— Jovita Tolbert, Development Director of the National Alliance for Sustainable Communities (NASC) —

Implemented in the UK, the first Social Impact Bond (SIB) was launched by Social Finance in September 2010. Today, Massachusetts, New York, and Minnesota are experimenting with SIBs, or a variation of them. What’s more, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is working with the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Justice (DOJ) to implement SIBs as a way of ensuring the government only pays for what works.

Given the confidence of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Network in its ability to achieve outcomes, the Network could be a good candidate to undertake work in return for a promised payment for success. However, the Network would need to turn to foundations or other funders to help pay for the necessary work to achieve the outcomes—and they would need to ensure that the government’s promised payments were large enough to compensate for the risk they carry. Read more.