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This issue brief was written by Gene Hall, Ph.D., of the University of Nevada Las Vegas; Allison Dymnicki, Ph.D., of the American Institutes for Research; Jennifer Coffey, Ph.D., of the Office of Special Education Programs, and Melissa Brodowski, Ph.D., of the Children’s Bureau.

The Detroit SC2 team was able to further the goals of the pilot in a substantive way through its contributions to enhancing local capacity and brokering improved relationships between the city and other community stakeholders. Although its efforts were frequently transactional, the impact was significant for the struggling city, whose most urgent

Challenges facing the City of Detroit are, to quote one city staff member, “very, very simple.” The city needed staff who understood the city’s priorities, which were immediate, urgent, and basic by many standards. In this environment, team members and particularly the SC2 team lead primarily served transactional roles for the city, frequent

The SC2 team lead was the key point person and local representative for SC2. She funneled updates and communications to the mayor and team members. She worked to convene city officials and to increase coordination among key governmental, philanthropic, and nonprofit actors. She also helped to coordinate team members to respond to emerging needs.

The Detroit SC2 team was deployed on September 12, 2011. During the first week, the SC2 team met with staff from the city and state, as well as representatives from the Skillman and Kresge foundations. The mayor weighed in at that time with his priorities: public safety, public transportation, public lighting, neighborhood blight, and recreation.

The following section begins with a description of the SC2 pilot kickoff and the work plan development process. The narrative then describes how the Detroit SC2 team and the city worked together, and finally it summarizes key SC2 team activities during the first 18 months of implementation.

The Detroit SC2 pilot was originally intended as a partnership with the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan, although in practice the former relationship was much more prominent. The DOT representative had the most contact with state and regional officials since critical portions of his work required regional political support and state legi

The SC2 team’s primary point of contact with the city was the mayor, who was heavily involved in the initiative. The mayor typically communicated directly and frequently with the SC2 team lead but was also in contact with the other two core team members from HUD and DOT.

The SC2 team comprised 14 federal representatives from 11 agencies. The core team included one member placed full-time on the ground in Detroit and two Washington, DC-based members who spent more than half their time dedicated to the pilot and traveled to Detroit frequently. The initial assessment closely drove the final composition of the SC2 tea

Key stakeholders in the SC2 pilot in Detroit were the team members, local government staff, and community partners. Each is described below.

From the early 1900s, Detroit was poised to secure its reputation as a titan in the automotive manufacturing industry. The sector grew rapidly in Detroit, bringing with it many economic opportunities and advancements, along with a surge in population. The city enjoyed several decades of prosperity until broad trends influencing the decline of Amer

Implementation of the SC2 pilot initiative in Detroit began in September 2011, after an initial planning and assessment period earlier in the year. The team’s focus areas included transportation, public safety, neighborhood revitalization, economic and workforce development, and energy. However, given the challenging context in Detroit, SC2 team

The SC2 pilot in Cleveland demonstrated several of the intended goals of the SC2 initiative, including partnering for economic growth, enhancing local capacity, and encouraging regional collaboration. In the first 18 months of the pilot, the SC2 team established itself as a valued resource for individuals and organizations working in the city by p

Implementation of the lengthy work plan began in early 2012. The city and the SC2 Team worked to tackle many of the items, some of which were fairly discrete and transactional and quickly resolved. Others were large and required multi-year efforts to address. Still others were dropped as parties realized that it would be difficult to gain tracti

With the initial work plan established, team members worked with their city counterparts and relevant community members on the projects within their areas of expertise. The SC2 team lead played dual roles as coordinator for the team and ambassador for SC2 in the community. She held many internal and external meetings with city leaders, community s

Before implementation began in November 2011, the city had identified three key priorities for team member activities: 1) improving coordination between technical education, workforce development, and economic development programs; 2) supporting the Port Authority’s efforts to maintain a viable commercial harbor; and 3) navigating federal regula

The following section begins with a description of the SC2 pilot kickoff and the work plan development process. The narrative then describes how the Cleveland SC2 team and the city worked together. The section concludes with a summary of key SC2 team activities during the first 18 months of implementation.

The SC2 team worked closely with partners outside of city hall as well. This was particularly important in Cleveland given that two of the three priority areas for SC2 team support involved critical public sector leadership outside of city hall. For instance, workforce, one of the three priority areas identified in the initial assessment, is overs

The SC2 team had one main point of contact within city government, the chief of government affairs. She represented the mayor, providing senior-level involvement with the team and oversight of engaged city staff. Specifically, she represented the mayor in communicating with the department directors about SC2, identifying appropriate city staff to

At the start of implementation, the SC2 team in Cleveland consisted of two full-time members, including the SC2 team lead who relocated to Cleveland for the initiative, two part-time members already located in Cleveland, four part-time members located in Washington, DC, and one part-time member in the agency regional office.