State and local governments are the single largest employer in the United States. According to Census data, there are 6.9 million elementary and secondary school teachers in America. More than 2.4 million employees work in protective services. About 800,000 state and local government employees work in libraries, and a quarter of a million workers pick up trash. Like any large corporation, they are saddled with some enormous and seemingly intractable challenges. But state and local government’s are also home to some of the most innovative and mission driven employees.
What’s more, although two-thirds of Americans have considerably more confidence in how their local governments handle problems than the federal government’s approach, and a solid majority feels the same way about their state governments, getting the public engaged in public policy is still difficult.
In GovLoop’s latest guide, we’ve uncovered 15 success stories at the state and local levels. These examples showcase some big challenges to government — and how to overcome them.
We have broken the challenges into four categories:
- Internal Best Practices
- Tech Challenges
- Health and Safety
- Community Engagement and Outreach
In our case studies, we highlight how successful communities have seen big improvements. So settle in and read on. We hope these examples will inspire, inform and invigorate you, too.
