Performance Measurement - Performance Management

Police vehicles burn a great deal of fuel while patrolling continuously. Various approaches have been proven to significantly reduce the amount of fuel used and its cost. Hybrid vehicles typically get two-three times higher mileage per gallon than conventional vehicles and have proven viable for policing, in many cities, including New York. Computers in vehicles that reduce trips back to stations, fuel-saving driving techniques (such as reducing idling), good vehicle maintenance (such as maintaining proper tire pressures), use of on-line reporting and other strategies such as community policing that require fewer vehicle trips also can reduce fuel consumption.

In many cities, false alarms from home and business security systems number in the tens of thousands each year, waste millions of dollars of officer time, and detract from attention to reducing crimes. Options are presented on ways to substantially reduce the effects of such false alarms and the police responses to them. We analyzed experiences of Montgomery County, MD; Seattle, WA; and Salt Lake City, UT, which reduced false alarms by 66-90% and saved 10-30 police officer-years annually.

Funders want to know that their funds are being used for the purposes intended and are being spent efficiently and effectively. This is especially true when resources are constrained. This report reviews literature on measuring administrative expenses and analyzes the administrative expenses associated with the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). The administrative expenses of Community Action Agencies that administer CSBG funds are compared to those of similar nonprofit organizations. The study’s findings suggest the need for greater clarity and consistency regarding administrative expenses across federal guidelines; greater training and technical assistance for financial officers who prepare reporting documents; and possibly different benchmarks regarding acceptable levels of administrative expenditures based on size of organization.

The Urban Institute and Silber & Associates recently surveyed 7,000 service delivery partners of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to ask: Is HUD good or bad to work with? Does HUD provide appropriate guidance, information and resources? Are HUD staff capable and responsive?

Respondents included local community development departments, public housing agencies, single family lenders, mayor's offices, HUD-assisted and insured multifamily developments, fair housing agencies and nonprofit organizations. Some HUD partners are more satisfied than others, and more satisfied with certain aspects of HUD than others. See which partners gave HUD high or low marks and why in the full report.

The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program is a special federal appropriation, administered by NeighborWorks America, designed to support a rapid expansion of foreclosure intervention counseling in response to the nationwide housing crisis. This report presents the final results of the Urban Institute’s evaluation of the first two rounds of the NFMC program. Overall, the program is having its intended effect of helping troubled homeowners by improving the quality of mortgage modifications, increasing the frequency and sustainability of cures of delinquencies and foreclosures, and reducing the number of foreclosure completions for counseled homeowners.