best of category winners - national association of counties best of category.pdf · best of...

June 2011

Best of Category Winners

Best of Category Winners

For more information about this publication or the programs included, please contact:

National Association of Counties Research Division( 202.393-62268 www.naco.org

Compiled by Matthew Luce, Research Intern

TABLE OF CONTENTSCamp Connect San Diego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2San Diego, CA

How to Dry Out Your Latex Paint – YouTube Video . . .2Hamilton County, OH

Sentence to Service (STS) Homes Affordable Housing Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Hennepin County, MN

Certificate of Use (Foreclosures) – An Ordinance to Protect Potential Home Buyers . . . . . . . . . . . .4Miami-Dade County, FL

Criminal Case Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Lee County, FL

Probation Department Peer Support Program . . . . .5San Bernardino County, CA

CORE Program – Center for Opportunity, Reentry, and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Orange County, CA

LinkUp Shingles in Paving Project . . . . . . . . . . . .7King County, WA

Roofs to Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Boulder County, CO

P-Card Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8El Paso County, CO

Scan Codes for Easy Access to Food Facility Inspection Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Kern County, CA

Colorado PEAK Outreach Initiative . . . . . . . . . . .9Boulder County, CO

Interactive Recording Kiosk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Maricopa County, AZ

Going Google Apps for Government . . . . . . . . . 11Multnomah County, OR

After-school @ Your Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Broward County, VA

Parks After Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Los Angeles County, CA

Early Retirement Incentive Program . . . . . . . . . 13Charles County, MD

Safety Training Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Chesterfield County, VA

The Livable Communities Caregivers Coaching Program (L3C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Westchester County, NY

The Precinct Atlas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Cerro Gordo County, IA

Isle Pre-Pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Isle of Wight County, VA

2 2011 Best of Category • June 2011

Õ Introduction For more than three decades, NACo has administered its annual Achievement Awards, a non-competitive awards program that recognizes innovative county government programs. These exemplary programs depict unique, innovative, and replicable ways for counties to enhance their communities. This year, having thoroughly analyzed each submission, we are pleased to feature the Best of Category winners.

Created as part of NACo’s New County, USA cam-paign, the Achievement Awards Program continues to embody the grassroots and local government energy that the program was intended to promote. The main emphasis of the campaign was to modern-ize and streamline county government and increase its services to its citizens, goals that are still at the core of the Achievement Awards Program today.

Õ Children and YouthSan Diego County, CAPopulation: 2,933,462

Camp Connect San DiegoOver the last several years, research has demonstrated that children in foster care who remain connected to their siblings have better outcomes, including decreased rates of incarceration and homelessness, an increased sense of self-esteem, placement stabil-ity, and a higher rate of graduation. Launched in 2008, Camp Connect San Diego is designed to bring together siblings who have been separated by their placement in the foster care system. The program is a public-private partnership between The United Way of San Diego, Promises2Kids (a non-profit that focuses on the foster youth of San Diego County), and was developed and overseen by the County of San Diego, Child Welfare Services (CWS).

At Camp Connect events, foster children spend time together participating in activities such as ice skat-ing, attending ball games, and visiting amusement parks, all while basking in and building the bonds that only a sibling relationship can offer. The high-light of the program is the annual four-day overnight camp that takes place in the summer. Sibling bonds

are of the utmost importance for youth in adverse circumstances due to the fact that in these settings, siblings become a support network for one another in order to cope with the problems that they each face. When children are placed into foster care, these bonds become even more important as chil-dren seek some sort of continuity and stability in their lives.

The program received an 80 percent approval rating from those youth who participated, and an equally promising 83 percent of the participants cited spend-ing time with their siblings as their favorite activity. Moreover, the program has served as an excellent gateway for the public to play a more active role in the foster care system. There were 80 volunteers who helped supervise the program in 2009, and CWS saw that number double to 160 in 2010.

Contact Information

Ms. Margo FudgeExecutive Assistant to the Director, Child Welfare ServicesSan Diego County6950 Levant StSan Diego, CA 92111-6010O: (858) [email protected]

Õ Civic Education and Public InformationHamilton County, OHPopulation: 806,652

How to Dry Out Your Latex Paint – YouTube Video

The Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District has been providing residents with programs to properly dispose of or recycle their hazardous waste since 1995. Facing budgetary uncertainties in 2010, the District began examining ways to cut program spending while still offering residents an option for properly handling their household haz-ardous waste. Latex paint was the most popular material disposed of by Hamilton County residents through the program, and as such, its collection

3National Association of Counties

effectively as possible, while also allowing minimum-custody offenders an opportunity to learn carpentry skills. Since its inception, the collaboration has reha-bilitated six properties: two neighboring duplexes, which provide large two and three bedroom units for formerly homeless families at or below thirty percent of the area median income (AMI), and four single family homes with a total of 12 rental units, providing permanent supportive housing for adults with serious or persistent mental illnesses.

The STS Homes program is a one-year, full-time carpentry training program for men and women, primarily from Hennepin County, who are incar-cerated in state prisons. The program is a joint venture between Hennepin County and the State of Minnesota Department of Corrections. Through a public-private partnership with the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council, it is able to employ journeymen foremen crew leaders as site foremen. The STS Homes program strives to create comprehensive plans for inmates’ release including a positive support system, a safe place to live, and a quality job. While participating in the program, inmates must complete their General Education Development Tests and obtain a driver’s license.

STS Homes has become nationally renowned for its staggeringly low recidivism rates of less than six per-cent. The revenues generated in-part through this collaboration have enabled Hennepin County to reduce the property tax portion of the STS Homes budget from 58 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2011 (equating to an annual taxpayer savings of approximately $120,000).

Contact Information

Mr. Kevin DockryManager Housing Development & FinanceHennepin County417 North Fifth Street, Suite 320Government CenterMinneapolis, MN 55401-1362O: (612) 348-2270F: (612) [email protected]

significantly raised the program’s cost. However, latex paint is not a hazardous material and it can be safely thrown away with regular trash once it is solid, so the District determined that eliminating the collection of latex paint would be the most effective method of reducing the costs of its program.

To help inform residents about the change to the household hazardous waste program and the educate them about how to properly dispose of unwanted latex paint, the District created an enter-taining and informative video which it displayed both on YouTube and on the District’s website. The production and dissemination of the video did not cost the District anything other than staff time, which demonstrates how the easy this program would be to replicate. Since its upload, the YouTube video has been viewed in excess of 1,400 times and the con-tractor of the District’s hazardous waste program did not collect any latex paint in 2010.

The URL for the video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YYYgNsYQjg

Contact Information

Ms. Sarah DowersPublic Relations CoordinatorHamilton County250 William Howard Taft Rd DeptCincinnati, OH 45219-2629O: (513) 946-7748F: (513) [email protected]

Õ Community and Economic DevelopmentHennepin County, MNPopulation: 1,119,364

Sentence to Service (STS) Homes Affordable Housing Collaboration

In 2010, Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HCHRA) staff and Hennepin County Sentencing to Service Homes (STS Homes) staff initiated a collaborative effort to provide affordable housing opportunities to special needs and low-income populations as cost


Õ County Administration and ManagementMiami-Dade County, FLPopulation: 2,336,014

Certificate of Use (Foreclosures) – An Ordinance to Protect Potential Home Buyers

The condition of foreclosed properties has become an increasingly serious concern for Miami-Dade County over the last several years. The County saw the number of foreclosures jump from 11,605 in 2003 to an astounding 56,656 in 2008, and could only watch as the number jumped again to 64,001 in 2009. Many of these properties are abandoned and pose health and safety hazards to the surround-ing communities. As they become dilapidated with overgrown yards, piping, wiring, and other fixtures are removed.

While these conditions are visible, there are often times other violations that are not as easily detected by a potential buyer, such as zoning issues that need to be addressed. Bringing properties that have been foreclosed upon into compliance can be an extremely costly task, and it becomes even more painstaking if new construction plans or a zoning variance is required. Unfortunately, it is typically the new buyer that is burdened with the expense of cor-recting such problems, and the County’s ability to offer any relief is restricted by existing codes.

In 2008, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) adopted an ordinance that requires all title-holders of foreclosed properties to obtain a Certificate of Use (CU) prior to offering the property for sale, transfer, or alienation. The pur-pose of the legislation is to document and disclose to the public/buyer the extent to which residential properties acquired via foreclosure comply with all applicable building and zoning codes. It makes title-holders accountable, protects potential buyers from unknowingly obtaining property that is not in compliance, and may save buyers from costs and penalties that accrue as they are forced to correct

deficiencies that they were not aware of. The ordi-nance further requires a licensed architect or engi-neer to conduct an inspection of the property and to prepare a Disclosure of Findings report, which iden-tifies building or zoning code violations and con-tains a good-faith estimate of the cost to remedy any deficiencies. It additionally requires that upon the completion of the review, the Disclosure of Findings Report be filed with the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts (COC) Office.

Contact Information

Mr. Louis L. FosterChief, Fiscal and Administrative Services DivisionMiami-Dade County111 NW 1st Street, 11th FloorDepartment of Planning and ZoningMiami, FL 33128O: (305) [email protected]

Õ Court Administration and ManagementLee County, FLPopulation: 544,758

Criminal Case ManagementCase clearance rates are the number of outgoing cases as a percentage of the number of incoming cases for a particular court. The national standard for backlogged case clearance is 90 percent in 180 days and 100 percent cleared in 365 days. However, in Lee County, only 39 percent of the cases were being cleared within 180 days and only 62 percent within 365 days.

Differentiated criminal case management (DCM) procedures were developed in Lee County in an effort to promote uniformity in practice through-out the 20th Judicial Circuit and with the intent to expand best practices to other counties in the region. Procedures were established to improve the predictability, efficiency, and timely resolution of felony cases in Circuit Court and to ensure com-pliance with the provisions and aims of the Florida


Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Court recognized that a defendant’s right to a speedy trial, as well as the public’s interest in timely, fair and just verdicts in criminal cases would be best met through the development of a uniform and consistent series of time-focused standards for criminal cases in Circuit Court. These procedures came as a result of collab-oration between the Court, the State Attorney, the Public Defender, and the defense bar.

Through this collaboration, it was determined that DCM techniques would allow courts to tailor the case flow processes to the requirements of indi-vidual cases. The main concepts associated with DCM are: (1) Setting case tracks, based on criteria that determines the necessary case events and time goals, (2) Enhanced organization of court events by using a Pretrial Scheduling Order, and (3) Close case monitoring to ensure that the case progresses in the most efficient manner. At the start of the project in December 2008, the total number of felony cases pending in Lee County was 4,028. Since the imple-mentation of the DCM strategies in Lee County, how-ever, the Court has strived to maintain a minimum of 100 percent clearance. As of December 2010 the number of pending felony cases has been reduced to 2,346, and the average case clearance rates for 2009 and 2010 were 111 percent and 102 percent, respectively.

Contact Information

Ms. Amy E. KinseyAdministrative Services SupervisorLee County1700 Monroe StPretrial ServicesFort Myers, FL 33901-3071O: (239) 533-8440F: (239) [email protected]

Õ Criminal Justice and Public SafetySan Bernardino County, CAPopulation: 1,963,535

Probation Department Peer Support Program

In 2008, San Diego County Probation Department staff raised the issue of a need for peer support within the department. Probation work has undergone sig-nificant changes over the last decade. Officers in the field are now armed, and as such, they experience the same kinds of dangers and stressors that all armed law enforcement officers must face. These officers felt that a Peer Support program, modeled after pro-grams existing in other law enforcement agencies, would serve two primary purposes: it would put a support system in place for officers and their fami-lies in the event of an officer-involved shooting, and it would enable the department to offer crisis inter-vention services to all staff, which could ease their stress and increase their productivity and well-being.

The officers that were selected for this program were nominated by their peers and interviewed by the department to ensure that they would be able to perform the duties for which they would be volun-teering. Those candidates that were selected were trained to employ active listening skills, to avoid solving or taking on others’ problems, and instead to assess those problems and refer the individual to professional resources (such as counseling or treat-ment) when and if they deemed it appropriate to do so. Peer Supporters offer information and support to department employees involved in critical inci-dents or who may wish to seek support for a variety of everyday stressors. These contacts are strictly con-fidential and are not reported to the chain of com-mand or discussed in specific terms with other peer supports unless the individual expresses concerns regarding a danger to him/herself or others, abuse, illegal drug use, felonies, or where the individual requests that the shared information be divulged.


One of the program’s central tenets is to keep people on the job. The department believes that by offering this early form of intervention, they are more easily able to keep their staff emotionally healthy, happy, and working. Over the two years since its incep-tion, the program has seen over 1,000 peer sup-port contacts initiated by the staff, but the greatest results of the program are perhaps more profoundly demonstrated by the intrinsic benefits it provides. The program has helped facilitate the building of bonds within the department and staff members have begun to realize that their peers genuinely care about their well-being.

Contact Information

Ms. Gaye MistrettaExecutive AssistantSan Bernardino County175 W. Fifth St., 4th FloorProbation DepartmentSan Bernardino, CA 92346O: (909) 387-5693F: (909) [email protected]

Õ Criminal Justice and Public SafetyOrange County, CAPopulation: 2,988,072

CORE Program – Center for Opportunity, Reentry and Education

In recent years, issues associated with inmates reentering society subsequent to their release from prison have been given a great deal of attention. California’s prison system is among the most over-crowded in the nation, and the costly burdens of this troubled rehabilitation system are being felt at every level of society for Californians. Further, nearly one million men, women, and juveniles – two mil-lion over the next three years – will be released from Federal, state, and local correctional facilities. Even in the face of the programs that the California corrections system offers, the State is still forced to deal with a notably high rate of recidivism among

released offenders. Over two thirds of the individu-als to be released are projected to be re-arrested for serious new felony offenses within three years.

With the Orange County jail population and oper-ating costs rising, the Orange County Probation Department chose to invest its time and resources into establishing a program that would not only keep people from returning to jail and prison, but would also educate and assist the participants in living a healthy and successful lifestyle. The primary goals of the program are twofold: (1) to provide an edu-cational opportunity to adults who have yet to earn their High School Diploma or GED Certificate and (2) to provide targeted programming opportunities that include the nationally recognized best practice cognitive behavioral therapy Thinking for a Change (T4C) to adults who have struggled to put their lives back together after incarceration.

The CORE Program provides daily supervision and support for adult probationers who are at risk of re-offending and returning to jail. It operates as part of a continuum of reentry services the Orange County Probation Department has put into place in an effort to address recidivism. As of February 2011, 125 par-ticipants have taken part in the program, 35 of whom are currently enrolled. Of the 90 participants who have already been discharged from the program, 59 successfully completed the program’s requirements, indicating a promising success rate of completion of 65.6 percent.

Contact Information

Ms. Jessica GoodStaff SpecialistOrange County333 W Santa Ana Blvd3RD FLOORSanta Ana, CA 92701-4084O: (714)834-6203F: (714)[email protected]


Õ Environmental Protection and EnergyBoulder County, COPopulation: 280,440

Roofs to RoadsColorado estimates indicate that more than 240,000 tons of asphalt shingles are dumped into the State’s landfills every year, thus increasing both waste and carbon dioxide emissions dramatically. In an inno-vative effort to use recyclable materials as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Boulder County Transportation Department played a central role in developing and implementing the Roofs to Roads program.

The program utilizes asphalt roofing shingles from residential re-roofing (tear-offs) in a 5 percent mix with virgin asphalt binder. Estimates indicate that such a project, if implemented County-wide on all paving projects, would divert more than 5,000 tons of asphalt shingles from landfill disposal, with the potential to avoid the release of more than 27 million pounds of carbon dioxide. Estimates also indicate that the same project, if implemented state-wide, has the potential to reduce the amount of asphalt being land-filled every year by 240,000 tons as well as to prevent the release of 756 billion pounds of carbon dioxide.

Boulder County’s Roofs to Roads program was the first in the state of Colorado to implement the use of recycled asphalt shingles as a component of the hot mix asphalt that is used to pave roads. Not only has it become renowned throughout the state for its effectiveness, but it also has become a blueprint for other Colorado road and transportation agencies as they begin to consider employing comparable projects. The initial project, which dealt primarily with the repaving of three roads within the county, resulted in a reduction of 300 tons of recycled shin-gles and avoided the emission of 33,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses.

Contact Information

Mr. Dan RowlandCommunications Specialist

Boulder County1325 Pearl StreetBoulder, CO 80302O: (303) [email protected]

Õ Environmental Protection and EnergyKing County, WAPopulation: 1, 793,583

LinkUp Shingles in Paving ProjectKing County, Washington is a renowned leader in the fields of waste management, recycling, and mate-rial recovery programs. Each year, however, some 40,000 tons of tear-off roofing shingles are gener-ated in the County, with an overwhelming major-ity of this material going to landfills. The LinkUp Shingles in Paving Project is a collaborative effort to develop a local hot-mix asphalt (HMA) paving end market for recycled asphalt shingles (RAS).

The program identified asphalt shingles as a priority material for recycling for three chief reasons: (1) a large quantity of tear-off asphalt shingles generated in King County is disposed of in landfills; (2) local recy-cling infrastructure is not firmly established for tear-off asphalt shingles; and (3) tear-off asphalt shingles are successfully recycled in other parts of the coun-try. LinkUp is geared primarily towards facilitating recycling infrastructure and expanding markets for selected recyclable and reusable materials by devel-oping an interactive relationship between businesses community, public agencies, and other organizations.

In 2007, the LinkUp team assembled approximately 40 stakeholders representing a plethora of interested agencies to share market research and evaluate the notion of conducting a local paving demonstration using RAS. Garnering overwhelming support, the LinkUp team organized for a two-mile stretch of road in South King County to be paved as a means of test-ing the use of 3 percent RAS and 15 percent recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in HMA in September 2009.

The demonstration and the program have led to increased awareness and engagement of important


stakeholders, as well as direct engagement and a shift in thinking of key client audiences, including King County’s Road Services Division, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDoT), and the paving industry. As a testament to this success, there has been a recent development in the form of a public-private effort led by WSDoT and the Washington Asphalt paving Association to outline requirements for a paving trial project that would allow RAS in HMA on select state roads in 2011.

Contact Information

Ms. Kris BeattyProject/Program Manager, Solid Waste DivisionKing County201 S Jackson St Ste 701Seattle, WA 98104-3854O: (206) [email protected]

ÕFinancial ManagementEl Paso County, COPopulation: 565,582

P-Card UtilizationIn 2008, the net utilization of the procurement card (P-Card) program in El Paso County was $802,000 – resulting in a $6,000 rebate issued by the credit card processing company. This rebate provided a com-pelling incentive to increase and expand the use of the program. In 2009 a major effort was launched to increase the usage of the P-card program throughout the County as a means of maximizing rebate incen-tives and to help streamline the payment process.

Further, El Paso County had been fielding complaints from vendors over delayed payments for services rendered. For example, a standard check issuance, from receipt of invoice to payment by check, took three to four weeks. This, compared to the acceler-ated reimbursement of a P-card of one to two days, presented the County with a fantastic opportunity to take full advantage of the benefits its P-card program offered. El Paso County began by polling vendors to identify those that would be willing to accept credit

card payments. Those vendors that agreed were set up with a different address book type so that depart-ments issuing payments could easily identify them.

From 2008 to 2010, El Paso County increased its usage of the P-card from $802,000 to $11.3 mil-lion – resulting in a rebate of $150,000. This sub-stantial rebate increase has more than paid for the salary of the staff person administering the P-card program in addition to returning substantial, much-needed funding to the County’s budget, without any increase in procurement activity. Moreover, not long after the County began using its P-card pro-gram to streamline its payments to vendors, many of these vendors expressed extreme satisfaction over the ease and efficiency of the program – especially with regard to bank account deposits that were now taking just a few days rather than weeks. The cost of this program is a mere $55,000 annually, which includes the salary of the staff person dedicated to administering it.

Contact Information

Mr. Dave RosePublic Information OfficerEl Paso County27 East Vermijo Avenue, Fourth FloorColorado Springs, CO 80903O: (719) 520-6540F: (719) [email protected]

ÕHealthKern County, CAPopulation: 756,825

Scan Codes for Easy Access to Food Facility Inspection Reports

Always pushing for transparency and innovative ways of easing the public’s access to information, Kern County Environmental Health Services turned to new technology to fulfill these demands. The California Retail food Code requires that food facili-ties keep a copy of their most recent inspection report on hand for the public to view. The County addition-ally posts the most current inspections online via a


search engine on their website. Although this is a useful tool for the public to have at its disposal, it is probably not the most convenient. Residents are most likely to look for an inspection report as they are standing in front of a restaurant trying to decide whether or not to eat there.

QR (Quick Response) codes, a new technology that is rapidly gaining ground in providing a quick and easy way to disseminate information, presented itself as a simple and effective solution. With QR codes, one can take existing technology (such as hyperlinks) and package the URL in a small, com-pact code that can be easily scanned with one of the many, widely available, free QR scan apps for Smartphones. Further, since QR code will merely contain a hyperlink that need not change at all, it means that the sticker containing the code does not need to be changed regularly either, and the infor-mation available through the link provided is able to be updated daily.

The program has been running since October 2010, and it has been met with a great deal of enthusiasm. Several local news and radio stations have even gone so far as to run segments on its impact – granting the public an easier, more accessible way to make educated and informed decisions with regard to where they choose to dine.

Contact Information

Donna FentonChief, Environmental Health ServicesKern County2700 “M” StreetSuite 300Bakersfield, CA 93301O: (661) [email protected]

ÕHuman ServicesBoulder County, COPopulation: 280,440

Colorado PEAK Outreach InitiativeColorado currently ranks among the lowest states in the nation for participation in programs providing health coverage and food assistance, and a recent study has shown that Colorado has the fastest-grow-ing poverty rate in the nation. The State currently ranks 28th in the country for child poverty, 30th for percentage of overall population living below the federal poverty level, 48th for food stamp collection, and 48th for children’s health coverage. There are cur-rently more than 100,000 people in Colorado who are eligible for health and human service benefits, but are not enrolled and therefore not receiving any of the health, food, financial, or other assistance that they may require in order to help them stabilize their lives.

In response to these pressing issues, the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services spearheaded the creation of the Colorado Program Eligibility and Application Kit (PEAK) Outreach Initiative. PEAK is a two-year project designed to create and disseminate a toolkit and training to counties and community-based organizations across the state in preparation for the 2011 launch of PEAK Phase II, which includes the online application. The toolkit and accompanying training will support community-based partners in their use of Colorado PEAK to screen and enroll individuals and families in the full spectrum of health and human service pro-grams for which they are eligible.

Within Boulder County, services are made available to all county residents. The total potential popula-tion served by this initiative is 290,262 individuals. Approximately 85,000 of these people are currently living below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level and are likely to become eligible for a vast array of health and human services. Statewide, these num-bers are even larger – it is estimated that more than 1,015,950 Coloradoans live below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line, and an additional 362,260 live below 250 percent.


The first year of the PEAK program was geared towards designing the toolkit and training tech-niques to be provided. It was developed in close col-laboration with the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, the state departments of Health Care Policy and Financing and Human Services, com-munity-based organizations, and a host of other Colorado counties. To date, the PEAK Outreach team has successfully engaged all 64 of Colorado’s counties, as well as a network of nearly 100 commu-nity-based organizations. They have trained approxi-mately 340 clients, county staff, and community members, and expect these numbers to increase exponentially in 2011 as PEAK Phase II is launched.

Contact Information

Mr. Dan RowlandCommunications SpecialistBoulder County1325 Pearl StreetBoulder, CO 80302O: (303) [email protected]

Õ Information TechnologyMaricopa County, AZPopulation: 4,023,132

Interactive Recording KioskMaricopa County is currently the fourth most popu-lous county in the United States, consisting of over four million residents and 9,222 square miles. For more than 13 years, the County Recorder’s Office has consistently recorded in excess of 1 million docu-ments per year – recording over 1.9 million docu-ments in 2005. Further, Maricopa County has experi-enced tremendous growth over the last several years, with four of its municipalities making the Forbes Top Ten list for fastest growing cities in America.

As the State of Arizona moved into a budget crisis, the Recorder’s Office faced the challenge of provid-ing cost effective and timely customer service to this newly developed growth. In analyzing this problem, it became evident that Maricopa County residents

would be best served by providing services at addi-tional locations throughout the county. After exam-ining all of its options, the County opted to develop a plan to implement a recording kiosk for its resi-dents. The kiosks entail an easy-to-use touch screen display, a flatbed scanner for documents scanning, a printer for cover pages that contain the record-ing information and receipts, various cameras for observation, and a spill-restraint keyboard and roller ball. They also contain an embedded microphone and speakers to allow customers to communicate directly, from remote locations, with an employee in the Recorder’s Office. The kiosk software was developed in-house by the Recorder’s development team, and in March 2010 the County released the first interactive recording kiosk in the nation. Since the unveiling, two more kiosks have been ordered with budget placement for two further kiosks to be purchased and placed in the upcoming fiscal year.

In the first nine months, the Recorder’s office had over 117 customers utilize the kiosk in Phoenix, and at the end of December 2010 the recording kiosk was placed in the first remote location. The results were even better than expected, with 12 recordings in the first week and over eighty successful record-ings by the end of the first month. The County has received an overwhelming flow of positive feedback with regard to the kiosks. They hope is to augment the success of the program in the future by offer-ing voter registration and property tax payments through the kiosks.

Contact Information

Hon. Helen PurcellRecorderMaricopa County111 S. Third AvePhoenix, AZ 85003-0000O: (602) 506-3629F: (602) [email protected]


Õ Information TechnologyMultnomah County, ORPopulation: 972,906

Going Google Apps for GovernmentMultnomah County employees had been using an aging, in-house supported enterprise email and cal-endaring system that was both complex and costly to maintain. Further, many County Departments per-ceived the system to be slow. Storage limits were mini-mal and costly to expand, the system was not intuitive or user-friendly, and the pricing model was locked-in for three years at a time – with no regard to a fluctuat-ing work force size. Most importantly, the County had no disaster recovery or email archiving capabilities.

In October 2010, Multnomah County deployed Google Apps for Government, becoming one of the first local governments nationwide to use cloud-based email and calendaring services. This new platform allows County employees full access to email and information on demand, thus vastly improving both employee efficiency and collaboration. Further, it was a extraordinarily cost-effective switch, saving taxpay-ers approximately $100,000 each year in licensing and related costs and up to $500,000 in staff time and staff costs. The program itself was planned and imple-mented in a mere five months – a County record for successful enterprise system implementations.

The implementation of this new cloud-based system was tremendously successful. Some key results include a reduction of 14 County servers (8 physi-cal and 6 virtual), with total reduction costs of man-aging the servers of approximately $190,000; an increase of 250 percent in email storage for each County employee; and the training of 290 County employees as ‘Google Guides’ to efficiently and effectively support 3,600 impacted users – provid-ing a successful model for future enterprise system implementations. Survey data shows that the Google Guides have already assisted approximately 1,000 staff members. The implementation of this new soft-ware system has transformed the way the County goes about doing its business, both internally and

externally. In addition, a vast array of resources is now available for county employees to further ben-efit the communities that they serve.

Contact Information

Ms. Tracey MasseyIT Applications ManagerMultnomah County501 SE Hawthorne BlvdPortland, OR 97214O: (503) [email protected]

Õ LibrariesBroward County, FLPopulation: 1,777,638

After School @ Your LibraryThere is currently a lack of free, supervised, fun, and productive after-school experiences for Broward County children, particularly in underserved neigh-borhoods, which puts a high demand on the services and resources of the local library. Broward County expanded its After-school @ Your Library program in 2009-2010 to provide access to children ages 6 to 12 to qualified homework help, cultural develop-ment opportunities, reading practice, and computer skills training. The program provides a safe, positive environment for the youth. It serves to enhance aca-demic achievement, support social development, and strengthen the relationships that the children have with adults and peers in their families, schools, and communities.

The program targets 12 neighborhoods that were determined, through internal and external data, to have several unmet needs including a lack of adequate after-school activities, a youth population that exhibits low reading/literacy scores, and a population that is underserved technologically. The program partners with Senior Volunteer Services-Foster Grandparents Program, which provides enthusiastic, qualified, and well-trained staff, the University of Florida Family Nutrition Program, which offers a nutrition education component, and Arts in Education, which offers on-site cultural performances.


The program serves 338 students daily, four times a week; these students spent a total of 66,075 hours on reading activities and homework and 1140 program hours on computer skills development. Additionally, 298 library cards were issued to students who did not previously have one. It was also shown that 79 percent of the children improved their basic reading skills and 100 percent of the children maintained or improved their rate of homework completion.

Contact Information

Ms. Catherine Helen McElrathPublications Supervisor IIBroward County100 S Andrews Ave3rd FloorFt Lauderdale, FL 33301-1830O: (954) [email protected]

ÕParks and RecreationLos Angeles County, CAPopulation: 9,935,475

Parks After DarkThe Florence-firestone region of Los Angeles County has an immense youth population; roughly 364,488 children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17 reside in the area. With such a vast number of young people residing in such a relatively small district, one of the county’s chief responsibilities becomes ensur-ing that there are positive programs and services avail-able to aid in the development, academic success, and decision making skills of these teenagers. There are currently some programs of this sort available, but not nearly enough of them to account for the number of people that live in the area, especially if they are to bear a positive impact.

The Parks After Dark (PAD) program was designed as a component of the Los Angeles County’s Gang Prevention Initiative to increase the use of parks as a social and community resource. The program sought to integrate enhanced community recreation, intergroup community building, neighborhood civic education and engagement, a community violence

intervention/prevention program, and other human services into one full-bodied package. The program lasted nine weeks, and offered courses several nights a week at many of the parks in the area; it engaged young people and their families and incorporated groups of varying ethnicities and cultures.

The results were overwhelmingly positive. The potential pool for gang recruitment shrank, and older gang members were respectful of the “safe space” at the parks, which protected their siblings, children, and other family members. Residents became equipped to access available resources, and became empowered to address common needs, while at the same time building social relationships in their neighborhoods. Residents of different cul-tural groups were also brought together to get to know one another, to learn how to live with differ-ences, and to develop cultural competency and con-flict resolution skills. Most importantly, the residents engaged in joint problem solving with each other, as well as with the local government and schools. An estimated 31,000 people attended the three parks throughout the nine week program, and nearly all of those who responded to surveys (97 percent) said they felt safe and would participate again. Further, there was a minimal number of gang-related crimes in and around the parks while the program ran, and the overall rate of crime for the areas that the parks are located in decreased relative to the same time period for 2009.

Contact Information

Ms. Violet DanielAdministrative Assistant IILos Angeles CountyCEO-Office of Workplace Program500 W. Temple Street, Room B-1Los Angeles, CA 90012O: (213) 351-5034F: (213) [email protected]


ÕPersonnel ManagementCharles County, MDPopulation: 138,822

Early Retirement Incentive ProgramFaced with the realities of the economic crisis that the United States faced in 2008-2009, Charles County was forced to deal with daunting declines in projected revenues as well as impending budget reductions. Thus, there was a clear need to signifi-cantly reduce the County’s operating costs. As a response, Charles County developed a voluntary Early Retirement Incentive Plan (ERIP), which pro-vided attractive incentives to employees who were eligible for early or normal retirement to consider retiring on their own terms.

The County partnered with a private pension pro-vider, and the coalition was forced to work quickly and accurately; a mere a four week window was all that was available to complete an extremely com-plex process. The County’s employees that opted to retire would be making important decisions about their financial futures based on the benefit calcu-lations provided. After reviewing several possible ERIP designs, the program that most ideally suited the County’s needs was selected and the Board of County Commissioners approved it. Immediately following the finalization of the ERIP design, the County launched into the next phase, namely, educating and communicating it to the eligible employees.

Ultimately, 47 participants chose to participate in the program, enabling the County to generate an annual $2.8 million in salary savings for the upcom-ing fiscal year’s operating budget, all while bear-ing an actual cost of only $272,251 over the next 10 years and enabling its participating employees to make a smooth transition into retirement. The public-private partnership that the County entered into was immensely beneficial to all parties involved. Due primarily to the diligent work done by those

involved, the County Government, the citizens, and the retiring employees all came out ahead.

Contact Information

Ms. Elaine PollardHuman Resources SpecialistCharles CountyPO Box 2150, 200 Baltimore St.La Plata, MD 20646-2150O: (301) 645-0577F: (301) [email protected]

ÕRisk ManagementChesterfield County, VAPopulation: 288,876

Safety Training ProgramChesterfield County Government and Public Schools have approximately 12,000 employees, which forces the county to bear the burden of a con-stant risk of injuries and incidents involving county or school employees. The County Government and Public Schools are self-insured up to $600,000 in Worker’s Compensation claims, and as such, any and all injuries to county or school employees pres-ent a potentially large financial risk. The Chesterfield County Risk Management Department, working in conjunction with Chesterfield University, developed and implemented a Safety Training Program (STP) in an effort to help manage the risk and reduce the overall cost and frequency of “lost time” workers’ compensation claims as well as employee injuries. The program provides employees with several ways to become more aware of the hazards they face on the job, as well as methods regarding how to best protect themselves from these hazards.

Some of the key features of the program include safety training through the new employee orienta-tion program, an intricate matrix for initial and refresher training of employees, incident-based retraining (ladders, chainsaw safety, etc.), and monthly workers’ compensation statistics that are sent to all county departments and schools. The STP is broken into five elements: Planning, Quality


Assurance, Safety Training Matrix, Safety Training, and Training Documentation. The planning element consists primarily of the interactions between the Risk Management Department, a Safety and Health Steering Committee composed of county employ-ees, and individuals from Chesterfield University’s School of Health, Environmental Safety, and Security. The coalition continually identifies course needs through audits, statistical analysis of inju-ries, suggestions from departments and employees, needs assessment, and strategic planning.

Quality assurance is achieved through course evaluations completed by class members upon the conclusion of each training class. The Safety Training matrix is a profoundly simple and inno-vative method of organizing training requirements that aims to help supervisors manage their depart-ments more accurately and efficiently. The matrix provides a color-coded key for the necessary fre-quency of required training classes: green requires annual training; yellow requires training every two years; red requires training every three years; white requires one time training; and blue requires initial training and refresher courses as needed. The matrix further differentiates among required training, posi-tion-specific training, elective training, and training strongly recommended by the Risk Management Department.

Since the implementation of the STP, the county has seen the overall trend for regulatory training com-pliance improve, over 7,974 students trained with a total of 11,594 student hours, and only a minimal operation cost has been incurred.

Contact Information

Ms. Traci G. WrightStaff Assistant, AdministrationChesterfield County P. O. Box 40Chesterfield, VA 23832O: (804) 748-1022F: (804) [email protected]

ÕVolunteersWestchester County, NYPopulation: 940,807

The Livable Communities Caregivers Coaching Program (L3C)

Approximately one in five people in Westchester County are age 60 or older, and more than half of them have disabilities. Further, seventy percent of residents age 80 or older are disabled and studies show that the vast majority of seniors would prefer to age in their own homes. There are currently 33,000 caregivers in Westchester County, who spend on average 62.6 hours per week caring for someone 60 years of age and older. Many of these caregiv-ers struggle to find information and have trouble navigating systems that are supposedly designed for their support. These caregivers are in genuine need of help from someone who is knowledgeable, empa-thetic, and non-judgmental in order to help them make more informed decisions and to meet their daily challenges and responsibilities.

The Livable Community Caregivers Coaching (L3C) Program is a proactive initiative sponsored by the Westchester Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS), in partnership with the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services, Fordham University Ravazzin Center on Aging, AARP, and the Visiting Nurse Services of Westchester.

Caregiver coaches are volunteers trained by pro-fessionals to provide one-on-one support to family caregivers and to help them more fully understand their options. As a result, the caregivers are better able to make informed decisions to meet the chal-lenges and responsibilities of caring for an older or disabled person. The L3C program has developed a corps of volunteers with caregiver coaching skills to be a key part of DSPS’ overall Livable Communities initiative. The initiative aims to make Westchester communities as senior-friendly as possible so that older adults can remain in their homes as they age with dignity, independence, and civic involvement. Caregiver coaching directly helps to meet that goal by supporting the people who care for seniors. The


volunteers help to provide a vital community service, and enhance their own lives along the way. Anyone looking to make a difference in the quality of life for people in their communities in a cutting-edge way is eligible to volunteer for the free program.

Contact Information

Ms. Mae CarpenterSenior Programs & Services CommissionerWestchester County9 S 1st Ave10th Floor Mount Vernon, NY 10550-3414O: (914) 813-6431F: (914) [email protected]

ÕBest Rural ProgramCerro Gordo County, IAPopulation: 44,645

The Precinct AtlasIn the 2008 presidential election, Iowa implemented Election Day voter registration (E-D registration). The election set record turnouts across the state and was the first true test of this new program. In combination with the incredible voter-turnouts, the State faced a multitude of issues stemming from difficulties associated with trying to integrate the E-D Registration requirements with existing laws. Throughout the State, one of the results of the precinct officials being tasked with new E-D regis-tration duties was that the officials had mistakenly filled out forms incorrectly or incompletely, filled out the wrong forms, or failed to obtain required signatures. In addition, many staff unnecessarily required many voters to cast provisional ballots or go through extensive E-D registration procedures, when a simple change-of-address or proof of identity was all that was required for a particular voter.

Immediately following the 2008 election, the County began exploring the possibility of purchas-ing or developing an electronic pollbook program. After meeting with several vendors and seeing demonstrations for three electronic programs, the

County opted to pursue the development of an in-house software program. The deficiency of the vendors’ programs was that they did not have the Iowa-specific functionality that a customized, in-house program could provide. The finished product is not used for counting votes, but is instead used to process voters correctly and efficiently. The soft-ware navigates the dense network of election laws by organizing and prioritizing them, while present-ing step-by-step instructions or simple questions in everyday language to the precinct officers.

Cerro Gordo County’s total investment in the pro-gram is $264,000. The County sold a license to dis-tribute the program to the Iowa Secretary of State for $30,000, which covered the software programmers’ time for the initial program development, as well as the estimated development of a similar software program for use in absentee voting. Since it was first used in a special election in Cerro Gordo County in February 2009, the Precinct Atlas has been used in forty-eight Iowa counties, bearing such results as correct and efficient processing of voters, consistent application of election laws, virtually error-free elec-tion forms, and increased confidence of precinct officials in administering election precinct duties. The cost to other Iowa counties until now has been zero, but that may change with a new secretary of state. The other counties’ out-of-pocket costs include laptop computers, label printers, and ancil-lary equipment; an estimate of these costs for most Iowa precincts is a mere $1,300. Soft costs include training for precinct election officials as well.

Contact Information

Mr. Kenneth W. KlineAuditorCerro Gordo County220 N WashingtonMason City, IA 50401-3220O: (641) 421-3034F: (641) [email protected]


ÕBest Rural ProgramIsle of Wight County, VAPopulation: 33,417

Isle Pre-PayHistorically, Isle of Wight County’s tax system was significantly influenced by its strong farming cul-ture. The due date for personal property and real estate taxes was initially set as December 5th – which coincided with the time of year that farmers generally received payments for their crops. In the 1960s, as the County’s economic base became less dependent on agriculture, the Board of Supervisors voted to split the annual real property tax into two equal installments due June 5th and December 5th. Splitting the collection of personal property tax as well would have been a significant financial burden on local farmers, as farm machinery remained a sig-nificant part of the personal property assessment, and famers do not receive the majority of their income until late October and November, when they are paid for their crops.

As the County moves further away from its agricul-tural roots, citizens are less influenced by the cash flow of farming. Since Isle of Wight has become a retirement destination and the average age of its citizenry is increasing, a growing portion of the County’s population is now living on a fixed income. In 2007, the County began fielding concerns from citizens about having such a significant tax bill due on December 5th, as this date coincides with the time of the year when many people see increases in their household expenditures, such as heating costs and holiday spending. In response, the Board of Supervisors asked the County’s Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue to begin exploring ways to improve the tax collection process.

The Treasurer and the Revenue Commissioner agreed that adjusting the current tax due dates was not a viable option, due to the costs of beginning bi-annual assessments for personal property taxes, as well as the majority of the citizenry’s reluctance to change. Instead, they determined that the pro-motion of an option already available to taxpayers

– prepayments – could alleviate much of the finan-cial strain associated with the County’s tax due dates. Through a series of revisions made to the pro-gram, Isle Pre-pay is now accessible to over 10,000 eligible real property tax accounts, as well as non-delinquent personal property tax payers.

The program initially encouraged residents to make quarterly payments against their estimated property tax bill, but has since moved to a system consisting of ten monthly payments for both personal property and real property tax accounts. Any accounts with a zero balance due at the October bill generation did not receive a tax bill. Any accounts with a credit bal-ance were given the option of applying the credit to the next year’s bill, applying the credit to another tax bill, or the taxpayer could request a refund of the credit amount.

Isle Pre-pay has been extraordinarily successful, and currently has more than 3,000 participants. Personal property delinquency rates have been reduced by more than 6 percent since the program began, and the Treasurer’s office frequently receives letters, emails, and phone calls from citizens that say how much the Isle Pre-pay program has benefitted them. During its inaugural year, the program generated over $700,000 in prepayments. Further, the County is benefitting from the program as well. It helps to spread the County’s cash flow more evenly across the year. Historically, there had been a large influx of cash when taxes were due, but very little otherwise. Since its inception, Isle Pre-pay has brought in more than $4.3 million in off-cycle payments to the county.

Contact Information

Ms. Andrea S. ClontzAssistant to the County AdministratorIsle Of Wight CountyPO BOX 80Isle Of Wight, VA 23397-0080O: (757) 365-6203F: (757) [email protected]

25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW l Suite 500 l Washington, DC 20001 l 202.393.6226 l fax 202.393.2630 l www.naco.org

best of category winners - national association of counties best of category.pdf · best of...

Documents