2 Innovative Latino Service Programs Named Finalists for Prestigious American Government Award; Nation-leading Initiatives Awarded $10,000 Grants, Eligible for $100,000 Prize

3/12/2003

From: Sarah Howe of the Council for Excellence in Government, 202-530-3270, showe@excelgov.org

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 12 -- Two groundbreaking programs serving the Latino community have made the shortlist for the sought-after Innovations in American Government Award. Each of the 15 finalists receives a $10,000 grant and is now eligible to win $100,000 in what is often referred to as "the Oscars" of government award programs. They include:

The Consortium for Court Interpreter Certification, founded in 1995 by four states-Washington, New Jersey, Minnesota and Oregon-and the National Center for State Courts. By creating a cost-effective yet rigorous system for educating, training and certifying skilled court interpreters, the Consortium is helping to ensure equal justice for non-English speakers across America. Its efforts have increased the number of qualified interpreters, strengthened interpreter professionalism, improved management of interpreter services and reduces case time in interpreted proceedings. Today the 29 member states include 58 percent of the nation's state courts and approximately 76 percent of citizens who speak a language other than English at home. More than 2,250 potential interpreters have been examined for proficiency in court interpretation and almost 14 percent have passed.

La Bodega de la Familia, in collaboration with the New York State Division of Parole. This trailblazing partnership, based in the largely Latino Loisaida community on Manhattan's Lower East Side, has demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in decreasing drug use, improving treatment outcomes and reducing rearrests among drug offenders on parole and probation. The program, known as PARTNER (Parolees and Relatives Toward Newly Enhanced Relationships), teams parole and probation officers with the families of offenders to positively change the culture of community supervision. La Bodega's success has spurred the founding of Family Justice Inc., which is applying the tenets of family support to public housing, community-based organizations and substance abuse treatment programs around the country.

"Both of these programs have devised successful solutions to widespread societal challenges that are not only pressing but growing," said Stephen Goldsmith, Faculty Chair of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "And both are achieving a vital civic goal: bringing better, more equal justice to Latino communities."

"While these two finalists largely serve Latinos, they are extremely replicable for other groups," said Gail Christopher, Executive Director of the Institute for Government Innovation. "Just as many innovations from targeted government research over the years have led to much broader, private-sector applications - the Internet being one example - these pilot programs targeting immigrant communities will yield positive ripple effects throughout America."

These two outstanding programs were among nearly 1,000 applicants for the 16th annual Innovations in American Government Award. Each of the 15 finalists will deliver a presentation at the National Press Club on May 7, 2003. After a full day of presentations the National Selection Committee will select five winning programs and announce them the following day. Each winner will receive a $100,000 grant to encourage replication of its innovation in other jurisdictions. Chaired by David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University and editor-at-large of U.S. News & World Report, the distinguished Committee includes new members: former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding.

About the Innovations Award

For 16 years the Innovations in American Government Award has recognized quality and responsiveness at all levels of government and has fostered the replication of innovative approaches to the challenges facing government.

The award - a program of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government - is administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program was founded by the Ford Foundation to identify and promote excellence and creativity in the public sector.

The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, established through an endowment from the Ford Foundation, fosters excellence in governments throughout the world. It serves as a global hub for public-sector innovators through networks, conferences and research.

The Council for Excellence in Government is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve government performance by strengthening results-oriented management and creative leadership in the public sector, and to build understanding by focusing public discussion on government's role and responsibilities.

For more information on the Innovations in American Government program and this year's finalists, please visit http://www.innovations.harvard.edu or http://www.excelgov.org.