Today, the Policy Innovation Lab in the James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business announced the selection of 6 government agencies to participate in the Social Innovation Fund’s national Pay for Success initiative.
The governments selected will receive funding and technical support to develop Pay for Success projects that advance and evaluate high-quality social interventions in the areas of chronic homelessness, early education, and recidivism in order to produce measurable and meaningful outcomes for individuals and communities in the Intermountain West.
“The Policy Innovation Lab is excited to provide funding and other support to highly motivated governments from around the Intermountain West in order to develop innovative, evidence-based interventions that measurably improve the lives of individuals and families in their communities,” said Executive Director Jeremy Keele.
In 2014, the Policy Innovation Lab received $1.15 million from the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund (SIF) to help strengthen the pipeline of state and local governments and service providers prepared to implement Pay for Success projects across the country, as part of the SIF’s national Pay for Success initiative.
“The Policy Innovation Lab is working with state and local governments across the Intermountain West to address challenges facing low-income communities,” said Lois Nembhard, interim director of the Social Innovation Fund. “From early education to chronic homelessness, the Lab is helping test the feasibility of implementing Pay for Success models across a wide array of focus areas while contributing to the SIF’s greater mission of finding what works and making it work for more people.”
Pay for Success is an innovative funding model that drives government resources toward social programs that deliver positive outcomes for people in need. Pay for Success is an opportunity to deliver larger scale and better services to vulnerable populations without further straining government budgets or putting taxpayer money at risk. Under the model, government only pays for programs that actually work.
The Lab also received generous grants from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the James Lee Sorenson Foundation, which led to the creation of the Innovation Fellowship Program to support implementation of programs in the Intermountain West.
The following governments have been selected to participate in the Lab’s inaugural Innovation Fellowship Program:
Adams County School District 50, Colorado
The Lab will assist Adams County School District 50 in assessing the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success project to improve school readiness for kindergarteners in the district. Intervention models being explored are well-developed and evidence-based programs like home visitation, parent support and high quality preschool. The district is targeting the program in a high poverty region in Southwest Adams County where school readiness rates are low. The Lab will provide the district with funding for staffing and other capacity needs and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis. The Lab will also provide in-depth technical assistance to select school readiness service providers in the community.
State of Colorado Department of Homeless Initiatives
The Lab will assist the State of Colorado in exploring the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success project to scale up an existing evidence-based criminal justice re-entry program called Colorado Second Chance Housing and Re-entry Program (C-SCHARP). C-SHARP is aimed at reducing recidivism rates by providing supportive housing to dual diagnosed (substance abuse and mental illness) former offenders in the Denver metro area. The theory of change behind C-SCHARP is that housing coupled with wrap-around supportive services dramatically reduces the risk to re-offend. Over the course of the initial pilot program, the year-one recidivism rate was 24-38% lower than other high-risk offenders with co-occurring disorders who did not receive C-SCHARP supportive housing services. The Lab will provide funding for staffing and other needs in the Governor’s office and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis.
City of Boise, Idaho
The Lab will assist the City of Boise, Idaho in assessing the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success project focused on reducing chronic homelessness generally and recidivism among previously incarcerated individuals experiencing homelessness. Boise hopes to achieve measureable program outcomes of recidivism reduction, especially among the homeless population, and the reduction in the number of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. The program recognizes that a high-quality intervention that couples supportive housing with wrap-around services has the potential to dramatically decrease chronic homelessness and recidivism among the chronically homeless population. The program will demand cross-sector collaboration between Boise City and other local jurisdictions. The Lab will provide the city with funding for staffing and other capacity needs and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis. The Lab will also provide in-depth technical assistance to select service providers in the community.
City of Las Vegas, Nevada
The Lab will assist the City of Las Vegas in assessing the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success project in early education and school readiness. The City of Las Vegas seeks to increase access to high quality early childhood education programs, along with wrap-around services for at-risk youth in Southern Nevada. The City of Las Vegas is working collaboratively on the project with the State of Nevada, Clark County, and the Children’s Advocacy Alliance, a local non-profit. Measurable outcomes for proposed early childhood program include (1) increasing kindergarten readiness, (2) improving third-grade literacy, and (3) reducing the need for special education. In a community of 2 million, currently only 4% of the 0-5 year population is served by existing programs. The Lab will provide the city with funding for staffing and other capacity needs and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis. The Lab will also provide in-depth technical assistance to select service providers in the community.
Missoula County, Montana
The Lab will work with Missoula County, Montana to assess the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success project aimed at alleviating factors contributing to jail overcrowding. Missoula County is home to 111,807 residents. Officials are seeking to reduce overcrowding of the jail’s 394 adult and 24 juvenile beds through diversion programs for non-dangerous offenders and by decreasing or eliminating inappropriate incarceration. Missoula County hopes to achieve a threshold decrease in recidivism for the target population. Although existing jail beds are near or at capacity on a daily basis, the county is hoping to avoid building additional beds, but instead divert low risk and low need individuals from jail, while providing mental health and other supportive services to individuals at a high-risk of re-offending. The Lab will provide the county with funding for staffing and other capacity needs and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis. The Lab will also provide in-depth technical assistance to select service providers in the community.
State of Utah, Governor’s Office of Management and Budget
The Lab will assist the State of Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget in assessing the feasibility of implementing a Pay for Success approach to address recidivism by specifically targeting offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental illness disorders. The State of Utah has already implemented a Pay for Success project (in early education) and has made a large investment in criminal justice system reforms, including partnering with the Pew Charitable Trust and U.S. Department of Justice as part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The proposed program recognizes that a mental health and substance abuse intervention for those with a co-occurring diagnosis could dramatically reduce the risk to re-offend. The Lab will provide the State with funding for data systems and other capacity needs and will provide technical support for the feasibility analysis. The Lab will also provide in-depth technical assistance to select service providers in the community.