Social Impact Bonds and TANF

Here's an update from our friends at EARN:

The “discussion draft” version of TANF reauthorization legislation that House Ways and Means put out for comment last month includes $350 million for social impact bond demonstration projects, see Section 10 of: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/JDG_705_xml.pdf

If you don't know what Social Impact Bond are, see this article from Nonprofit Quarterly by  Donald Cohen  at In The Public Interest and Jennifer Zelnick.

According to Cohen and Zelnick, "The concept of SIBs (Social Impact Bonds) is for private investors to lend money to governments for the funding of programs that, if successfully delivered, will generate long-term savings. Repayment of upfront funds is triggered when an independent evaluator certifies that programs have achieved the promised results. Proponents argue that SIBs should be used— at no cost to taxpayers—to test to see which innovative ideas can make a dent in intractable social problems."