Encouraging case studies from the UK to mark Friday 13th… have a great weekend..
Better Outcomes & Better Value: The Promise Of SIBs
Paul Riley (Executive Director – Strategic Developments & Partnerships at Core Assets) – Solace
Every local authority wants to deliver better outcomes for its most vulnerable young people and adults. But in an era when budgets are under ever-greater pressure, and social challenges are getting ever more complex, is that a realistic aspiration?
Our experience with social impact bonds (SIBs) suggests it can be.
Our Residential Migration Programme in Birmingham – which is SIB-funded – helps to move looked-after children in Birmingham out of residential care homes into stable foster placements. As anyone involved with children’s services will know, keeping children in care homes tends to have a detrimental effect on their life outcomes, as well as being extremely expensive for local authorities. So there’s a clear imperative to get these children into stable foster families.
Unfortunately, as anyone in children’s services will also know, this is easier said than done. Finding the right foster family is hard. Making the placement stick is harder still.
Our programme tries to solve this problem by expending substantial time and resource on getting the family match right in the first place, and then providing wrap-around support for the family in the early years of the placement – including care-experienced mentors who help the young person navigate the change.