NGA Center for Best Practices

The NGA Center for Best Practices teams and divisions develop innovative solutions to today’s most pressing public policy challenges. The center is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s governors.

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Public Health and Green Spaces

Public Health and Green Spaces

Governors are leveraging the great outdoors to improve health outcomes and bolster state economies. Genetics play a role in one’s health; however, the environment in which one is raised and ...
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Governors Leading on Skills-Based Hiring to Open Opportunity Pathways

Governors Leading on Skills-Based Hiring to Open Opportunity Pathways

Skills-based hiring is a method of recruiting employees that prioritizes a candidate's competencies over more "traditional" qualifications like degrees. This hiring strategy can remove barriers that currently screen out qualified ...
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Maternal and Infant Health: Expanding Access and Quality of Care

Maternal and Infant Health: Expanding Access and Quality of Care

The third roundtable of the New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy’s Initiative on maternal and infant health took place in Detroit, Michigan, presided by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and ...
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Infrastructure Coordinator Quarterly Workshop

Infrastructure Coordinator Quarterly Workshop

From May 16 to 18, 2023, NGA hosted its Quarterly Infrastructure Coordinator Workshop in Washington D.C. With $37 billion in funding for resilience programs in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ...
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STRENGTHENING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH

The United States faces a nationwide youth mental health crisis. The roots of this crisis existed before COVID-19, but the pandemic has both exacerbated and highlighted the scope of the challenges in addressing this issue. The time is right and the need has never been more apparent to discuss proven and innovative solutions for states.

Governor Phil Murphy’s 2022-2023 Chair’s Initiative will focus on four key pillars to address youth mental health:

  • Addressing Prevention And Resilience Building
  • Increasing Awareness And Reducing Stigma
  • Insuring Access And Affordability Of Quality Treatment And Care
  • Training And Supporting Caregivers And Teachers
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Program Areas

Center for Best Practices Library

Building a High-Performing State Workforce Board

Building a High-Performing State Workforce Board

As many as one in three businesses in the United States struggled to fill needed jobs in 2015. Millions of ...
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Promising Practices in Boosting School Leadership Capacity: Principal Academies

The role of the public school principal has expanded dramatically in recent decades. The expanded role means they are now ...
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State Technology & Policy Questions Around Highly Autonomous Vehicles

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) hosted a webinar to explore the technology and policy developments ...
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Getting the Right Information to the Right Health Care Providers at the Right Time: A Road Map for States to Improve Health Information Flow Between Providers

Exchange of clinical health information is critical to ensuring that providers have the best information possible when making decisions about ...
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Preparing States for Extreme Electrical Power Grid Outages

The electrical power grid is the backbone of the U.S. economy and society, with most goods and services depending on ...
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Accelerating Opportunity for Veterans: A Governor’s Blueprint for Pathways to Veterans’ Civilian Licensing and Certification

Military servicemembers on active duty benefit from extensive training that prepares them to perform in a range of occupations and ...
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Opportunities for Governors to Align Electricity Markets with State Energy Goals

Opportunities for Governors to Align Electricity Markets with State Energy Goals

Electric utilities are facing a fundamental challenge to their profitability and long-term viability as the business models shaped by state ...
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A Review of State Computer Crime Law

The term “cyber crime” is often used in reference to a wide array of criminal acts that use computers, such ...
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State Strategies to Scale Quality Work-Based Learning

State Strategies to Scale Quality Work-Based Learning

Industries in every state are struggling to find qualified applicants for jobs, while job seekers too often find they lack ...
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Opportunities for Energy Efficiency to Help States Reduce Costs and Achieve Co-Benefits Under the Clean Power Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued state-specific reduction targets for carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Power Plan (CPP)— established ...
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Opportunities for States to Pursue Multistate Compliance Options under the Clean Power Plan

The Clean Power Plan (CPP) — established pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases ...
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Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure

Modern society depends on critical infrastructure facilities, such as transportation networks, telecommunications lines, water mains, and power lines, which are ...
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