DENVER – April 6, 2021:  The Colorado Department of Higher Education’s (CDHE) Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) and One Million Degrees (OMD) today announced the launch of “Finish What You Started,” a two-year pilot program providing wraparound support services for low-income Adams County, Colorado adults, aged 25+, to obtain college credentials or degrees. OMD will work closely with COSI, community-based organizations, and local college partners to recruit and enroll 150-200 students and measure outcomes, persistence towards degree completion, and improved earnings in the workforce.
 
With $300,000 in funding from COSI’s Pay for Success Community Partnership Program,

500% increase in workforce enrollment and program completion for previously underserved youth in a workforce development program in Virginia 33% reduction in psychiatric emergency room visits by chronically homeless  in California 50% fewer days in jail and 61% fewer arrests for high-risk, high-need criminal offenders in Utah 22% improvement in speedy access to mental health [...]

The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission has released a progress report on California’s Multi-County Full Service Partnership Innovation Project designed to improve delivery of services to people with the most severe and often co-occurring mental health needs. Funded by the Mental Health Services Act, full service partnership (FSP) programs are designed to apply [...]

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that called for a “comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality”.   Federal agencies, guided by the Office of Management and Budget are [...]

Third Sector and the Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) collaborated to lead an Outcomes-Based Contracting (OBC) Summit, a four-workshop virtual series exploring outcomes contracting in K-12 math instruction. The OBC Summit was funded by Schmidt Futures.   Summit participants learned about the nuances of outcomes-based contracting and defined an approach for their organization. [...]

Third Sector Capital Partners (Third Sector) is excited to be part of a team working to expand the reach, quality and equity of U.S Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) SNAP Employment & Training (E&T) program by connecting the program to Department of Labor’s (DOL) workforce development system through workforce development boards (WDBs). Third Sector, a non-profit consultancy with a mission to transform public sector programs for improved outcomes and racial equity, is part of a team that has recently been awarded a USDA National Partnership Grant from the USDA’s Food and