A National Policy Based On What Works
If we seize the opportunity to build a stronger country, we will
ultimately prevail in the challenges ahead, at home and abroad. But
we cannot win this new struggle by military might alone. We will prevail
only if we lead by example, as a democracy committed to the rule of
law and the spirit of fairness whose corporate and political elites
recognize that it isn't only firefighters and police who are called
upon to sacrifice.
Bill Moyers
Editor in chief of Public Affairs
Television The Nation
November 19, 2001
Based on the Foundation's vision, recent trends, what doesn't work and
what works, we propose here a common-sense national policy for the truly
disadvantaged and the inner city. The policy is comprehensive and interdependent.
It begins to replicate what works to a scale equal to the dimensions of
the problem. More details can be found in Chapter 6 of The Millennium Breach
-- see Publications. Also see Citations, as well as Links to other organizations
with visions and missions that complement our policy. For more information,
call Mr. Paul Shepard, Director of Communications, at the Eisenhower Foundation,
at 202-429-0440.
In terms of resources, there rarely has been a better time for the nation
to carry out a practical policy of replicating what works for the truly
disadvantaged. If we don't do it now, when we have a robust economy (for
some -- see Trends) and when large federal budget surpluses are projected
into the future, will we ever replicate what works to scale?
A national policy can be based on scientifically evaluated successes. (See:
How Do We Decide What Works And What Doesn't?) To a considerable extent,
national policy should be replicated by the indigenous inner-city nonprofit
organizations that are responsible for much of what works. Such organizations
also are neighborhood centers of moral influence. They should partner with
local government. Federal funds should not pass through the states, but
should be distributed directly to the local and grassroots level. (For
the limitations of the states, see Devolution under What Doesn't Work.)
Policy must better utilize the new technical knowledge about how to replicate
what works and about how to build nonprofit institutional capacity at the
grassroots that we have acquired over the last thirty years. (See Lessons
from the Street: Capacity Building and Replication.)
Specifically, national policy needs to :
- Fully fund a well-managed Head Start.
- Create a quasi-governmental National Corporation for Youth Investment.
- Replicate successful urban public school reform through a quasi-governmental Safe Passage Commission.
- Legislate a national employment "training-first" policy.
- Generate 2,250,000 new jobs for the structurally unemployed in the inner city.
- Create a more supportive macroeconomic policy.
- Replicate complementary investments in racial and criminal justice.
After this policy is set forth, we conclude with the following:
- What is the Cost of Replicating What Works to Scale And How Can It Be Financed?
- Conclusion
- Citations
Also see our Links to a comprehensive array of organizations that share this policy and the Foundation's Vision.