Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Roundtable: Improving Outcomes: The Role of ‘Pay for Success’

(Public and Non-Profit Management and Finance)

Pay for Success (PFS) is an Obama Administration priority that explores new ways to drive innovation and scale evidence-based practices to improve social or environmental outcomes. The PFS model is designed to catalyze program innovation and improvement, act upon the best evidence and further build evidence regarding efficacy, drive results by focusing on impacts, and help target limited dollars and reduce financial risk to taxpayers or other stakeholders. Rigorous evaluation is a key pillar of PFS, and important flexibilities within the model also allow for rapid learning about the success of an intervention, and services can be adjusted in real-time. The PFS model is rapidly growing across the U.S. and abroad, and is seen as one of the most promising strategies to use evidence and research to make government, among other institutions, more effective. The proposed APPAM roundtable would offer insight into the Obama Administration’s PFS agenda and accomplishments; lessons learned from key federal agencies exploring, implementing, and advancing PFS models, including how this innovative approach can increase government effectiveness; and discussion about how this work contributes to the broader PFS field. Roundtable participants are White House and federal agency leadership and staff who have been instrumental in advancing PFS and collaborating with diverse stakeholders including state and local government, nonprofits, evaluators, philanthropists and investors. Participants will engage in a structured discussion of PFS accomplishments, opportunities and challenges. Senior White House staff will serve as moderator and provide a cross-cutting overview of federal PFS activity and the broader field. Federal agency representatives from four different agencies – the U.S. Department of Labor, Corporation for National and Community Service, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – will serve as roundtable panelists. Speakers will respond to questions regarding the emergence and focus of PFS activity in their respective agencies and policy areas, the role of research and evaluation in this activity, lessons learned, and future opportunities and direction.