Verily Life Sciences, one of OneFifteen’s four founding partners, will provide the upfront funding for the project that will help as many as 1,500 adults, according to OneFifteen’s proposal.
OneFifteen’s proposal was one of five statewide projects that were deemed “Pay-for-Success Appropriate and Ready” and cleared the ResultsOHIO screening, which makes sure programs “have the tools and vision” for success, said Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague. The programs first must succeed using private funding before taxpayer money picks up the tab.
“With issues like addiction, infant mortality, and poverty gripping our communities, we must find new ways to combat the most persistent challenges facing our state,” Sprague said. “ResultsOHIO gives Ohio an avenue to do things differently — to be bold — and put innovative ideas to the test.”
OneFifteen, which helps people overcome substance use disorders, seeks to expand its integrated and accessible care for individuals at odds with the justice system in southwest Ohio.
“OneFifteen is thrilled to be able to move on to the next phase of the approval process,” said Marti Taylor, president and CEO.
Taylor said the novel process is a way to leverage both private and public resources to tackle challenging social and public health problems.
The next three to five months will be spent explaining OneFifteen’s proposal to legislators who could then be moved to include funding in the next state budget bill, Taylor said.
The other projects deemed “Pay-for-Success Appropriate and Ready” by the Ohio Treasurer’s Office are:
- Cincinnati Works in Hamilton County aims to better address unemployment and underemployment with the goal of ultimately moving its members out of poverty.
- Columbus Works in Franklin County seeks to expand career, life, and financial coaching, job placement services and wraparound supports to individuals as a means to address barriers to self-sufficiency, including legal services, medical and behavioral health care, and housing.
- Every Child Succeeds in Hamilton County that provides a year of home visiting services to high-risk pregnant women seeks to reduce preterm births and its adverse impacts on mothers, infants, and families.
- Ohio Department of Higher Education proposes to deliver coaching services statewide to Ohio National Guard Scholarship students prior to enrollment and during the first year of post-secondary education to encourage on-time graduation and maximize military benefits.
Nineteen proposals were submitted during the first round, according to Treasurer’s Office. In addition to the five deemed “Pay for Success Appropriate and Ready,” 10 were jduged “Pay for Success Appropriate, but Not Ready,” and will be able to revise and resubmit applications. Four were determined to be “Not Pay for Success Appropriate.”
In addition to the private sector, Sprague said upfront money for projects can also come philanthropic organizations, community foundations and investment funds emphasizing social impact.
“There will be projects that fail, and the taxpayers aren’t on the hook for those,” Sprague said. “But for the ones that are successful, it will save people’s lives, they will improve their communities and they will save the taxpayer’s dollars because now you have a program that works better and produces better results than what we had before.”
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