MDRC is serving as the intermediary in the nation’s first Social Impact Bond (SIB), an innovative way to fund promising new programs at no cost to taxpayers. MDRC oversees the implementation of Adolescent Behavioral Learning Experience, a cognitive behavioral therapy program for 16- to 18-year-olds detained at New York City’s Rikers Island with the goal of reducing the high recidivism rate for this population. Partners in the NYC SIB, which was launched in 2012, include Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the New York City Mayor’s Office and the Department of Correction, The Osborne Association, and Friends of Island Academy. 

Using the expertise gained from this experience, MDRC has been offering advice and technical assistance to municipalities and others interested in starting SIBs, including about how to define problems and interventions that are appropriate for SIB-like financing, to negotiate and structure SIB arrangements, to implement and scale programs supported by SIBs, and to determine proper metrics for assessing the effectiveness of SIB-financed initiatives. 

MDRC is currently advising the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education on applying the SIB structure to projects in that field. In addition, we have provided direct assistance to emerging SIB projects in several municipalities, including Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Chicago, and we have continuing partnerships in Santa Barbara and Minneapolis/St. Paul. MDRC staff have made presentations to federal agencies, at national conferences, and at graduate schools and have hosted delegations interested in SIBs from South Korea, Israel, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Germany. 

MDRC’s technical assistance on SIBs is generously funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the George Gund Foundation. For more information, contact Cindy Redcross, Senior Research Associate, cindy.redcross@mdrc.org.