ICF International

Education

Summary: School dropout is a widespread and serious problem in the United States, with enormous consequences for students who choose its path. While recent federal efforts related to dropout prevention measure the extent of the problem, this white paper explores ICF's recommendations to solve it. And while there is no "magic bullet" with regard to dropout prevention, effective changes to policy and practice based on in-depth research and a multi-faceted approach can positively change the lives of American youth.

Summary: The first year of teaching is a “make or break” time. Approximately 30 percent of all beginning teachers either move to a different school or leave teaching at the end of their first year. This paper proposes four action steps for beginning-teacher induction and mentoring programs with the potential to not only keep teachers in the classroom, but increase student achievement and reduce school costs.

Employment

Summary: For many U.S. families, securing employment does not alleviate poverty because they lack real assets that grow wealth and provide security. Asset-based policies—allowing or even helping low-income families build wealth—are an increasingly popular strategy to facilitate financial stability. ICF International examines various ways the federal government can help increase assets.

Summary: To meet the energy, economic, and environmental challenges of this new century, the United States needs new models for delivering energy efficiency on a larger scale and at a faster pace than ever before. ICF International explores three such models: infrastructure investment, market aggregation and transformation, and outsourcing.

Summary: The recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 includes $1.2 billion for youth employment activities but does not provide associated policy guidance for implementation. ICF International presents a basic foundation for summer youth employment program development. It is designed to help states and localities identify key program design issues and to provide Congress and the Administration with policy strategies for implementing successful summer youth programs in the current economy.

Summary: President Obama has outlined an aggressive national agenda to reduce carbon emissions, increase the production of renewable sources of energy, improve energy efficiency, and expand "green-collar" employment opportunities in poor, disadvantaged, and disconnected communities. Achieving this bold vision is an immensely complex undertaking requiring the coordination of a wide-range of policies across federal agencies. ICF International provides an initial analysis of the key questions facing policy makers in Congress and the Administration as those charged with implementation seek to align diverse agencies and policies with the "green-collar" workforce vision.

Summary: Many young people in the United States today—the workforce of tomorrow—are unprepared to contribute to or succeed in today's economy. As a society, we are inadequately preparing young people to successfully transition to higher education or work. This crisis threatens our nation's ability to compete in a rapidly changing and competitive global economy. This brief highlights some proven strategies to increase opportunities for young Americans and transition youth toward work, education, and training. It also recommends a youth program, Promoting Self-Sufficiency for Youth through Employment and Training Initiative.

Energy

Summary: With the economic stimulus bill passed, the U.S. Department of Energy and state and local governments must prepare to effectively administer large sums of money in a short period of time. This white paper proposes action steps that could be taken to greatly increase the prospects for effective and efficient use of the energy-related stimulus funds.

Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Summary: From the passage of welfare reform in the mid-1990s to the creation of the first federal Faith-Based and Community Initiative by the Bush Administration to President Obama's announcement of an Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, ICF takes a historic look at how the U.S. Federal Government has been fashioning a new relationship between the programs it funds to benefit needy Americans and the grassroots organizations that are often on the front lines of service delivery. Furthermore, the company looks at what's currently working and offers next steps based on its work with faith-based and neighborhood partnerships throughout the country in an effort to help these programs improve their programming, build their capacity, and enhance their ability to promote self-sufficiency for individuals, families, and communities.

Government Reform

Summary: The Obama Administration has promised greater openness and improved transparency in its execution of public business. As the new Administration begins the arduous task of governing, it needs to determine the role information technology (IT) will play in enhancing transparency in the regulatory decision-making process. ICF International sets forth a vision for enhanced transparency and explores how IT tools can be used to obtain meaningful information and synthesize public input throughout the rulemaking process.

Summary: Building a pay-for-performance system is an evolutionary process that must begin with the basics. While ideally all five of the primary elements—culture and leadership, resources, policies and procedures, performance objectives, and evaluation plans—should be addressed before a pay-for-performance system is instituted, in reality, most agencies are not afforded the time. In this paper, ICF International provides a platform to raise awareness that the focus should remain on performance, thereby providing lasting results for the organizations.

Summary: Because the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides a proportionally modest budget for program management, it must be managed effectively to meet the required standards of accountability and transparency. This paper provides a high-level framework for ARRA oversight activities that can be implemented immediately to help ensure accountability and responsibility in program execution.

Summary: With transparency and the economy top priorities of the Obama Administration, ICF International recommends conducting a comprehensive business process review of the White House compensation practices. This review would ensure compensation is equitable across staff by job requirements and help to identify cost-efficient employment practices. A business process review also would highlight disparities between public service jobs in the White House and similar jobs in other governments and private sector. This white paper details the need for such a review and ICF’s business review process, including internal and external reviews, design of the new business process, and methods for effectively communicating findings.

Summary: Because of the Obama Administration’s push for improved transparency and public participation, government agencies have an opportunity to use Web 2.0 channels such as blogs, wikis, video/photo sharing, social networking, podcasts, and RSS feeds to reach the tens of millions of Americans who use these tools. This white paper illustrates how some federal agencies are currently using these tools and makes recommendations to help federal agencies in planning to take full advantage of Web 2.0 technologies.

Home Ownership

Summary: To prevent home loan delinquencies and foreclosures due to high energy costs, policymakers and program managers at the state and federal levels must enable both policy directives and program delivery mechanisms to put workable systems in place to deliver energy savings. ICF International advocates that turning this opportunity into reality can be easily achieved because key elements already exist.

Human Trafficking

Summary: Although the United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) nearly 10 years ago, policy makers and direct service providers continue to struggle with questions regarding the scope of human trafficking and effective ways to combat this problem. ICF International details the need for a clear data tracking system to inform estimation and evaluation of human trafficking, and ICF’s recommendations for improvement.

Summary: Domestic trafficking of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents is a serious crime which exploits this country's most vulnerable populations. To date, insufficient effort has been made to fully understand and combat this modern slavery. ICF International describes the tremendous challenges faced by victims/survivors of domestic trafficking and the communities who serve them, and recommends specific steps that must be taken to ensure proper understanding of the issue and implementation of best practices for serving this population.

Summary: Although the United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) nearly 10 years ago, policy makers and direct service providers continue to struggle with questions regarding the scope of human trafficking and effective ways to combat this problem. This white paper details the need for a clear data tracking system to inform estimation and evaluation of human trafficking, and ICF’s recommendations for improvement.

Military

Summary: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must re-examine how it delivers services to today's wounded warriors because of the severity and extent of injuries, the complexity of the medical and support services needed, and the unprecedented requirements placed on families. This white paper offers a conceptual framework for responding to the needs of today's Wounded Warrior community.

Obesity

Summary: The number of overweight and obese American children has escalated since the 1970s, with rates more than doubling for preschoolers (ages 2 to 5). The problems can lead to depression and social isolation, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and other problems in adulthood. To curb the problem, the U.S. Federal Government must build on past success by integrating policy development, health promotion innovations, and best practices across key settings where pregnant women and young children spend time and where change agents can make a difference.

Stimulus Funding

Summary: With the Obama Administration’s stimulus funding now law, states are poised to receive billions of dollars for investments in housing, infrastructure, energy efficiency, health care, and other priorities, with job creation a corollary benefit. But states are also on the spot to show they are using the money wisely, which could leverage future funding. ICF International is in a unique position to help states meet these challenges, with longtime experience in creating and managing human services programs at all levels of government.

Summary: ICF International explores ways that federal and state agencies can act to quickly and efficiently stimulate the economy while simultaneously complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and similar state environmental review laws, sometimes referred to as "Little NEPAs." ICF also summarizes how the NEPA environmental review process can be streamlined within the framework of existing laws and regulations.