The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass., has announced the Top 50 Programs in its Innovations in American Government Awards competition. In September, five of the programs, which address policy areas from health and social services to transportation and infrastructure, will receive Innovations in American Government Awards, and one will receive the Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family System Reform, which is funded and sponsored by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Over the past 20 years, 181 federal, state and local government agencies have received the $100,000 awards, funded by the Ford Foundation. This year's Top 50 Programs include 17 cities, four counties, six federal agencies, three school districts, 19 states and one tribal government. "The 50 best innovations for the [awards] demonstrate effective solutions to some of our nation's most pressing issues," Stephen Goldsmith, the award program's director, said in a statement. "From child welfare reform and improvements in homicide case review to promotion of our nation's parks, these programs are improving the way we live our daily lives."

The finalists will be announced on June 3. A full list of the Top 50 Programs is available at http://content.knowledgeplex.org (PDF).