title: SROI in the pay for success context: Are they at odds?
abstract: The Pay For Success (PFS) and Social Impact Bond (SIB) movements to date have focused heavily on shorter-term outcomes that can be monetized and show clear savings to government entities. In part, this focus derives from the need to specify contract payments based on a narrow set of well measured outcomes (e.g., avoided days in jail and foster care, decreased use of behavioral health services). Meanwhile efforts to measure the social return on investment (SROI) of interventions have sought to expand the view of relevant outcomes to include domains that lend themselves less clearly to monetization. This paper explores the intersection between these two movements with illustrations from a SIB initiative underway focused on homeless families with children in foster care. Challenges and potential for SROI in a third-party payor environment will be discussed as well as opportunities to better leverage the strengths of both types of initiative.
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7167, United States. Electronic address: fischer@case.edu.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7167, United States.
authors.forename: Francisca García-Cobián
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Richter
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic; D009042:Motivation; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D012947:Social Work / Q000191:economics*
keywords: Social return on investment; pay for success