PLY: A sunny day today, news from California and Australia…
Santa Clara Launches CA’s First Pay For Success
Deborah De Santis (President & CEO of CSH) – Huffington Post
This past Friday, CSH joined with an impressive group of government officials and leaders in finance and the nonprofit sector to embrace “Project Welcome Home,” a Pay for Success initiative in Santa Clara County, California, designed to improve housing stability and supportive services for chronically homeless individuals (those in homelessness for longer periods of time). The County, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is launching the project in partnership with Abode Services, a national leader in housing services for people struggling with homelessness.
We applaud Santa Clara County and Abode for joining together to pursue the benefits of Pay for Success (PFS) to enhance communities and the well-being of the people they serve.
PFS is an innovative funding model that funnels public and private resources toward social programs that prove effective. PFS tracks the programs over time and requires governments to pay for services only if they succeed in measurably improving the lives of people most in need. PFS also enables governments to tap private investments to cover the upfront costs. This ensures taxpayer dollars are being leveraged wisely and spent only on programs that actually work.
With the expertise of Adobe, Project Welcome Home will provide community-based clinical services and supportive housing to 150-200 chronically homeless individuals who are currently frequent users of emergency rooms, acute mental health facilities and jail. Chronically homeless individuals, with no access to stable housing and long-term supportive services, use a significant and disproportionate amount of government and services, often resulting in higher costs for the public sector and ineffective, short-term relief for those in need.
The Changing Face Of Philanthropy
Jennifer Hewett – AFR
For a sector often lacking in measurable results despite all the good intentions, individual successes or money spent, the increased professionalism involved is one obvious answer. And while cash-strapped governments will continue to provide the great bulk of funding to address social needs, there are benefits in trying to leverage alternative expertise to boost effectiveness.
Of the states, NSW is leading the way in experimenting with social impact bonds, for example, in the area of foster parenting. The Baird government is also extending this to try to deal with homelessness and recidivism, evaluating proposals for social bonds in both areas. Although the amounts add up to only several million dollars each, the potential is obvious there too if such programs prove effective.