Lessons for Effective Economic Mobility Work at both the Program and the Systems-Level
Coaching has become an increasingly popular method of intervention and has proven effective in a variety of settings. Economic Mobility Pathways (“EMPath”), for example, has codified a mentorship model that uses holistic goal-setting and individualized coaching to support people’s journeys out of the cycle of poverty. I first encountered the EMPath model during Third Sector’s work with the Department of Transitional Assistance on the Young Parents Program. There, we used EMPath’s Bridge to Self-Sufficiency (the “Bridge”) as a way to define and measure progress in a more nuanced way than …
Race and Data: Co-creating Solutions
This is the third and final blog post in our three-part Race and Data series. In part one, we reflected on the potential dangers of over-relying on easily accessible data due to systemic racism, flawed collection, or biased analysis. In part two, we explored how thoughtful disaggregation can begin to mitigate those dangers. And finally, in part three we will explore how adding meaning to data, developed by engaging community voice, can tell an even more accurate and holistic story about what quantitative data are saying and, even more importantly, …
Race and Data: Identifying Race-based Disparities
Like most industries, government-funded social services agencies have become increasingly data-driven in recent years. This increased use of data has allowed agencies to better understand the needs of the people they serve and allocate resources more effectively. However, as we outlined in our last blog post, there are risks to an overreliance on data, especially data that may itself be biased. Here, we’ll discuss one of the ways that government can and should be using the myriad data they collect through administering social services to identify and address racial, ethnic, …
Race and Data: Race as a Predictive Factor
“Hi Siri – what’s the weather today?” “Okay Google, is there life on Mars?” “Alexa, add toothpaste to my cart.” It is hard to argue that data and technology have not fundamentally changed our day-to-day lives, in many ways for the better. Therefore, the growing application of data in the social sector has created general excitement across various stakeholders – government officials, service providers, and philanthropic partners. From assessing policy decisions to determining resource allocations, the use of data and evaluation is slowly becoming the norm rather than the exception. …
Reflections from the Empowering Families Learning Community Gathering in Denver
In early October, Third Sector and our data partner, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), convened state and local government leaders from around the country to discuss effective steps to launching and sustaining Integrated Data Systems (IDS), as well as deploying that data to improve community outcomes. This was the third time the Empowering Families Learning Community convened over the past year, and the seminar showcased the progress of governments in identifying and supporting innovative models for improving outcomes for families. The Empowering Families Learning Community was joined by both …
Third Sector receives support from Blue Shield of California Foundation
Third Sector is pleased to announce it has been awarded $247,375 to improve community health from the Blue Shield Foundation of California’s Exploring the Value of Prevention grant. Third Sector with our partner, the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), received funding to develop financing strategies to benefit multi-sector partnerships that improve community health. This funding brings together two leading organizations in their respective fields to collaborate on the pressing need to leverage siloed public funding streams. The project is one of sixteen that has received support to focus …
From Social Impact Bonds to Social Venture Equity
This post originally appeared on Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Blog and is co-authored by Deirdre Flynn, Associate Director, Pay for Success Program. The Pay for Success (PFS) field has gone through astonishing changes in the years since the first contracts launched in the US. Those early projects (Rikers Island, Massachusetts Juvenile Justice, New York CEO, Cuyahoga) all only wavered from the original concept in minor ways. In brief, those projects all had payment based on a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) evaluation with the vast majority of success payments linked to the formal …
Pay for Success Arrives in Career & Technical Education
Signed into law this summer, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act – also known as Perkins V – includes a number of provisions that promote innovation, modernization and the alignment of workforce skills with labor-market needs (see our full summary here). Notably, the legislation also includes the first-ever federal authorization of Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding for Pay for Success. This change unlocks the potential to accelerate gains in economic mobility for millions of Americans. Every year, $1.1 billion in CTE funding flows from …
Exploring New Solutions to Improve Outcomes for Vulnerable Children
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Education announced it awarded grants to a cohort of eight government organizations for a Preschool Pay For Success feasibility pilot, to explore how the Pay for Success (PFS) model can improve access to high-quality preschool and improve outcomes for children most at risk. Third Sector partnered with three of the eight preschool PFS feasibility grantees, Cuyahoga County (Ohio), Mecklenburg County (North Carolina), and Santa Clara County (California), and participated in a learning community. The goal of the Department of Education grant was to “bring …
Secure Computing to Improve Data Access in PFS
Through our work with governments, we think critically about how social services are contracted. Data availability is often a limiting factor in the project design or in the evaluation of a project’s success. Many of our projects benefit from timely access to data in order to evaluate the unmet need, identify characteristics of the intended beneficiary population, and define outcomes. Additionally, lack of data availability results in high transaction costs for one-off data use agreements, and decreased data value due to lag times. Third Sector’s work is often dependent on …
Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset Part II: Decision-Making and Accountability
In late June, the Department of Commerce created an opportunity to share input on the Federal Data Strategy by requesting comments on the Cross-Agency Priority goal of Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset. The Department of Commerce specifically requested comments on best practices related to the four pillars of the federal data strategy: Enterprise Data Governance Access, Use, and Augmentation Decision-Making and Accountability Commercialization, Innovation, and Public Use. Given that data is a critical component of Third Sector’s work in outcomes-oriented contracting, we were happy to share perspective from our …
Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset Part I: Access, Use, and Augmentation
In late June, the Department of Commerce created an opportunity to share input on the Federal Data Strategy by requesting comments on the Cross-Agency Priority goal of Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset. The Department of Commerce specifically requested comments on best practices related to the four pillars of the federal data strategy: Enterprise Data Governance Access, Use, and Augmentation Decision-Making and Accountability Commercialization, Innovation, and Public Use. Given that data is a critical component of Third Sector’s work in outcomes-oriented contracting, we were happy to share perspective from our …
The Potential for an Opportunity Zone Impact Framework
At Third Sector, we work where “money meets the people.” We build data-informed feedback loops to tie government funding to the achievement of measurable social outcomes. Any program that can incentivize the achievement of real progress on social issues gets us excited, and the recent Opportunity Zone legislation has just that promise. Opportunity Zones are a community development program authorized by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), with the goal of encouraging patient capital to invest in long-term community development projects. The federal legislation allows newly authorized Opportunity …
Co-op at Third Sector A Reflection on the Responsibilities & Resources Available
As a senior in high school, I selected Northeastern University for their emphasis on experiential learning, not knowing then how I would fare in a 9-5 position or taking a six-month hiatus from classes. At Northeastern, co-op is considered part of the curriculum, with courses covering everything you’re expected to know – from how to conduct yourself in an interview to what to wear on the job. In my first week however, I realized that no amount of studying would have prepared me for the transition to a full-time role. …
Strategies for Inclusively and Equitably Building a Diverse Team Blind Recruitment at Third Sector
Long before Third Sector formally committed to exploring diversity, equity, and inclusion through a critical examination of our culture, norms, and client-facing approaches, we recognized the importance of building a diverse team. We know that diverse teams perform better, and we also value the unique perspectives that surface from a group of individuals with varying lived experiences. As is still typical recruitment practice, our hiring process originally required the submission of a resume at the onset of the application process. However, in an effort to build a more diverse team, …
Committing to a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lens in our work Improving our culture, norms, and client-facing approaches
At Third Sector, our five core values of Rigor, Respect, Resourcefulness, Results, and Reflection drive how we conduct ourselves with clients, partners, and each other. As part of our values, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have always been central to our work. What is more, we simply could not successfully direct public resources in more data-driven ways to improve people’s lives without empowering a diverse representation of community members, pushing for more inclusive programming, and considering which outcomes are most equitable. In our ongoing reflection though, we realized that the …
Redesign for Whole Families Tactical Lessons to Inform the Empowering Families Learning Community
What would it take to redesign programs with whole families at the center?” The Future Services Institute, an initiative of the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, posed this question at the onset of the recent Redesign for Whole Families Summit. Throughout the two-day conference, government agencies, nonprofit providers, researchers, and thought leaders sought to tackle this question, by sharing best practices and stories from the field, brainstorming how to apply research to local contexts, and problem-solving challenges posed by the …
Outcomes-Oriented ESE Toolkit New toolkit guides CA counties in moving programming, contracting, and data practices towards an outcomes orientation
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) recently released an Outcomes-Oriented ESE Toolkit to support counties statewide in strengthening their Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) programs. Third Sector was engaged by CDSS and the California Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), to provide technical assistance and help advance an approach that focuses on outcomes and continuous improvement in the ESE program. The resulting toolkit guides counties in moving programming, contracting, and data practices towards an outcomes orientation. As part of their California Work Opportunities and Responsibilities to Kids (CalWORKs) block grant, 52 counties …
Register Now: SVI Impact Analyst Training How to see underlying impact through others' reporting
This course will provide an introduction to social and environmental impact analysis – that is, how to understand through reporting about it that has been produced by others.
CDFI’s Play a Vital Role in Orienting Communities for PFS and Outcomes Contracting
As discussed in our first blog, the Pay for Success (PFS) field is evolving from initial Social Impact Bond-style projects launched by governments and supported by third-party (i.e., non-government) funding to agency and multi-agency engagements that shift the practice of how existing public funding streams are deployed for specific social programs. Across these projects, traditional cost-reimbursement service contracts are being amended or replaced to align funding, policy, data, and services together to the ultimate goal of achieving outcomes for our nation’s most vulnerable populations. Funding is needed to scale the …