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Jay Spector, President and CEO, JEVS Human Services Testimony on Resolution 160044, Hearings on Social Impact Bonds Philadelphia City Council, March 2, 2016
Good morning. My name is Jay Spector, President and CEO of JEVS Human Services. It is a pleasure to be here this morning to address the Committee on Public Health and Human Services on Resolution 160044 regarding Social Impact Bonds (SIBs). Thanks to Committee Chair Councilwoman Cindy Bass and all of the members of the Public Health and Human Services Committee for considering this important resolution. Special thanks to Councilman Derek Green for inviting us to continue the conversation we began with him a few months ago.
For nearly 75 years, JEVS Human Services has partnered with government, businesses, the philanthropic sector and the clients we serve to craft innovative solutions to our community’s most pressing problems, including unemployment and the myriad of reasons for it. Complex societal problems such as these require creativity, expertise and resources – and partnership – to solve. We know that government alone cannot solve these problems. Institutional barriers, such as the lack of staff and limited financial resources within state and local governments get in the way of the necessary problem‐solving innovation. Moreover, limited resources – be they public or private—must be invested in proven interventions.
Previous testimony has explained the Social Impact Bond or Pay for Success model in detail, so I will focus my remarks on a successful program that we believe has tremendous promise within the SIB financing context.
The Choice Is Yours (TCY), operated by JEVS Human Services in partnership with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, the Defender Association and the Municipal Court, is an innovative diversion program for first‐time, nonviolent felony drug sellers facing maximum prison sentences of as much as 10 years. Sellers are charged with Possession with Intent to Deliver (PWID) two to 10 grams of crack or powder cocaine. Recently, heroin PWID charges were added to the eligibility criteria.
The program is based on a model once operated in San Francisco, identified by District Attorney Seth Williams and, with his leadership, replicated in Philadelphia. Two of our partners, Assistant District Attorney Derek Riker and Byron Cotter from the Defender Association of Philadelphia, are joining me on this panel and will provide testimony to this committee. As I begin my remarks, I would also like to introduce Nigel Bowe, TCY Program Director and current program participants Chris McFarland, Qinzell Hampton, and Tarik Sullivan. Gentlemen, please stand.
The Choice is Yours is designed to provide participants with the tools and support they need most in order to achieve stability and avoid re‐offending. Importantly, participants who successfully complete the 13‐month program have the opportunity to have their records expunged. TCY offers individuals a second chance at success: instead of prison, TCY participants perform reparative community service, receive job‐readiness training, academic skill building, mentoring, and job placement and retention services, and can become tax‐ paying citizens, no longer dependent on public systems.
As an alternative‐to‐incarceration, TCY diverts participants away from prison into both 1) TCY court (a problem‐solving Philadelphia Municipal Court featuring a dedicated judge, President Judge Marsha H. Neifield, who monitors participant progress and motivates compliance); and 2) a suite of community‐based social services and supports operated by JEVS. TCY combines the best of what we know works to prevent individuals from becoming re‐involved in criminal activity: educational and employment services; case management; mentoring; assistance with housing, child support, public benefits, and other key services; and participation in restorative justice activities including 220 hours of community service.
JEVS Human Services has been operating TCY since 2012, selected via a competitive bid process managed by a third‐party intermediary/evaluator. Internal and external evaluations show exceptional results: in the initial pilot group, 89% completed the 13‐month program. This
pilot group saw significant reduction in risky behaviors and 89% of graduates met their stated employment goals. Only 12% were rearrested within one year of graduation, compared to an expected re‐arrest rate of 40% for individuals with similar backgrounds by the Philadelphia Probation Department.
Since its inception, TCY has served 187 individuals, including 16 currently in orientation and expected to enroll this month. Our current completion rate is 80% with 90 participants currently enrolled. About one quarter of the current participants lack a high school diploma. 80% are male, 20% female and 92% are either African American or Latino. About half of the participants enter the program employed, largely in low‐wage, low‐skill jobs. Our current recidivism rate is a low 7%.
TCY participants are street‐level drug sellers, not kingpins. It is important to note that participants report selling drugs for economic reasons, to make ends meet, either for extra cash to supplement a legitimate income – or as a primary means of support. For this reason, employment is a major focus of TCY. Participants are supported throughout the entire program to first get and maintain employment and then build the skills necessary to create a career path. Program participants are working in a wide range of jobs from hospitality to light manufacturing. Some pursue post‐secondary education or training.
At start‐up, the program was funded by The Lenfest Foundation and William Penn Foundation. When these funds were exhausted, we worked closely with the DA’s Office and Defender Association to secure funding from the Philadelphia Prison System, Lenfest and a mix of individual donors through JEVS’ fundraising efforts. We are committed to TCY, as are our partners, and continue to seek funds to both sustain and grow the program. We have been challenged to find sustained funding for TCY as no “natural” source exists.
Last year, JEVS honored a TCY graduate at our annual awards luncheon. Kareem is a 25‐year old father of three. A resourceful, high school graduate, Kareem was working full‐time as a
janitor at the Montgomeryville Mall when the pressures of young mouths to feed became too much. Kareem would come home after his shift to see corner drug sales and sellers with as much cash in their pockets as he earned in a week at his full‐time job.
He needed to make more money, not for extras, but for basics for his kids and for his fiancé. He tried finding better work but with only a high school diploma, his search was fruitless. Drug sales looked too easy and seemed victimless. Kareem could no longer resist joining them—so he did. He told us he would sell on the corner at nights, after his shift at the Mall. He didn’t last long. He was arrested, charged and, because he was unable to make bail, spent time in jail until he was offered TCY. He was released the day after Christmas and determined to do better by his girlfriend, his sons and his Mom.
In the 13 months at TCY, Kareem honed his job search skills, enrolled in a work experience program and landed a job at PATCO. It was temporary but steady and he knew it was just a stepping stone to his real goal of helping others avoid the path he had taken. Today, Kareem’s felony charges have been dropped, he’s months away from expungement, working full‐time in the human services field and anticipating continuing his education. I fully expect that Chris, Qinzell and Tarik will have similar success stories when they complete TCY with a clean record in the coming months.
So why do we believe that TCY is exactly the kind of highly measurable program that can be financed by Social Impact Bond financing? The simple answers are that it works and the cost savings are demonstrable. The 13‐month program costs $5,200 per participant. The cost of one year of incarceration within the Philadelphia Prison System is roughly $39,000 per prisoner, plus the uncalculatable cost of a felony record. In simple math, the City and the Philadelphia Prison System avoids nearly $34,000 in annual costs per TCY participant. We believe that with a fuller accounting of the societal costs of incarceration and the life‐long impact of a felony conviction, the savings would be significantly greater.
The Choice is Yours fills a void in our community and legal system, providing offenders with the rare opportunity to remain in the community, enhance their academic skills and job opportunities, avoid incarceration, and subsequently expunge their criminal records. Because TCY has the potential to be widely replicated, it represents an effective alternative to incarceration with broad policy implications: brought to scale, this program could significantly reduce the fiscal and societal costs associated with incarceration and recidivism.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today. I am pleased to answer any questions.
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