During the 2000’s and early 2010’s, Salt Lake County observed a concerning increase in homelessness and jail overcrowding. The County government chose to use outcomes based financing to fund two 6-year projects: one focused on providing wrap-around services with a Housing First approach to homelessness; the second using therapy-based intervention to address jail/prison recidivism for adult males. The two pay-for-success projects are known as HNJ and REACH respectively.

The Sorenson Impact Institute led the project management for the HNJ and REACH projects. With a combined $11.7M in funding, HNJ and REACH enabled service offering to 673 individuals. The HNJ project showed improvements in employment, housing stability, and access to mental health services. The REACH project was successful in improving arrest and jail stay outcomes among other criminogenic factors. Importantly, both service providers have found sustainable funding for both interventions to persist beyond the scope of the PFS project.