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State of Play: Pay for Success and Evidence-Based Policy June/July 2016

The following post was written by Nicole Truhe, America Forward’s Director of Government Affairs. America Forward held its bi-monthly Pay for Success and Evidence-Based Policy Network call at the end of June to discuss the current “State of Play” in Pay for Success and evidence-based policy and practice. This post reflects the major updates provided on the call and additional
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STATE OF PLAY: PAY FOR SUCCESS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY

The Real Promise of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking

The following post was written by Nicole Truhe, Director of Government Affairs at America Forward. The federal government allocates upwards of $1.6 trillion for social services annually, but only about one percent of that funding is allocated in a way that its impact on those being served is known. Fortunately, Congress recently passed a piece of legislation that had strong
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STATE OF PLAY: PAY FOR SUCCESS AND EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY

Using “Pay For Success” to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Affordable Housing

The following blog post was written by John Griffith, Senior Analyst and Project Manager at Enterprise Community Partners, an organization that helps finance, build and advocate for affordable housing in communities across the U.S. Pay for Success initiatives condition government payments for service providers on the outcomes they achieve. This innovative funding strategy targets taxpayer dollars to programs based on
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The Five Things You Need to Know About the State of the Union Address

When will the President deliver the State of the Union?   Tonight, January 12th, at 9pm ET, President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union Address. The speech will be held in the U.S. Capitol in the House of Representatives Chamber. The speech is expected to last about an hour. The speech will be followed by a Republican
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The Every Student Succeeds Act: How ESSA Advances on Learner-Centered Education

The following post was written by Lexi Barrett, America Forward's Policy Director. Yesterday, the President signed a historic piece of legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ESSA includes a number of America Forward K-12 education priorities to help ensure all students have access to a high-quality education that
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In Defense of the Social Innovation Fund

Our country recognizes the importance of using data and evidence in developing policy, allocating budgets, and awarding grant dollars. The push for this evidence-based approach to policymaking has generated several programs that are substantially impacting the lives of children, youth, and adults in communities across America. However, The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), along with many of the federal programs that
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Happy Anniversary WIOA!

Just one year ago, President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law. This transformative and innovative piece of legislation made significant changes to our federal workforce and job training programs. As America Forward noted at the time of its passage, WIOA was the first major update to the workforce development system since 1998. America Forward was
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The Time is Now to Fix Our Criminal Justice System

The following post is by Nicole Truhe, America Forward's Director of Government Affairs. “Our Criminal Justice System Isn't as Smart as It Should Be.”
 -President Barack Obama, July 14, 2015 Last week much attention was given to our nation’s criminal justice system and the faults associated with it. President Obama commuted the sentences of 46 nonviolent drug offenders as part
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