Author Archives: Patrick Lester

Social Innovation Fund Opens 2015 Grant Competition

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) announced a new grant opportunity today. SIF will make $40 million available to winning grantmakers, with each receiving $1-10 million annually for five years. Applications are due March 17. Successful applicants will be notified in … Continue reading

Posted in Social Innovation Fund

Will Social Innovation Become a 2016 Presidential Campaign Issue?

Anti-poverty issues and income inequality may be becoming presidential campaign issues if the rhetoric coming from potential 2016 aspirants in recent days is any gauge. Will evidence-based social policy and innovation rise along with them? The talk began with the … Continue reading

Posted in Politics

Building Evidence in Human Services: An Interview with ACF’s Naomi Goldstein

While many federal agencies have been building and increasing their use of research-based evidence in funding and other policy decisions, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is considered one of the leaders.  Programs within ACF’s purview are wide-ranging, including … Continue reading

Posted in Children and Families, Evidence

Top Social Innovation Reads of 2014

To close out the year, here are SIRC’s “Top Social Innovation Reads of 2014.”  Happy holidays everyone! Reports Beth Kanter, Help! My Nonprofit Needs a Data Nerd (December 2014) Collective Impact Forum, 2014’s Top Collective Impact Resources (December 2014) Urban … Continue reading

Posted in Government Performance

Could Federal Ratings Be Applied to Human Service Providers?

Could draft federal ratings for colleges and universities, released by the U.S. Department of Education on December 19, become a model for human service providers?  At first glance, the sheer difficulty of the task, combined with a lack of time … Continue reading

Posted in Children and Families, Government Performance, Performance Management

Pay-for-Success Update: SIF Grantees Open PFS Competitions, New Projects in Ohio and Massachusetts

Pay-for-success appears to be continuing its steady forward momentum. Recent developments over the past month include: Social Innovation Fund Pay-for-Success Competitions:  Most of the eight intermediaries funded through the Social Innovation Fund’s pay-for-success grants have opened their competitions for technical … Continue reading

Posted in Social Impact Bonds / Pay for Success

Foster Care Innovation Initiative Charts a Different Path to Evidence

While momentum appears to be building for the increased use of evidence in social policy, the ride has occasionally been a bumpy one, with pushback both on and off Capitol Hill over the appropriate definition of evidence. Some fear that … Continue reading

Posted in Children and Families

Evidence Commission Will Wait Until Next Year

A bipartisan proposal for a new Commission on Evidenced-based Policymaking, sponsored by Rep. Paul  Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), now appears unlikely to be enacted in the remaining days of this Congress, according to congressional staff who are … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence

Social Innovation News Feed

Need to stay up to date on social innovation developments but feel overwhelmed by information overload? Consider subscribing to SIRC’s curated Twitter feed. Our Twitter feed tracks major developments and new reports on all the topics covered by SIRC’s blog, … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Performance Management, Social Impact Bonds / Pay for Success, Social Innovation Fund