Government Performance Lab awards Technical Assistance to seven jurisdictions

The Government Performance Lab (GPL) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) announced today that it has selected three states and four cities to receive technical assistance developing performance improvement projects that apply Pay for Success (PFS) principles to core agency services. The selected jurisdictions are Arizona, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Maryland, New York City, and Seattle.  This is the second of two rounds of a national competition the GPL held for technical assistance funded in part through an award made last year from the Corporation for National and Community Service’s (CNCS) Social Innovation Fund (SIF) in which 27 state and local governments applied for technical assistance from the GPL.

The GPL will provide intensive technical assistance to the selected jurisdictions, assisting them in improving the results they achieve with their core human services spending. Jurisdictions will receive fellows who will help agency staff identify key outcomes and metrics, use data to match the right individuals to the right services, develop performance management strategies that include real-time response to performance metrics, align government-provider incentives through performance payments, and set up rigorous evaluations of program impacts. In addition to full-time assistance from GPL fellows, jurisdictions will receive direct support from other GPL staff including GPL Director Jeffrey Liebman, experienced assistant directors, research assistants, data analysts, and senior technical advisors. The selected jurisdictions are undertaking projects in policy areas from child well-being to criminal justice.