Public Safety committee  I think it's still a work in progress, and some of the more recent ones in the U.S. have more private investment. Goldman Sachs has put up some money. For example, the New York City Rikers Island one is from private funding, but then there's a guarantee from the Bloomberg foundat

Public Safety committee  The U.S. has a program called the Social Innovation Fund, which does match philanthropic dollars and money from the government. But I think the total amount is small compared with overall government spending, so I have not heard this complaint about it influencing policy too much

Public Safety committee  These models, by and large, do not say that governments are now not going to be partners in this and will not pay. I think it's really a question about whether governments are paying upfront for the program, or if they're paying down the road for the outcomes that are achieved.

Public Safety committee  I think the question is really what the market will sustain. The social impact bonds depend on private investors being willing to wait however long to get paid back. The ones we've seen so far, which as we've said are very new, the pilot ones, are of relatively short periods. It'

Public Safety committee  I think there's a range of things that are labelled social investments. I certainly think, to the extent that there are enterprises that are able to bring in revenues, that's a positive thing, though again, you need to think about what your outcomes are and make sure that the des

Public Safety committee  I do think, as I said, that the justice area is one of the ones where you see the most immediate payoffs because prison is so expensive. Homelessness prevention is another one where there may be quite short-term payoffs. In the U.S. context, people have looked at some of the very

Public Safety committee  Thank you for inviting me to testify. Can you hear me?

Public Safety committee  I appreciate the technology that lets me join you. I am Elizabeth Lower-Basch. I'm the policy coordinator at CLASP, the Center for Law and Social Policy. We seek to improve the lives of low income people by analyzing and advocating for good practices and policies. Earlier this