Social Impact Partnerships: Leveraging Strengths from Communities, the Government, & Private Sector to Improve Outcomes

February 13, 2021 by Mike

BY: AIF Staff

Former Speaker Paul Ryan created the American Idea Foundation to help promote and scale solutions that are supported by evidence and data and that spring from innovative partnerships between local leaders, community researchers, and policymakers. The Foundation’s mission is to highlight local success stories, reinforce their efforts with research and data, and work with legislators on public policies to replicate these winning strategies in other parts of the country. This approach was the motivation behind many of the accomplishments during Speaker Ryan’s tenure – from Opportunity Zones to rethinking the government’s approach to poverty, and it continues to motivate him to this day.

One new policy that embodies Speaker Ryan’s and the American Idea Foundation’s approach is the Social Impact Partnership to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA), which was signed into law in February 2018. The premise of the legislation is simple, as Speaker Ryan said at a January 2020 forum on evidence-based policymaking:

“With the passage of Social Impact Partnership and the Pay for Success Act, we provided funding for states to partner with the federal government, to identify key metrics for social programs and make payments when results are delivered. What a novel concept!”

As the Department of the Treasury details, the purpose of SIPPRA was to “improve the lives of families and individuals in need in the United States by funding social programs that achieve real results.” It is, in short, a “pay for success” model.

To fund an initial round of demonstration projects, SIPPRA appropriated $100 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, $15 million of which was set aside for evaluation costs, to support state and local governments in building a foundation for outcomes-based decision making. Though the funding goes exclusively to state and local governments, it can be used by an entire umbrella of social service providers – from those tackling issues as diverse as homelessness, childhood health, vocational training, obesity, and family stability. The common thread is that any selected program that receives SIPPRA funds must focus on outcomes and measurable results as government funding is contingent on hitting quantifiable metrics rather than satisfying subjective, partisan whims.

Distilled down to its essence, SIPPRA has two primary benefits:

First, SIPPRA takes an evidence-based approach to lifting Americans out of poverty: Funding flows to programs whose methods have been evaluated using data, supporting real-world efforts that achieve positive results. The legislation moves funds away from ineffective programs and towards those that have demonstrated track records of accomplishment. And the federal government is only on the hook financially if the program achieves its stated aims and outcomes. This ensures that policymakers are not only being good stewards of taxpayer dollars but also are prioritizing funding for programs that actually help Americans in meaningful ways.

The Office of Senator Susan Collins of Maine succinctly described the major steps associated with obtaining SIPPRA funding:

A state or local government explains the desired outcome, the program and services provided, any past evidence of positive results and savings expected
A state or local government provides a feasibility study that shows the providers have the capacity needed to run the project; have experiencing serving the targeted population; and have the ability to raise additional funds from other investment sources
If selected, the federal government designs an independent evaluation to assess a program’s progress in achieving the desired outcomes. This ensures that the results have been achieved before taxpayer dollars are spent.
If the desired outcomes are realized, the federal government then pays the state or local government and its investment partners a pre-negotiated amount for funding the project and taking on the risk of success.

The various steps of the program highlight the second major advantage of this pay-for-success model. As the Department of the Treasury detailed, SIPPRA encourages “public-private partnerships that bundle philanthropic or other private resources with existing public spending to scale up effective social interventions already being implemented by private organizations, nonprofits, charitable organizations, and State and local governments across the country.”

One of the long-time proponents of this approach, Senator Todd Young of Indiana, provided a real-world example of a program that would benefit from SIPPRA funding as the Indianapolis Star reported:

“One program Young’s office pointed to as a good Indiana candidate for funding is a service that connects registered nurses with low-income pregnant women.

“Run by Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, the Nurse-Family Partnership makes sure expectant mothers get good prenatal care, improve their diets, understand the benefits of breast feeding and other healthy behaviors. Since the program started in Indiana five years ago, 90 percent of the babies were born at a healthy weight, 90 percent of the mothers initiated breastfeeding and two-thirds of the mothers who had smoked quit, according to Goodwill.

“A 2005 independent study of the program, which operates in communities throughout the country, concluded the return for each $1 spent could be more than $5 worth of health and other benefits. The Indiana program serves 1,100 mothers a year, a fraction of the estimated 14,000 who could benefit…”

As the example of Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana shows, by prioritizing evidence and outcomes and by directing federal funds to programs with local support, non-federal resources, and track records of achievement, the federal government can more effectively address issues like early childhood health and development.

SIPPRA funding only represents a small fraction of the overall amount that the federal government spends on fighting poverty, but it represents a marked change in our approach. It ties together the best local initiatives that are making true impacts; the investors who care about the future of their communities; and the federal government, as it incentivizes evidence-based interventions.

SIPPRA is just getting started. The Commission on Social Impact Partnerships has identified 9 deserving organizations, ranging from a New York Clean Energy Project to an Oklahoma Substance Abuse program. The common theme is all of these programs are making amazing impacts in their communities and hopefully, represent the next generation of successful solutions that are grown locally and supported federally.

In building programs based on evidence of what works, SIPPRA has the potential to finance the most effective solutions for fighting poverty, which originate not from Washington D.C., but from leaders on the ground in communities across the country. SIPPRA funding will support individuals and organizations that have been making a difference in their communities for decades, while bringing their ideas to policymakers to expand their reach. This intersection of community-based approaches and government support is what will ultimately most improve the lives of Americans in need.

Ryan discusses the “American Dream” with Bush Institute’s The Catalyst

February 10, 2021 by Mike

By: AIF Staff

Washington, DC – In the latest edition of The Catalyst, a quarterly publication produced by the President George W. Bush Institute, American Idea Foundation President Paul Ryan discusses the importance of keeping the American Dream alive.

As part of an interview with the Bush Institute, Speaker Ryan details the work being conducted by the American Idea Foundation and elaborates on how policymakers can embrace success solutions being implemented in communities around the country. Ryan also shares his thoughts on how the Biden Administration can successfully work across the aisle on common-sense issues that expand economic opportunity.

Speaker Ryan’s full conversation with The Catalyst is accessible here and some excerpts of the discussion (edited for length and clarity) follow:

How can policymakers ensure America remains the land of opportunity?

“This is basically what I have dedicated my post-Speakership to. My whole foundation is designed on this and the work I do with the American Enterprise Institute and at Notre Dame is all focused on just this topic…. I think there are specific policies and efforts that need to be deployed because right now, there are whole generations of Americans, millions of Americans who just don’t see that the American Dream is there for them today. I think the good news in this story is that it’s right around the corner if we put the right policies and the right efforts in place to get at this.

“I frankly believe we’re on the cusp of some really good breakthroughs in poverty policies and policies designed to ignite upward mobility. If we can accomplish these goals, get these policy achievements, and change these mindsets, I really believe we can reignite this core, glorious idea that the condition of your birth doesn’t determine the outcome of your life. This idea that if you work hard, you can make it. You can you can be the best version of yourself and that the opportunity of the American Dream is alive and well and most importantly, everybody sees that it’s there for them and that they can achieve it.”

Why do public policies focused on expanding opportunity matter?

“What I really believe we can do is scale up solutions to criminal justice and just get ourselves into a virtuous cycle where we’re actually repairing things. I think Opportunity Zones is another area where we are using private capital to flood the zone in the poorest of the poor communities. It’s something that I helped put in the tax reform to revitalize – not residential properties, but revitalize communities. This is another area, and we spent a lot of time at the American Idea Foundation on this, where we can really move the needle on poverty and get capital to capital-starved areas, so that we can create opportunities and upward mobility.

“All of these efforts that we’re just talking about now have one thing in mind behind them: It’s never too late for redemption. There is always hope. And in this country, you can make a great and better life for yourself and you can leave your kids better off than you were. There are too many people who don’t believe that these days, but I really fundamentally believe if we apply ourselves to these policies that are just coming online and do more, we can reignite the American idea so that it’s really bought into…. I see things like this as helping bring us together to revive civil society and get us all focused on making sure that one another does well. And so, that to me is an inspiring movement, that to me is the politics of hope, inclusion, and inspiration. It’s what I’d like to see more of frankly.”

Why is the American Idea Foundation focusing on ideas outside of Washington, DC?

“I think the best thing that can be done is to go and find those diamonds in the rough, those programs out there that are really making a difference, learn from them, and then build, scalable, recordable models that can be replicated.

“Let’s take [an example] in Texas. Let’s take Catholic Charities in Fort Worth. I spent a pretty good deal of time with Catholic Charities Fort Worth. They have, in my mind’s eye, one of the best anti-poverty programs and they have a case-management program called the Padua Project. The Padua Project is a program that this wonderful lady named Heather Reynolds, who now is the Executive Director of Notre Dame’s Lab of Economic Opportunity (LEO), founded. The Padua Project, which is you get a Catholic Charities caseworker who is attached to no more than say 20 families to help them set up a plan to get out of poverty. It takes not just six months or eight months; it takes three or four or five years. They work with them, building a plan that is erected with incentives and disincentives, carrots and sticks, to troubleshoot and activate all the resources that are available, so that each person can work themselves out of poverty and build a better life for themselves….

“We have run a randomized clinical trial (RCT) on Padua and we have concluded it makes an enormous difference. So, setting up this sort of case-management program in the right way, with the proper incentives and controls is something that now we’ve sort of scientifically proven. We built an evidence model. We built procedures and practices. This could be built and rebuilt and replicated across the country and really move the needle on helping get people out of poverty. There’s just one example of something that has nothing to do with Washington, DC or the federal government.

“Catholic Charities has got the secret sauce. They figured out that it can be replicated. We figured out how to replicate it and now what we’re trying to do is amplify this effort. This type of program and these success stories can be seen again and again and each place will customize it a little bit, but there’ll be a base from which to operate from. So, charitable efforts to get people out of poverty aren’t having to go back and reinvent the wheel every time. They can pick up where others left off, and really, produce successes.”

How is the American Idea Foundation working with policymakers to advance pro-growth policies?

“This is the other thing that my foundation is working on, though COVID has presented a little bit of a problem, but I’ve spent a lot of my time touring poor communities around the country. I went with my friend, Bob Woodson, for a couple of years touring the poorest of the poor communities, just on listening tours and holding listening sessions. I’m trying to train other policymakers to do the same. It’s one of the things the American Idea Foundation is working and doing, which is getting people out of the comfort zones and out of their Congressional Districts, going into the poor communities. If you represent a rural area that’s not poor or a suburban area that is wealthy, go to these poor areas, listen, learn, observe, take away and build relationships, friendships, and alliances, and then go make a difference. That’s something that I was able to do and I feel I’ve really benefited from it.”

Why work on fighting poverty and expanding evidence-based policies after leaving Congress?

“It’s some of the most gratifying work that I did when I was in government, I always found myself — and when you’re Speaker of the House, you have to deal with national security and that was actually a big project of mine, but I always found on my discretionary policy time, I found myself going back to this issue. It’s just what really moves me.

“I’m a cradle Catholic, so this is a big part of your upbringing. It’s a big part of Catholic social teaching, so it’s something that I just always believed in and I just found that every time I had a little bit of spare time from managing members to scheduling legislation, this is where I wanted to spend my time. This is the legislation that really helped, that was fulfilling….

“And so, I decided after my speakership that I wanted to go work on making sure these laws were well executed. I want to make sure that these laws stand the test of time and get executed well. We didn’t write the laws as perfectly as I would want to, but that just means there’s more follow-up and more follow through. The American Idea Foundation is basically focused on this topic and in particular, it is focused on executing these laws and making sure that they’re properly designed.”

How can the Biden Administration successfully advance reforms that help the American people?

“They should start on incremental reforms that are confidence-building measures, that are bipartisan in nature, stay between the 40-yard lines and bang out a bunch of reforms. I know [President Biden’s] doing Executive Orders that appease the base. I don’t like those Executive Orders but that’s just what they’re going to do. Especially with impeachment coming down the path, that’s going to inflame the situation and it’s going to make it much more partisan, so stay within the 40-yard lines and bring a bunch of incremental reforms that get bipartisan buy-in.

“I pray to God that they keep the filibuster and my guess is [Republican Leader Mitch McConnell] will be able to get a deal to do that…. but bang out a bunch of incremental, bipartisan reforms as confidence-builders, that show the institutions are strong, that the country can still work, that we can reduce the rhetoric, and just start banging out some compromises and some reforms that fulfill the theme that Joe Biden put out in his inaugural speech. I was sitting not too far away from President Bush. The inaugural speech was pitch perfect, but, you know, words must be followed with actions. So, the actions that should follow the words are bipartisan, incremental reforms.”

How can America move forward, together, during these tough economic times?

“I think the biggest mistake that President Biden could make is using reconciliation to try and rip up the tax code that we just fixed. And look, I understand that progressives who play class warfare would like to do that but they will slow down economic growth. The tax reforms that passed were way overdue. They made us internationally competitive. They kept jobs here at home. They created more investment, but most importantly, the kind of an economy that these tax reforms created was the fastest wage growth among the lowest income-earners in the country.

“[President] Joe Biden will be able to get a nice recovery out of this. I think he needs to go easy on the regulatory footprint. I know that he’s going to go after Carbon and I think that’s regrettable but if [President] Joe Biden focuses on confidence-building measures before partisan measures and doesn’t go after the tax code, he will inherit an economy built for growth, particularly coming out of COVID and that will give people jobs. You have a lot of unemployed people, a lot of people in debt. You have to have fast economic growth to get people back into jobs and into the workforce, and to get wage growth, the policies are there, [President Biden] just needs to allow it to happen.”

The Joseph Project delivers on the promise of redemption in Wisconsin

January 18, 2021 by Mike

By: AIF Staff

Chuck Grassley is an 87-year-old from Iowa who has spent nearly forty years serving in the Senate. Kim Kardashian West is a socialite and businesswoman from California who has spent nearly fifteen years starring on reality shows. At first glance, these two individuals could not be more different. The only thing this pair has in common, in addition to being entertaining on Twitter, is their commitment to reforming our nation’s criminal justice system.

Both have been instrumental in addressing issues associated with our criminal justice system and both were forceful advocates for the First Step Act of 2018. As Speaker of the House, American Idea Foundation President Paul Ryan helped lead this successful bipartisan effort to modernize elements of our justice system, uniting both the left and the right around policies that would allow individuals to serve their sentences, atone for their crimes, and then get back on the ladder of life.

As the American Idea Foundation has noted in past articles highlighting the main policy elements in the First Step Act: “It is rare to see meaningful legislation pass with 358 votes in the House and 87 votes in the Senate, and the legislation, which was backed by Governors, law enforcement groups, former federal prosecutors, and a constellation of advocacy organizations, showed that Congress is still capable of addressing complex issues that have a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals.”

The First Step Act of 2018 was not merely an academic exercise for policymakers. Far from it. The problem of recidivism is very real for far too many American families. The American Enterprise Institute’s report, Rethinking Reentry, detailed the scope of the problem:

“The vast majority of the nearly 600,000 people released from federal and state prisons every year cannot successfully transition back into our neighborhoods and communities, often swiftly returning to incarceration for new crimes. A 2018 Bureau of Justice Statistics report reinforces this dismal reality. The study examined nearly 68,000 people released from state prisons in 2005 and found that 83 percent—roughly equivalent to five out of six—were arrested again within nine years of their release.”

It is simply unacceptable that individuals who commit a mistake and serve their punishments are then seemingly confined to a life of criminal behavior and incarceration, too often passing through the revolving door of America’s justice system.

Without question, efforts to reduce recidivism must begin while individuals are incarcerated, which is why it is encouraging that the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons are increasingly utilizing evidence-based strategies, like more robust initial risk assessments and increased vocational programming, to lower rates of reoffending. The Independent Review Committee of outside experts, which was established as part of the First Step Act, recently detailed some of the early evidence-based strategies, providing insight into how the federal government’s data can inform efforts while individuals are still confined.

But reducing recidivism does not stop at the doors of America’s jails and prisons. Rather, these pre-release efforts seed the ground, creating the conditions for individuals to truly reform and reintegrate into society. They must then be supplemented by post-release efforts, which is why in July, the American Idea Foundation highlighted the successful pilot projects run by United Health Care and READI Chicago to help individuals reacclimate to society. The work being done by these groups is so important, because it helps rebuild families and communities, one person at a time.

Another local initiative that is achieving success and using an innovative approach in Wisconsin is the Joseph Project. As the Capitol Times reported:

“The program, named for the Robert L. Woodson Sr. book “The Triumphs of Joseph,” is a faith-based initiative that seeks to train men and women — often with criminal backgrounds — and find them jobs with Wisconsin businesses.”

The Joseph Project’s model is one that the American Idea Foundation believes holds promise and that could be replicated in other parts of the country. The organization was created by Senator Ron Johnson, local community leader Orlando Owens, and Greater Praise Church of God in Christ pastor Jerome Smith who were working on economic development initiatives in majority-minority communities.

The National Review described the Joseph Project’s genesis as a simple alignment of seeing a problem and developing a solution:

“According to Smith, the idea for the project arose after he and several other pastors visited the Sheboygan Economic Development Corporation about an hour’s drive from Milwaukee, a visit facilitated by Orlando Owens…. It became clear during this trip that a number of corporations had unfilled manufacturing jobs, while Smith knew of countless people in the Milwaukee area who were looking for work.

And as the Wall Street Journal noted:

“There are tens of thousands of unfilled manufacturing and other entry-level positions in Wisconsin. Seven of 10 state CEOs had trouble finding enough qualified workers, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce trade group found in a July survey, and demand is rising. To try to resolve this mismatch between potential workers and the businesses that want to hire them, Mr. Owens and Pastor Smith last year started a partnership called the Joseph Project.”

As part of its programming, the Joseph Project puts individuals through a vetting process; teaches them interview skills, financial literacy lessons, and conflict management techniques; and then links them with Wisconsin employers. They assist individuals throughout the job-seeking and employment process. The employers, who trust the Joseph Project’s efforts, often provide flexibility in hiring individuals, particularly those with criminal records, so they are not excluded from opportunities.

The early results have been promising, as detailed in a 2016 Capitol Times article: “About 140 people have gone through the class, Smith said. Of those participants, about 120 have had interviews with employers, and about 85 have landed jobs. Those who have found employment have had about a 78 percent retention rate.”

As the Journal summarized: “Success builds on success, the faith-based program teaches a sense of spiritual solidarity. “The Joseph Project is really bigger than just you,” Mr. Owens says. “It’s really about the next person behind you, keeping the door open for the next person behind you.”

Like so many recidivism-reduction programs, the Joseph Project’s success is rooted in an approach that treats participants with compassion, dignity, and respect. And the program has continued to see results, recently expanding its footprint to Milwaukee, Madison, and Sheboygan.

The community buy-in, the individualized assistance, the long-term approach to helping individuals get back to living productive lives is not going unnoticed. In 2020, Trump Administration officials visited the organization to talk with its participants. During the conversation, Senior Advisor Ja’Ron Smith highlighted the integral role of these local groups, stating: “It’s much needed in partnership with the passage of the First Step Act or any type of reform that comes with giving people second chances,” he said. “Having local leadership like this is important.”

At the signing of the First Step Act, Speaker Ryan summed up the importance of these local efforts to ultimately expand opportunities for individuals looking to get back on their feet:

“For too long as the society, we have ignored those who have made mistakes and paid for those mistakes and we ended up turning what is the legitimate punishment for wrongs committed into a lifelong brand, eliminating the ability for individuals to turn their lives around, permanently separating parents from children and driving millions into despair.
“America at its best is an America that provides for second chances. If a small business owner fails, they pick themselves up and they try again, but for too long, we’ve decided that individuals who break the law don’t get a second chance. Of all the things that our country has demonstrated, it is the power of redemption and so we need to make sure that we realize the power of redemption in our criminal justice system, and with the First Step Act, we have changed that paradigm and formerly incarcerated individuals are now getting a second chance to lead better and more productive lives.”

Since its enactment, the First Step Act has allowed more individuals to better reintegrate into their communities, but it will require the collective buy-in from everyone to successfully reduce recidivism over the long-term. With bright lights like the Joseph Project leading the way in communities, the number of people who are truly given a second chance to pursue the American Dream will undoubtedly increase and that could make a hug difference.

Social Impact Partnerships: Leveraging Strengths from Communities, the Government, & Private Sector to Improve Outcomes

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