade, impact bonds have gained momentum through repeatedly demonstrating their effectiveness. 

OMB Launches Evaluation Hub to Showcase Work from Chief Evaluation Officers

Federal News Network

The Office of Management and Budget is launching Evaluation.gov as a hub for agencies to document how they will back up program performance with data and metrics.

Building Equitable Evidence: It’s Time to Look to Participants as Experts in Their Own Experience

Center for Effective Philanthropy

Experimental approaches like randomized controlled trials (RCTs) follow a treatment and control group over time. In contrast, participatory tools including feedback, surveys, and focus groups connect immediate learning with continuous improvements to programs and policies, with participants seen as experts in their own experience.

Resolution to Urge Cities to Invest in Data and Evidence-Based Decision Making

U.S. Conference of Mayors

US Conference of Mayors encourages cities to utilize ARP dollars to invest in building and strengthening their data and evidence infrastructures to help both quickly advance pandemic recovery efforts and invest in the future resilience of their cities to help them better address structural inequities, increase economic mobility, and solve their biggest, intractable challenges. 

Reflecting on 25 Years of TANF Research

U.S. HHS, Administration on Children and Families

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is structured as a block grant to states, allowing them flexibility on how they expend their funds. This allows a great deal of variation – what works to improve outcomes? How have state programs changed over time?

Five Tips for Making Data Presentations Understandable

Apolitical

The most important thing is to write for everyone and to tell the story in a way that your readers understand.

Moving to Meaningful Measurement

Centre for Public Impact

Our current system of measurement in the public sector is not working. A focus on metrics designed for control can result in gaming, perverse incentives, and ultimately makes the job of public servants harder. But what does the alternative look like?

Resource of the Week:  Evaluation.gov

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

The new home for Federal program evaluation and the Evaluation Officer Council. Evaluation.gov is a one-stop for agency plans and activities that drive evaluation efforts across the Federal Government.

NIH Team Creates New Data Tool

Federal News Network

The tool, known as the Employee Viewpoint Survey Analysis and Results Tool, or EVS ART, helps agency leaders quickly sift through the mountain of annual FEVS data from the Office of Personnel Management and clearly pinpoint bright spots and weak points.

Data Quality, Framework, Accessibility Are Key to Implementing Emerging Technologies

Federal News Network

Some Chief Data Officers will go so far as to say that the only way to drive value with data is by ensuring unfettered access to what data is available. In pursuing that goal, data silos become their chief nemesis.

Pandemic Oversight Committee Creates Center of Excellence

Pandemic Response Accountability Committee

To support its mission and that of its Office of Inspectors General (OIG) members, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) has established the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) to provide a leading-edge analytic platform with the capacity and scale to help oversee more than $5 trillion in pandemic-related emergency spending. 

Building a Governmentwide Management Learning Agenda

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

The Office of Management and Budget is exploring the development of a federal governmentwide learning agenda that would focus on key cross-cutting management questions – the kinds of questions about how the Federal Government operates that apply across agencies.

Resource of the Week:  Performance Management Toolkit for Practitioners

Praja Trivedi, former secretary for performance management for the Government of India and senior advisor to the secretary general of the Commonwealth Secretariat, has compiled a series of “how to” videos for those interested in performance management.