Good news from Utrecht in the Netherlands while we have a more cynical response from the left in Oregon…
Utrecht University To Evaluate Social Impact Bond Buzinezzclub Utrecht
Universiteit Utrecht
On 26 November 2015 the Social Impact Bond Buzinezzclub was launched in Utrecht. This initiative targets unemployed youth towards education, work or entrepreneurship. The capital for the social impact bonds (SIBs) will be provided by the Oranje Fonds and ABN Amro. The main target of the SIBs is to help unemployed youth in becoming financially self-supportive.
The main method of the Buzinezzclub is to provide the youth with training, internships and support. Approximately 300 to 500 unemployed citizens will participate in the initiative. The municipality of Utrecht will pay back the investors, to the extent that the SIB turns out to be successful. The required capital becomes available from savings the city of Utrecht gets due to a reduction in social welfare payments to unemployed young adults. Utrecht University Social Entrepreneurship Initiative will conduct a part of the evaluation. It concerns research into the broader societal impact of the intervention and the impact membership of the Buzinezzclub entails on the individual level. The research will be joint work by the departments of U.S.E. and Governance, combining expertise on social entrepreneurship and public value management.
A Guide To Evaluating Pay For Success
Chuck Sheketoff – Blue Oregon
There is no free lunch. Especially when Wall Street is hovering over the table.
That is something that advocates and lawmakers should understand when presented with financing schemes called “Social Impact Bonds” or “Pay for Success.” These schemes turn to investors to front the money for a program that prevents a social ill. The idea is that a successful prevention program generates enough budget savings for the state to repay the financiers their investment plus a profit, with money to spare.
If that sounds too good to be true, it’s because it pretty much is. Existing Pay for Success programs have revealed a host of problems and have raised questions about the best use of public funds. For example, Goldman Sachs financed a widely-lauded recidivism prevention program in New York City that ended in failure this year. At the very least, advocates and lawmakers should take a critical look at Pay for Success proposals.
A Guide to Evaluating Pay for Success and Social Impact Bonds should be required reading for anyone considering Pay for Success or Social Impact Bond programs. The Guide was released by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Oregon Center for Public Policy and others.