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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alex Zaroulis, Director of Communications
(617) 549-0358, azaroulis@socialfinance.org
Ventura County Project to Support Reentry Launched to Reduce Recidivism, Improve Public Safety, and Promote Family Stability
Cutting-edge Pay for Success partnership is part of a broader initiative to reduce the high level of criminal recidivism and associated costs at the state and community level
Ventura County, CA (November 6, 2017)–Today, the Ventura County Executive Office, alongside the Ventura County Probation Agency, Interface Children & Family Services, and Social Finance, launched the Ventura County Project to Support Reentry, making it the 20th Pay for Success project launched in the United States. The project will increase access to proven services to increase public safety and to improve the lives of those on formal probation across the county.
Pay for Success is an innovative public-private partnership that leverages private capital to scale effective service providers and deliver services to those in need. Pay for Success enables governments to partner with high-performing service providers by tapping private investments to expand programs that get results. If, following an independent evaluation by UCLA researcher Dr. David Farabee, the Ventura County Project to Support Reentry achieves predetermined outcomes, then Ventura County will repay investors based on the level of outcomes achieved.
“The Ventura County Probation Agency is excited to be a part of this innovative strategy to expand evidence-based services throughout the County to a population who have traditionally been underserved. We believe that public safety is best served by long-term behavior change in high-risk offenders under our supervision,” said Ventura County Probation Agency Chief Mark Varela. “The Pay for Success Project is targeted to provide such services through one of our strongest community partners, Interface Children & Family Services. This project will ensure that high-quality programs and services, which are targeted to reduce recidivism, are effective for our clients and strengthening families.”
With this project, Interface Children & Family Services, a nonprofit social services agency with 44 years of local and statewide experience, will expand its services and build on its strong partnership with Ventura County Probation Agency. In 2014, the County and Interface jointly developed a program to provide case management and reentry-focused services to AB109 clients. AB109 provides a dedicated and permanent revenue stream to California counties for local public safety programs. The Ventura County Project to Support Reentry builds off this successful partnership with Interface Reentry Services: clients will receive a combination of Moral Reconation Therapy, trauma therapy, relationship skills counseling, and employment support.
“This project is a win-win for the community and for families by reducing recidivism and improving public safety, while promoting economic opportunity for offenders who want to make good on a second chance,” said Erik Sternad, Interface Executive Director. “It is an honor for Interface to be chosen for the 20th Pay for Success project to be launched nationally. Creative, cross-sector collaborations like this are essential for improving on historically entrenched problems such as criminal recidivism.”
Social Finance raised $2.6 million from Blue Shield of California Foundation, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Reinvestment Fund, and the Whitney Museum of American Art to fund the project. Social Finance will continue to serve as project intermediary throughout the project, providing active performance management and ongoing investor relations.
“Today’s announcement represents the vision, agility, and dedication of all project partners, but more importantly it represents a beginning,” said Tracy Palandjian, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance. “Over the next four years, we will work with our partners to use data actively to ensure we achieve outcomes for men and women in Ventura County working to rebuild their lives.”
Ventura County received a grant from the California Board of State and Community Corrections to use towards funding successful reductions in re-arrests. The Ventura County Project to Support Reentry was developed with the support of the CA PFS Initiative, which is funded by the James Irvine Foundation and administered by Nonprofit Finance Fund.
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About Ventura County
The County Executive Office (CEO) is responsible for the development and monitoring of an annual budget of more than $2 billion. CEO is the administrative arm of the Board of Supervisors and executes the County’s mission and strategic plan. CEO exercises administrative oversight for 25 agencies (including six elected positions) and departments employing nearly 9,000. CEO coordinates community-wide projects and supports agencies and departments through such divisions as Community Development, Human Resources, Labor Negotiations, Risk Management Service Excellence and Finance. To that end, CEO embraces service excellence, sound fiscal management, and strict adherence to policies that promote operational and budgetary stability as reflected by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s highest bond ratings of Aaa and AAA, respectively. The office manages special initiatives around entrenched social problems and is well-positioned to effectuate long-term change across jurisdictional and program boundaries.
About Ventura County Probation Agency
The Ventura County Probation Agency is charged by the Courts with the direct supervision of approximately 9,000 adult offenders. Serving these offenders in the field are two divisions, Adult Field Services and Adult Safety Realignment. The Divisions are comprised of nine field supervision units committed to increasing public safety in Ventura County. Field officers administer a comprehensive risk and needs assessment to identify the appropriate level of supervision, to target criminogenic needs (risk factors that lead to anti-social/criminal behavior), identify barriers to treatment, and develop individualized case plans for those receiving intensive level services. Evidence-based case management principles, individual cognitive behavioral interventions, and referrals to collaborative agencies and community-based organizations are made to address targeted risk factors.
About Interface Children & Family Services
Interface Children & Family Services is Ventura County’s most comprehensive non-profit social service agency offering 24 distinct programs with 10 evidence-based practices. Founded in 1973, Interface works to prevent and heal the effects of child abuse, neglect and abandonment; domestic violence; family conflict and mental health issues; and administers justice involved intervention and prevention services. Interface has pioneered several programs including ranking among the first to open a domestic violence shelter in California and launching the state’s first 2-1-1 call center. Currently, the agency serves approximately 35,000 local individuals annually and connects 150,000 people to a vast network of health and human services in 19 counties through operation of the 2-1-1 information and referral system helpline.
About Social Finance
Social Finance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing capital to drive social progress. Social Finance is committed to using Pay for Success to tackle complex social challenges, facilitate greater access to services for vulnerable populations, and direct capital to evidence-based social programs – all with the goal of measurably improving the lives of people most in need. Social Finance has deep experience in the design and implementation of Pay for Success projects, from early-stage feasibility assessment, to project development and capital formation, to post-launch performance management and investment support. Social Finance’s sister organization, Social Finance UK, pioneered the first social impact bond in the world.