ProGov21 Policy Library

The foundation for success starts in the earliest years of children's lives, when they begin to develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviors they need to do well in school and beyond. To fix our failing workforce pipeline, we need to help our children get the good start in life that...

Almost everyone believes that afterschool programs are one of those good things for youngsters. And yet many kids are left out: Only 15 percent - 8.4 million - of the country's school children participate, according to a report, "America After 3 PM," by the advocacy organization Afterschool...

While privatization occurs under different names, such as outsourcing, contracting out, and public-private partnership, it always removes a public good from public control and places it under the control of a private entity. The specifics of these deals vary, but the consequences...

While public-private partnerships, or P3’s, have primarily been used in the U.S. for transportation and water projects, the model has recently been used to address infrastructure needs to repair, replace, or build public buildings where government operations take place. Problems with...

Public-private partnerships (known as “P3s”) use private capital to finance public infrastructure projects, and should generally be avoided. Private funding of infrastructure is more expensive than public funding and result in the loss of democratic control over public policy decisions,...

Traditional workforce development programs often prioritize eliminating first-level barriers to employment such as childcare, partner with employers that do not invest in employee training or lasting job creation, and fail to meet the demand for skilled labor in the broader economy....

As part of the strategic planning process engaged in during 2008-2009, the Collaboration adopted benchmarks for the Oak Park Early Childhood System. The benchmarks were chosen because they are relevant, measurable and provide data that can be used and acted upon to further system...

Water privatization has often proven to be harmful to communities, workers, and the environment, and should not be relied on to help municipalities. While many water systems need improvements, corporate control does not provide a solution to provide long-term sustainability, regulatory...

America’s traditional economic development policy has raised important questions about equity, especially for new entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs and small businesses bring economic stability into communities. To encourage economic development brought, it is imperative that the impact...

Public-private partnerships (P3s) to build infrastructure, are increasingly structured around “availability payments,” which advocates argue are a better alternative than more traditional revenue-risk contracts. However, availability payments are long-term financial commitments that...

The Collaboration for Early Childhood is a model public/private partnership that leverages the resources of more than 40 local agencies to create a community-wide system of high-quality programs and services that foster physical, cognitive and social-emotional development during the...

This report highlights the importance of policies that create high-quality job opportunities in public infrastructure projects and recommends integrating job quality and equity programs into P3 arrangements to maximize community benefits and economic returns. It showcases case studies...

As local and state governments increasingly contract out public services that impact the well-being of their community, the need for robust contract oversight is increasing. A lack of oversight has detrimental impacts on the people served by a program or service, and for the public...