Press Release: ICS Announces Recipients Of Technical Assistance To Support Pay For Success Financing To Improve Early Childhood Outcomes In Oklahoma And Florida
PRESS RELEASE: Institute for Child Success Announces Recipients of Technical Assistance to Support Pay for Success Financing to Improve Early Childhood Outcomes in Oklahoma and Florida
Contact: Mary C. Garvey
Cell Phone: 202-257-9545
Email: mgarvey@instituteforchildsuccess.org
Download press release here
Greenville, South Carolina (June 20, 2017) – The Institute for Child Success (“ICS”), a grantee of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund (SIF) Pay for Success (PFS) program, announced the selection of its third cohort of governments to receive technical assistance from ICS to explore the use of the Pay for Success model to drive better outcomes for children.
PFS is an innovative model that can drive government resources toward social programs that prove effective at improving outcomes for the people most in need. By utilizing private financing for upfront program costs, effective service providers, including nonprofits, have access to flexible and reliable resources to tackle critical social problems. With an independent evaluator rigorously measuring the effectiveness of these programs over time, PFS projects ensure increased accountability for government spending, as well as increased return on taxpayer dollars, while improving people’s lives. Nineteen Pay for Success programs have been launched in the United States, including at least one pilot. Six of these projects focus on young children and their families.
The awardees announced today are:
- Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS): Oklahoma seeks to improve early childhood outcomes via a Pay for Success project that expands two-generation evidence-based programs in the Family Drug Courts in order to address challenges that can persist after traditional family reunification programs for substance-using parents.
- The City of Tallahassee-Office of the Mayor: Tallahassee is interested in expanding high-quality early childhood education for children ages 0-5, as measured by the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), in Leon County’s designated Promise Zone.
“The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is excited about the opportunity to partner with a variety of different agencies and organizations—including the Institute for Child Success—to explore some innovative strategies that could potentially help to expand services and supports for children, youth, and families in the OKC metro area through this Pay for Success Feasibility Study. In particular, we would like to thank the Inasmuch Foundation and Potts Family Foundation for spear heading this idea locally for the past several years and bringing potential investors to the table,” said Shannon Lee Hanchett, Manager of Infant and Early Childhood Services at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
“On behalf of the leaders of the public, private, and non-profit sectors of our community who have been working the last several years to make Tallahassee a dynamic place for children and families to grow strong, I am extremely honored to partner with this innovative effort. This opportunity lends increased momentum to our Family First Initiative, which has worked to take inventive and metrics-driven approaches toward the greatest challenges facing early childhood development in North Florida. We look forward to leveraging Pay for Success as a powerful tool of change for our City, and are grateful for this collaborative opportunity to take our work to the next level,” said Tallahassee, Florida Mayor Andrew Gillum.
“The potential for improving children’s lives in Oklahoma and Tallahassee is great, as these government leaders prepare to delve more deeply into high-quality early childhood education and powerful two-generational interventions. We look forward to partnering with these jurisdictions to explore PFS financing as a way of improving outcomes for children and sharing our findings to empower the field more broadly,” said ICS President Jamie Moon.
PFS is an exciting model with a range of benefits, but it can be technically difficult to deploy without assistance and few organizations in the early childhood community have developed the required expertise. Through a grant awarded in 2016 from SIF, along with matching funds from the United Way of Greenville County, Greenville Health System, and other supporters, ICS is fueling this initiative to build expertise and capacity for PFS within the early childhood community.
“We are pleased to support the Institute for Child Success’ continued work to help governments drive better outcomes and address critical social problems, using our innovative Pay for Success model,” said Lois Nembhard, acting Director of the Social Innovation Fund. “We look forward to witnessing the impact of ICS’s work within these communities and believe as ICS coaches Oklahoma and Tallahassee through Pay for Success feasibility studies, their early childhood expertise will add to the research base of what works, while increasing access to evidence-based programs for children and families in need.”
About ICS
The Institute for Child Success is a research and policy organization that works to create a culture that facilitates and fosters the success of all children. A partnership of the Greenville Health System’s Children’s Hospital and the United Way of Greenville County, ICS supports policymakers, service providers, government agencies, funders, and business leaders focused on early childhood development, healthcare, and education – all to coordinate, enhance, and improve those efforts for the maximum effect in the lives of young children (prenatal to age five). For more information: instituteforchildsuccess.test and http://pfs.instituteforchildsuccess.org/.
ICS is a recipient of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund (SIF). As part of the SIF’s Pay for Success initiative, ICS is helping strengthen the pipeline of state and local governments and service providers prepared to implement Pay for Success projects across the country. By tying funding for community-based solutions to tangible social outcomes, Pay for Success has the potential to change the way government serves the public.
About the Social Innovation Fund (SIF)
The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the nation’s volunteer and service efforts. SIF positions the federal government to be a catalyst for impact—using public and private resources to find and grow community-based nonprofits with evidence of results. The Social Innovation Fund focuses on overcoming challenges confronting low-income Americans in three areas of priority need: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. To learn more, visit www.nationalservice.gov/sif.
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