Joel Straker, Author at Third Sector Capital Partners

Insights for Designing Outcomes-Oriented Programs for Young Parent Families

July 16, 2020 by Joel Straker, Chelsea Haley and Mary Nelson

As a part of the Southeastern Cohort on Young Parents and Families – a project focused on improving stability and economic well-being for young parent families in Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina – Third Sector summarized insights from studies that evaluated over 100 evidence-based, young parent support programs across the United States. The insights were identified by reviewing research related to the design, delivery, and impact of evidence-based young parent family programs and real-time learnings from the human services organizations that are part of the cohort.

Racism Stands Against Equitable Outcomes

June 3, 2020 by Joel Straker, Oscar Benitez and Jessica Praphath

We are deeply saddened by the recent tragic acts of violence on Black people across the country. We condemn the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and stand in solidarity with those that do – especially our Black colleagues, their families, friends, and communities. These acts are part of a long history [...]

State and Provider Agencies Join the Southeastern Cohort on Young Parents and Families

March 3, 2020 by Joel Straker and Chelsea Haley

Third Sector has expanded its reach to new states in the South through the organization’s new Southeastern Cohort on Young Parents and Families - an effort focused on improving stability and economic self-sufficiency outcomes for young parents and their families. Through the cohort, three State and non-profit provider agencies in Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina [...]

Integrated Data Systems and Outcomes-Oriented Contracting: A Powerful Combination for Improving OutcomesPart II

May 30, 2019 by Joel Straker and Adelia Jenkins

In Part I of this post, we described how outcomes-oriented contracting can leverage linked data to inform government spending and support better service delivery and outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. We also described how Integrated Data Systems (IDS) can supply the critical data needed throughout the outcomes-oriented contracting process. In this post, we dive deeper into outcomes-oriented contracting as a high-value use case for IDS– providing examples from the Empowering Families cohort, outlining key considerations for building IDS, and discussing opportunities to combine these two strategies to enhance your

Integrated Data Systems and Outcomes-Oriented Contracting: A Powerful Combination for Improving OutcomesPart I

May 30, 2019 by Joel Straker and Adelia Jenkins

Public agencies and their partners hold important, yet largely unused, administrative data on individuals, families, and communities. These data are routinely collected in the course of service delivery, and taken together, form a rich picture of people’s experiences and trajectories. The challenge is that all too often, each agency, department, or program only has access to one piece of a larger picture. When we start to bring these pieces together, important connections and opportunities are brought to light that can improve the lives of individuals and families.

For example, access to

Empowering Families: Building Quality Feedback Loops to Support Better Outcomes

April 25, 2019 by Miranda Beggin and Joel Straker

Last month, the Empowering Families Learning Community co-hosted a webinar with Listen4Good, an initiative of the Fund for Shared Insight. This blog post highlights key learnings from the webinar and opportunities for readers interested in building some of these best practices in their own context. Overview of Empowering Families: The Empowering Families Initiative is a [...]

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