News and Insights

Are you interested in developing systems to improve data-driven decision-making? Do you want to learn more about contracting for positive outcomes? Have you thought about writing outcomes into contracts, but don’t know where to start? Third Sector now offers a workshop-style six-week engagement for state, county, and local government agencies who want to learn about outcomes-oriented contracting and seek to identify initial actions they can take to incorporate outcomes metrics, enhanced incentive structures, and data-driven feedback loops into their social service contracting processes. Governments can use the workshops as a …

When job-seekers gain credentials and degrees, find employment or boost their earnings, use less public benefits, or escape the recidivism cycle, the mission of a local workforce board is being achieved.  For years, these outcomes have been aimed at, but not actually incentivized. Enter the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which gives workforce boards around the nation the opportunity to set aside funds that don’t expire during the traditional two-year funding cycle and can be tied to the achievement of outcomes that measurably improve people’s lives.  Before tapping into …

This post originally appeared on the America Forward blog and is co-authored by Nicole Truhe, Government Affairs Director, America Forward. Third Sector Capital Partners is a proud member of the America Forward coalition. Every day social innovators and social innovation organizations across the country are measurably impacting communities and individuals. This Practice to Policy blog series lifts up the voices of the more than 70 organizations that make up the America Forward Coalition and our broader social innovation network by highlighting their outcomes-based solutions to our country’s most pressing social problems and …

In October 2017, the Children’s Services Council of Broward County, Florida (CSC Broward) was selected to participate in Empowering Families, Third Sector’s national cohort of communities working to improve outcomes for children and families. This cohort is supported by a 2016 Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant*. Through this cohort, Third Sector, along with Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), will provide sites with two years of technical assistance (TA) to develop both Integrated Data Systems (IDS) and an outcomes-oriented contracting approach. At Third Sector, we primarily work with state and …

The data in front of us was sobering: 45% of adults, who received economic assistance under the Massachusetts Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) program in January 2018, had grown up in families that also depended on TAFDC. “We have to do something different to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty,” Commissioner Jeff McCue of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) implored. As a member of the Empowering Families learning community, DTA, in collaboration with the Executive Office of Education, the Executive Office of Technology Services and …

In late January, in the mountains of the Wasatch Valley, over 600 city, state, and local government leaders, social impact investors, service providers, academics, and thought leaders came together at the University of Utah to discuss solutions to some of the most intractable challenges facing the social service sector in the United States and internationally. This unique event is the annual Winter Innovation Summit, hosted by the Sorenson Impact Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which offers a diverse array of panels and workshops featuring leaders who are moving the needle …

The ability of disadvantaged students to navigate a path to and through college has never been more critical in an era with a broad wage gap based on post-secondary educational attainment. While Pay for Success (PFS) has been deployed effectively in a variety of social policy domains, the movement has largely bypassed the field of higher education. This comes despite the fact that the achievement of longer-term metrics such as a persistence, graduation, and labor market outcomes, rather than student enrollment or other interim measures, are now driving the conversation …

In the recent discussion concerning evidence-based practices, many practitioners believe that the current approach to collecting evidence, validating findings, and replicating evidence-based programs (EBPs) has distorted the funding system for social services. Others argue that relaxing the focus on evidence-based practices will welcome a world where once again anecdotes and heuristics guide funding decisions. At Third Sector, we believe there is another way forward: continuous impact measurement using administrative data. If government made low-cost impact management an element of their program oversight, it could better hold providers accountable for quantifiable …

The social services sector is transitioning from a focus on ‘outputs’ measuring activity levels towards ‘outcomes’ measuring life impacts. Third Sector advises public agencies seeking to use the tools at their disposal, such as procurement, policy, and data, to better align with long-term success for their communities. While we want success to be defined in terms of outcomes and encourage this evolution of the field, we still see value in assessing outputs for several reasons. 1. Process outputs provide motivation to achieve broader goals Setting and achieving intermittent process metrics …

Throughout 2017, Third Sector and its partners have delivered improved outcomes for vulnerable Americans while accelerating the nation’s transition to a performance-driven social sector. With over $1 trillion in public funding dedicated to social issues each year, our work provides catalytic implementation support that enables communities to effectively address problems such as lack of meaningful jobs, recidivism, and overuse of foster care. See below for highlights on how Third Sector moved over $260M in total public funding to outcomes in 2017 and is leading the effort to implement solutions so …

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 with outcomes-oriented contracts. Scaling the systems that implement these new outcomes-oriented contracts for urgently needed social service programs requires funding, but some of the original funders who supported early project SIBs are …

As many as 22,000 low-income people in King County will be eligible for same-day outpatient treatment for mental health and addiction services under an innovative new program announced today by King County, Ballmer Group and Third Sector Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based nonprofit advisory firm that collaborates with communities on how to contract for social services. The “Pay for Success” model will allocate $1.4 million a year in incentive payments to mental health and substance use treatment agencies that provide outpatient treatment on demand for people in need. “We are …

Part two of two. In October, LA County launched their first Pay for Success project. Third Sector has been a PFS advisor to the County since 2012. In this series, Third Sector director Dan Peck reflects on Third Sector’s work and the lessons we learned from the project. The following are second and third takeaways that can be applied to other governments looking to replicate LA County’s transition towards PFS and outcomes-based contracting. To read Part 1 which includes the first takeaway from the project, please click here. Take the …

This is the first part of a two part series. Last month, Los Angeles County announced the launch of the County’s first Pay for Success (PFS) project: “Just-in-Reach.” The “Just-in-Reach” PFS project is an outcomes-oriented, health-based housing program that will reduce jail recidivism and help end homelessness among people experiencing repeat jail time. Over four years, the project will place 300 homeless individuals who are currently in custody within the LA County jail system and have a mental health and/or substance use disorders into permanent supportive housing. The project is …

Last month, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), Third Sector’s data integration partner, convened government leaders from around the country to explore ways to embed administrative data into government programming and decision-making. The three-day seminar marked the first in a series of Learning Community meetings over the next two years, during which ten jurisdictions will be building out and improving upon Integrated Data Systems (IDS), that embed ongoing administrative data sharing and evaluation across multiple government agencies. Seven of these states and counties, Connecticut, Iowa, North Carolina, Broward County, Florida, …

When assessing program impact, researchers often focus on evaluating the causal relationship between two variables and the accuracy of those results. This concept is called “internal validity,” which asks the question: what’s the likelihood that this relationship actually exists?

This post originally appeared on the America Forward blog and is authored by Nicole Truhe, Government Affairs Director, America Forward. Third Sector Capital Partners is a proud member of the America Forward coalition. Last year, a federal commission began studying how data that the government already collect can be used to improve government programs and policies. The Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking was the creation of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who are long-time champions of data and the use of evidence to drive federal policymaking. After over a …

On October 3, Los Angeles County announced the launch of the County’s first Pay for Success (PFS) project: “The Just-in-Reach Supportive Housing Program.” Unlocking a new type of outcomes-contracting in the largest county in the nation was no small feat, and was made possible only through committed leadership and coordination at the LA County Board of Supervisors, CEO’s Office, multiple County agencies and service providers, and California-focused philanthropic partners. As PFS advisor to the LA County’s CEO’s office since 2012, Third Sector has supported the development of the County’s first …

Los Angeles County has launched Just in Reach (JIR), a new health-based housing program that will reduce jail recidivism and help end homelessness among people experiencing repeat jail stays. The innovative public-private partnership is the region’s first program to be funded through a “Pay for Success” financial model.

The primary goals of the Final Report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking are laudable: to “[improve] both the privacy protections afforded to the American public and the availability of rigorous evidence to inform policymaking.” Government has wrestled with these issue areas for decades, and while significant challenges remain, the recommendations of the Commission provide a unique bipartisan opportunity for government to dramatically improve the way it delivers services to focus on data and program impact. One of the important questions following the submission of the Commission’s final report is …