Bright Spots
Submit your Bright Spot storyKendra Jochum | Department of Correction and Rehabilation
Kendra is working to improve the outcomes of incarcerated individuals as they return to our communities. She's making sure inmates are referred to programs and services quickly after their initial incarceration so they can use more opportunities to improve their success following release. She's also re-focused her team on inmates as their primary customer so that tours and staff meetings don't reduce the amount or quality of time case managers spend with the people they serve.

Erik Bergmann | Department of Transportation
Residents were waiting too long for answers to simple questions as arborists struggled to keep up with calling residents back with answers that didn't have to do with their areas of expertise. It was in everyone's interest for arborists to focus on trees; instead, they had massive backlogs of calls to return on status updates and other issues. Erik redesigned door hangers and worked with MC311 so residents get faster and better responses while freeing up more time for improved results with our trees.

James Donaldson | Montgomery County Public Libraries
James reduced the average time it takes for new materials to reach library branches from 4 to 6 months to 1 to 2 weeks.
Libraries also analyzed recurring backlogs in the sorting room of their warehouse. Adults with Autism, in collaboration with CSAAC, a local non-profit, do the sorting.
They worked with CSAAC to rearrange the workspace and improve their sorting process. This eliminated the backlogs. Now, there's complete daily turnover in the sorting room.

The warehouse before the process improvement

The warehouse after the process improvement
Jessica Jones | Board of Elections
Jessica is making it easier for Early Voting Volunteers to ensure everyone’s voices are counted – without waste! She used behavioral insights to make the process easier for our valued Election Judge volunteers and the Early Voting Recruitment Team.
