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Contact:
Ellesse Balli, Director of Communications, Sorenson Impact Center
ellesse.balli@sorensonimpact.com • 801.587.8343
Sorenson Impact Center Selects Eight Subrecipients to Participate in National Pay for Success Initiative
Three government entities and five nonprofit service providers have been selected to receive funding and technical support to advance evidence-based programs.
SALT LAKE CITY—May 4, 2017—The Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business has awarded subgrants to five nonprofit service providers and three government entities to participate in a Pay for Success (PFS) feasibility program. The program is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service’s (CNCS) Social Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The eight subgrantees will be the third cohort to participate in the Sorenson Impact Center’s PFS feasibility program, for a total of 27 participants since 2014. For the most recent cohort, nearly 30 applicants (including both government jurisdictions and nonprofits) competed for subgrants. The eighth and final subgrantee was selected on Monday.
“This SIF-funded program has been a cornerstone to many advantageous Pay for Success projects across the country,” said Jeremy Keele, President & CEO of the Sorenson Impact Center. “We’re delighted to offer technical assistance and capacity-building to yet another cohort of government jurisdictions and nonprofits that are dedicating themselves to making a measurable difference in people's lives.”
Pay for Success, an innovative public-private partnership model, combines nonprofit service expertise, private funding and independent evaluation to transform how government leaders respond to chronic social problems. Projects financed through the PFS model present opportunities to deliver more impactful services that create sustainable social change and avoid straining government budgets, thereby putting fewer taxpayer dollars at risk.
Through the PFS tool, the end-payor (typically a government jurisdiction) repays investors only if the program meets predetermined outcomes. Independent evaluators measure the outcomes of programs based on specific metrics that benefit both individuals and communities and ultimately generate value for taxpayers. An example of an intervention’s outcomes might be lower rates of homelessness or lower rates of recidivism.
The Sorenson Impact Center will work closely with the new cohort of subgrantees to advance the PFS model across the country by identifying evidence-based strategies, increasing performance and impact measurement through in-depth technical assistance provision, building financial models, and ultimately facilitating the development of high-quality PFS projects that improve the lives of individuals in these communities.
The new subgrantees aim to implement interventions in the issue areas of disability services, contraceptive access and education, recidivism among young adults, mentorship for at-risk youth, health and education for children with asthma, and early childhood education.
“As part of the Social Innovation Fund’s commitment to find and expand programs that work, we are proud to support governments and nonprofit service providers using innovative tools to increase accountability and evidence in social services,” said Lois Nembhard, acting director of the Social Innovation Fund. “This work will be a catalyst for Pay for Success in these states and will strengthen solutions for some of our country’s toughest problems.”
Since its inception in 2009, the SIF has grown into nearly a $1 billion social impact incubator within the federal government, creating public-private partnerships that deliver high-impact, community-based solutions that work. As a result of $341 million in federal grants and more than $672 million in non-federal match commitments, the SIF has awarded 51 grants to grant making institutions supporting more than 490 non-profits working in 46 states and the District of Columbia.
For its 2017 cohort, Sorenson Impact selected the following governments and nonprofit service providers to receive in-depth tailored technical assistance and cash sub-grants:
Shelby County Government
Shelby County, Tennessee will pursue a Pay for Success project in the area of juvenile justice reform. In 2015, it was reported that out of large cities in the nation, Memphis had the highest percentage of youth who are neither in school nor working. Shelby County estimates that each individual in this group costs taxpayers an average of $13,900 per person in government services and, socially, around $37,450 per person, including lost wages and taxes. Shelby County hopes to create both a better justice system and a better system for youth to help prevent entrance into the justice system.
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