CHILD-CARE STARS With more than 7,500 regulated child-care providers in Iowa, selecting one can be a daunting task for working parents. To make it easier, the state Department of Human Services has launched a voluntary five-level rating system to help providers improve the quality of child-care they provide. The ratings system breaks down like this: one star means a child-care home or center is registered and licensed; two stars means an inspector visits the program at least three times a year and its staff receives additional training; and three to five stars means providers have made significant steps in meeting key indicators of quality in areas of professional development, health and safety, environment, family and community partnership, and leadership and administration. Providers can get bonuses from the department for achieving a higher rating, between $400 and $1,000 for reaching level two or between $1,000 and $4,000 for reaching level five. The rating stays in effect for two years, and will eventually be posted online. To learn more, visit www.dhs.state.ia.us/iqrs.

BACK OFF! In Oregon, stopping tailgaters has become a priority for police departments: Tailgating is the number one factor in traffic accidents. Yet while more than 200,000 speeding citations were issued in Oregon last year, only about 4,000 were given for tailgating. That's because tailgating is a difficult infraction to prosecute since it relies on personal recollections in court rather than empirical data. Thanks to new software for laser radar guns, that's about to change. Several police agencies in Oregon have been testing the software, which enables the laser to pinpoint the distance between two cars. The software, by Laser Technology Inc., costs between $600 and $700 and has been used for years in Hong Kong, Australia and Europe. Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee are also testing the new tool. To learn more, contact Steve Vitolo, program manager for Oregon's Department of Transportation Safety Divison, at 503-986-4446.

“CANARIES” IN A COAL MINE
Freshwater bluegill fish are part of a water-monitoring system being used at water-treatment plants in New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco to help guard against potential terrorism attacks on municipal water supplies. Sensitive to toxins such as phosphates, cyanide and mercury, the bluegills are kept in tanks where a water-monitoring device electronically samples water for the presence of chemical toxins or other contaminants if computers, wired to sensors in the water, detect elevated heart rates or other signs of stress in the fish. The system also can detect other types of contamination, such as oil, pesticide or herbicide spills. Developed by the Army and the Intelligent Automation Corp., the systems cost between $45,000 and $110,000. The company says more than a dozen cities have recently ordered the device for undisclosed locations. To learn more about the system and see case studies, click here.

SF, THIS IS AN EMRGNCY Seventeen years after the Loma Prieta earthquake rumbled through San Francisco — causing $6 billion in property damage, killing 63 people and leaving some 16,000 homes uninhabitable — city officials announced the launch of AlertSF, a new program that will send tsunami alerts, severe weather/flooding notifications and post-disaster information to residents' cell phones, pagers, PDAs and e-mail accounts via text messaging. Coordinated through the city's Department of Emergency Management, the system enables registrants to receive alerts targeted to their neighborhoods on up to two devices and two e-mail accounts. Post-disaster information includes locations of emergency shelters and evacuation routes. Officials eventually hope to expand the system to include alerts on traffic delays, power outages and road closures. To learn more, visit www.alertsf.org.

AN “A” FOR ATTENDANCE In Buffalo, N.Y., school attendance is a major concern: 80 percent of its students were absent six times or more last year. In an effort to reduce truancy, the city's board of education approved a new system that will base 10 percent of a student's report card on attendance. Beginning in November, students with perfect attendance will receive 10 of a possible 10 points on their report card. Eight points will be given to students with one or two unexcused absences; six points to students with three or four unexcused absences; and no points to students with five or more absences, meaning the highest grade they can earn is 90 percent. The new policy permits excused absences for illness, a death in the family, religious education, required court appearances, approved field trips, college visits, suspensions and other reasons. To learn more, call the city's Office of the Board of Education at 716-851-3570.

SHOPPING FOR EFFICIENCY At Governing's recent Managing Performance conference, Ron Huberman, chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, told attendees about the city's adoption of a corporate best practice: mystery shopping. The city has been implementing performance management throughout its departments and is using city staff to randomly test the quality of city services. For example, a public employee might mystery shop the 311 service to assess an operator's helpfulness, responsiveness and courteousness, or visit a public health clinic to measure wait time. The results are presented and discussed in that department's monthly performance meeting. Since the city began using mystery shoppers, department commissioners have either requested that certain areas of their operations be shopped in order to get objective feedback on their performance, or have begun using their own in-house shoppers to regularly test performance. To learn more, contact the mayor's office at 312-744-3300.

THE GREENING OF L.A. Just 18 percent of Los Angeles’ ground is shaded by trees, compared to an average of 27 percent in other cities, according to a recent U.S. Forest Service survey. To make Los Angeles a “greener, cleaner, healthier” city, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just launched a program to plant one million trees. The city is working with the Forest Service to find trees with the greatest ecological and societal benefits and to identify priority areas to plant them using satellite imagery. Special attention will be given to schools, under-served communities and areas along the Los Angeles River. The Million Trees LA initiative is a partnership of the city, community groups, businesses and individuals. Officials hope to cover the estimated $70 million price tag with government grants and private donations. Nonprofit groups have already agreed to help plant the trees, which will mostly be placed on public sites and right-of-ways. To learn more about the project and get the latest tree count, visit www.milliontreesla.org.

PROBLEM PROPERTIES When Wilmington, Delaware, Mayor James M. Baker took office in 2001, more than 1,500 abandoned and vacant properties peppered the city, bringing crime, contributing eyesores to community landscapes and lowering property values. To encourage owners to rehabilitate or sell the properties, Baker persuaded the city council to enact the Vacant Property Registration Fee Program in 2003-an ordinance that bases a sliding annual registration fee on the total number of years a property is vacant. The fee starts at $500 for a building that has been vacant for more than one year and goes up to a maximum of $5,000 for 10 years. Before a bill is sent out, the city sends a notice informing the owner of the years of vacancy and the size of the fee. The program also allows fee waivers, which give property owners one year to rehabilitate, sell or demolish their properties. Since the program's creation, the number of vacant homes in the city has declined by 22 percent, from 1,455 to 1,135, and has brought in nearly $1 million in fees to the city and spurred over $15 million in new development. To learn more, visit www.ci.wilmington.de.us/vacantproperties.htm, or call the Department of Licenses and Inspections at 302-576-3096.

CASTING A WIDER NET On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Colorado counter-terrorism officials launched a new online reporting system that lets residents report suspicious activity, such as unusual requests for information, unattended packages or unusual purchases or thefts. Each time a resident reports a suspicious incident, the system sends an e-mail alert to a law enforcement staffer at the Colorado Information Analysis Center, where analysts investigate the incident and either store it in their database or report it to federal, state and local agencies. Tips can be sent anonymously, and photos, video or audio of the incident can also be included. While officials acknowledge that Coloradans could abuse the system with bogus or frivolous complaints, they point out that the risk already exists with telephone-based systems that let people report road rage and other crimes. A counterterrorism telephone hotline at the center already draws up to 20 tips a week. To learn more, visit the Web site at www.ciac.co.gov.

GANGING UP ON INSURERS Like those in many states, Michigan's insurance companies base vehicle and home rates on location. As a result, metro Detroit and Flint residents pay twice as much for an insurance policy as neighboring suburbs. To lessen the burden and keep people in the cities, the Governor's Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives launched a program that will help community groups and faith-based organizations create purchasing groups that can negotiate directly with insurance companies for lower rates. To obtain significant savings for consumers, purchasing groups might require that members have better-than-average driving records, park their cars in garages at night and meet responsible home-protection standards. At last count, 5,000 people have filled out surveys to see whether they are eligible for discounts. To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/outreach.

Got a better idea? Know of an interesting state or local government program that addresses a real need or solves a problem in an innovative — and widely replicable — way? Know of a study, report, guidebook, Web site or other resource that would be helpful to your peers in state or local government? Tell us about it. E-mail the information to [email protected].