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Insights

‘Government Only Pays for the Positive Outcomes.’ A Strikingly New Approach to Social Problems

Lenny Bernstein

Public Sector Solutions, Results-Based Funding

Pay for Success (PFS) projects essentially “monetize prevention” according to Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance US. This Washington Post article describes PFS and how the model is being used in Connecticut, South Carolina, and Colorado to improve social outcomes.

Read the article in the Washington Post →


The approach recruits private companies and philanthropies to provide millions of dollars upfront for efforts aimed at difficult social problems. If they meet a series of measurable goals over a number of years, the states will pay them back with interest.

Related Insight

A New Public Finance Tool to Help the Most Vulnerable
Happy multiracial elementary school students sitting at desk in

A New Public Finance Tool to Help the Most Vulnerable

Read CEO Tracy Palandjian's op-ed with David Gergen about Pay for Success projects in South Carolina and Connecticut.

Tracy Palandjian, David Green