NFF Invests in Pay for Success Project to Provide Housing and Supportive Services to Chronically Homeless in Denver
NATIONAL- February 16, 2016- The City of Denver, Colorado is launching its first Pay for Success (PFS) project to provide permanent housing and supportive services to 250 chronically homeless individuals with behavioral health and substance abuse challenges. The Housing to Health initiative will deliver intensive case management to those who frequently interact with the criminal justice and emergency care systems in order to create long-term solutions for a hard-to-reach population. NFF's $434,696 investment is part of $8.6 million in financing from eight lenders that will support comprehensive service provision and align spending with measurable results.
"Pay for Success gives NFF an additional way to deploy capital to reach those in need," said Norah McVeigh, Managing Director of Financial Services at NFF. "Denver's Housing to Health initiative exemplifies how results-based funding may help address entrenched social issues and create better futures for vulnerable communities."
Pay for Success projects, often financed by agreements known as Social Impact Bonds, are innovative funding models that drive resources toward social programs that provide results to the people who need them most. PFS helps governments to access greater up-front resources to tackle social problems, and governments only pay if agreed-upon outcomes are met.
To learn more about the Housing to Health initiative, read the press release, a fact sheet, and a project summary with a full list of partners.
In addition to NFF's role as an investor, NFF leads sector-wide PFS education, outreach, and convening efforts to help stakeholders and nonprofits understand the model and assess their readiness to engage in PFS financing. In 2014, in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service's Social Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, NFF also launched an initiative to award $2.88 million in grants to support PFS transaction structuring around the country. The Housing to Health initiative is NFF's second investment in a PFS project and the ninth project launched to date in the U.S.