Satisfaction with federal services is at an all-time low, but according to The National Citizen Survey, people prefer their services to be delivered by local government.  One of the reasons could be that local governments are constantly researching and implementing innovative service delivery models.  The following resources demonstrate that different situations call for different service delivery solutions. The Knowledge Network’s topic page on service delivery provides a useful foundation of information about alternative service delivery, collaborative services, and more.

• The regional service delivery model can be used to streamline local government services, cut costs, and delivery services more quickly.
• This article discusses how your community can close the gap between revenues and expenses by finding alternative service delivery models.
• If you are looking to develop an alternative service delivery model, ICMA’s handbook Alternative Service Delivery: Readiness Check provides useful questions to explore before jumping in.
• This conference document, from ICMA’s 99th Annual Conference, outlines all the possible forms of alternative service delivery models.
• Another form of an alternative service delivery model is the collaborative service delivery model. It can take many forms, and this question feed offers numerous different examples of the collaborative model.
• Local governments are in the best position to engage citizens in improving service delivery.  This document from IBM identifies the roles for citizens, strategies for engagement, and the foundation infrastructure necessary for support.
• Many local governments are employing technological solutions to provide better service delivery.  A great example of this is in the City of Williamsburg, Virginia, where the city launched a smartphone app for its citizens to help improve service delivery.
• After implementing a technological solution, local governments then need to provide ongoing technology support.  This blog post discusses how collaboration among governments can ease this support burden.

Has your community implemented an innovative alternative service delivery model? If so, please tell us your story in the comment section below.

Douglas Shontz

Knowledge Network Intern