Staff
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has named the Oklahoma County SHINE community service program one of their Bright Ideas for 2012, County Commissioner Brian Maughan said today.
“We are truly honored that SHINE has been chosen for this high honor,” Maughan said. The Kennedy School said SHINE was one of only 111 programs nationwide chosen as a 2012 Bright Idea. The school chooses a limited number of programs for the honor each year from nominations submitted by thousands of school districts and government agencies from cities and counties to states and even the federal government.
“The competition to be named a Bright Idea is pretty intense,” Maughan said. “This really is an award that recognizes the best and the brightest ideas from all across America.”
Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in Government Program at the Kennedy Center’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance, which designates the Bright Ideas honorees, said, “Government innovation does not require endless resources and generous budgets. As exemplified by this year’s Bright Ideas, some of our country’s smartest innovations can in fact reduce government’s size while serving our citizens more efficiently and effectively.”
The Oklahoma County SHINE program was one of four comparable efforts specifically cited in the Kennedy Center press release singling out efforts by local government to deal with criminal offenders. Other Bright Ideas cited for 2012 included efforts to reclaim blighted neighborhoods in New Orleans and Flint, Michigan; a job placement program sponsored by the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and BayStat, a Maryland program to clean up Chesapeake Bay.
Maughan created SHINE in the spring of 2010. The program name stands for Start Helping Impacted Neighborhoods Everywhere, and it deploys low-level non-violent offenders sentenced to perform community service work in supervised crews to remove litter, trim brush, erase graffiti and do other beautification and cleanup work.
As of mid-September, SHINE workers have completed almost 150,000 hours of labor, Maughan said. New legislation passed earlier this year allows judges to assess fines on convicted felons to fund the program and to extend it to Oklahoma’s other 76 counties.
“SHINE is a tremendous success story,” Maughan said, noting that it saves more than $1.5 million each year in jail costs while reducing daily jail populations by 80 or more each day. “More and more we are hearing from municipalities in Oklahoma County who want to partner with us. We expect the program to continue expanding to save taxpayer funds and to impress on those enrolled in the program that while their crimes do have consequences, they can do something worthwhile to atone for their acts.”
One of SHINE’s most successful efforts was a months-long cleanup of Crystal Lake Park in west Oklahoma City, which had been rendered unusable by illicit dumping. SHINE crews removed thousands of old tires and other refuse, restored trails and trimmed overgrown brush. The park has now re-opened for use by community and youth groups.
Maughan said The Kennedy Center will award a special certificate to Oklahoma County as recognition for the honor, and list SHINE along with the other 110 Bright Ideas honorees on its website, along with brief program descriptions.
“One of the best things about this awards program is that it makes information available about innovative government programs that can be copied and adopted elsewhere,” he said. “So far we have seen a great deal of interest from other counties and cities both within Oklahoma and in other states who are eager to replicate our success here.”
