Innovative Project Will Increase Support for At-Risk Youth Through Performance-Based Contracts Backed by Private Investment

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced the state's first Pay for Success (PFS) contract will increase support for at-risk youth who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Illinois. Also known as Social Impact Bonds, the first contract awarded under this innovative initiative will go to One Hope United, in partnership with the Conscience Community Network (CCN). Today's announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to ensure that all Illinois youth have the opportunity to follow their dreams and reach their full potential.

"The innovative Pay for Success model will generate major investments and improve outcomes for some of our most at-risk youth," Governor Quinn said. "One Hope United and CCN's evidence-based approach will help these youth successfully transition into adulthood."

Governor Quinn launched the PFS program one year ago, aiming to provide critical resources to address community needs while decreasing long-term negative outcomes that are costly for taxpayers. The innovative program invests private dollars into proven social programs, which are then paid back by the state when results are achieved and long-term savings are realized. The state will then see continued savings as benefits accrue after the investments are paid off.

For the state's first PFS project, the program will generate new private investment for support programs targeting at-risk youth, putting them on the right path by reducing their dependence on the state's welfare and criminal justice systems, which will lead to long-term savings for taxpayers. Today's announcement is expected to generate up to $30 million in direct investment into these critical programs. Because success payments by the state are based upon achievement of outcomes, the PFS program will always be cost-neutral to taxpayers.

In September of 2013, the Governor's Office launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) from organizations seeking to partner with the state to fund new opportunities for at-risk youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. One Hope United and the Conscience Community Network were selected from six applications submitted in response to the RFP. As part of Governor Quinn's commitment to transparency, Illinois was the first state in the nation to publish responses related to a Pay for Success Request for Information.

"Scars of trauma and pain can lead abused and neglected youth towards criminal behavior as well as a deeper involvement in the child welfare system," Mark McHugh, Executive Director of One Hope United said. "This Pay for Success project will catalyze a comprehensive solution that responds to the unique challenges of dually-involved youth throughout the state. Together with the partners of the Conscience Community Network, we are establishing the foundation for lasting cross-systems change that benefits Illinois' most disadvantaged children and families."

One Hope United will serve as lead provider of the Conscience Community Network. They have proposed a project based on the Crossover Youth Practice Model, a set of proven interventions developed by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. Third Sector Capital Partners is providing financial advisory services to the network.

The Conscience Community Network is a collaboration of seven child welfare and juvenile providers with more than 741 years of collective service in Illinois: Lawrence Hall Youth Services, Maryville Academy, OMNI Youth Services, One Hope United, SGA Youth & Family Services, UCAN and Youth Outreach Services.

The Governor's Office of Management and Budget will be entering into negotiations with One Hope United on a project to improve placement outcomes and reduce re-arrests through evidence-based community alternatives to institutional care. The program will serve approximately 800 youth cared for by Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services with histories of justice-involvement, commonly referred to as dually-involved youth.

In his fiscal year 2015 budget, the Governor committed to growing the state's use of PFS contracts as part of his five-year fiscal stabilization plan.

The Harvard Kennedy School's Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance Lab (SIB Lab), in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, received a grant from the Aurora-based Dunham Fund to support the initiative in Illinois. The Rockefeller Foundation has been a leader in helping to bring the PFS model to U.S. and the Dunham Fund is expanding that investment to Illinois. The Harvard SIB Lab is providing technical assistance to 10 state and local governments around the country that are implementing PFS contracts. Innovation Fellow Scott Kleiman is leading the SIB Lab's work in Illinois.

In the PFS model, governments partner with service providers and private and philanthropic investors to scale and fund proven social programs. Investors are repaid by the state from accrued savings only when a rigorous third-party evaluation determines that programs reach specific outcome targets. Because effective programs can help avoid expensive negative outcomes, PFS contracts help avert long-term taxpayer costs.  They represent a smarter way for government to do business, furthering transparency and accountability to ensure that taxpayer funds are not spent on ineffective programs.

Illinois is on the leading edge of PFS among states in the U.S., following New York and Massachusetts. The world's first PFS contract was introduced in the U.K. in 2010. Illinois becomes the third state in the country to announce a PFS project and the first to implement PFS towards improving child welfare outcomes, as well as the first to partner with a network of community providers for service delivery.

For more information on Pay for Success in Illinois, please visit www.payforsuccess.illinois.gov.

Hampton, IL/May, 2014- This coming Saturday, May 10th Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) is searching for volunteers to participate in their newest program, the Invasive Species Removal Project.  This project focuses on eradicating Japanese Honeysuckle, a species with the ability to invade natural systems, multiplying so quickly that it often dominates all other greenery, sometimes leading to the exclusion of the native species.

"The problem is so immense and widespread that we need all the help we can get. If you're looking to make a really big difference and see the real results in a short period of time, this is the project for you." said President & Founder of LL&W, Chad Pregracke.

Volunteers will use hand saws, loppers, and weed wrenches to remove the honeysuckle.  Flagging each location where honeysuckle is removed is crucial, so volunteers will carry flags and mark locations they visit along the way. LL&W will provide all the necessary tools, hard hats, gloves, protective eye wear, as well as lunch. They just ask volunteers to wear boots/athletic shoes (closed toe are a must), long pants, light-colored clothing for hot weather and layers of warm clothing during cooler days. Due to the nature of the work, LL&W is limiting this event to volunteers 16 years of age and above.

Alternative time slots are available in May. Please visit http://livinglandsandwaters.org/get-involved/invasive-species-removal-project/ to register!

About Living Lands & Waters - Chad Pregracke started Living Lands & Waters in 1998 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the beautification and restoration of America's major rivers and to the education of people about environmental issues. From his single boat beginning, LL&W has grown to an internationally known organization with a fleet of barges and workboats.  LL&W engages thousands of volunteers each year in river cleanups, hands-on environmental education workshops, the Great Mississippi River Cleanup, Adopt-a- River-Mile programs and the Million Trees Project.

4 New & Novel Approaches to Guerilla Marketing
Entrepreneur Emphasizes the Art of Advertising

With the continuing evolution of media consumption, it has become increasingly challenging for an advertiser to both capture and hold an audience's attention, says advertising entrepreneur Patrick Walsh.

"A decade or two ago, media was relatively consolidated; advertisers knew they could reach a significant segment of their targeted audience via newspapers and television commercials, which almost seems quaint today," he says. "We live in what academics call the Age of Choice, where reaching a broad audience and funneling their attention to a business has become trickier than ever."

In the past, guerilla marketing - the unconventional and creative use of traditional marketing tools like stickers, print ads and billboards - has been an effective means of jolting public awareness. Today, however, innovation in guerilla techniques is essential. From flash mobs to viral marketing campaigns, successful advertising requires new twists and surprising uses of old tools and strategies.

Walsh shares some of the latest cutting-edge ideas, which - just like the "Mad Men" campaigns of old - are as much art as advertising.

•  Reverse graffiti: Also called clean tagging, this is built on the old joke of etching "Wash Me!" with a forefinger on a dirty car. The technique started with artists in urban areas who didn't want to deface public buildings, sidewalks and subways with spray paint. Instead, they etched designs and messages in encrusted dirt and soot by actually cleaning off some of the grime. Miller beer, Greenpeace and Vans are among the companies that have used reverse graffiti.

•  Aerial messages: Creativity has revived a very old form of advertising: skywriting and sky banners. The trick today, Walsh says, is to surprise and delight the audience, so everyone who sees the display feels like they're getting a private show. Walsh's company, AirSign Inc., (www.airsign.com), recently executed a showstopper at this year's South by Southwest - a venue that has become a hub for the next big thing. AirSign worked with artist ISHKY to pull off a media stunt on the eve of Pi Day, March 14, with five synchronized aircraft spelling out the first few hundred digits in pi's infinite sequence. The air signage worked, earning widespread media attention, and under the Twitter handle #PiInTheSky, became the top trending topic.

•  Light projection advertising: Light projection campaigns, driven by 3D-Mapping, CGI and the wealth of online resources available today, enable the delivery of creative visual content and information to multiple locations in high-traffic urban areas, inviting consumers to start a dialog with the advertised brand or cause. Real-time interactive projections not only capture the eye, but also engage a potential consumer's attention. 

•  Moss art: In case you haven't noticed, green - both the idea and the color - has become a prevalent theme in today's advertising culture. Taking green to the next level, DIY-ers and small-business owners have put to use a way of creating signage with moss. It's the perfect match for farmers and retailers of organic products. After meticulously combining the necessary recipe, including clumps of moss, buttermilk, water, sugar and corn syrup, small business owners simply paint the blended material onto a wall. After waiting several days to a few weeks and spraying the painted area with water, moss lettering appears.

About Patrick Walsh

Patrick Walsh is the CEO of AirSign Inc., (www.airsign.com), which, through the use of giant full-color airplane and helicopter banners, skywriting, digital night signs and blimps, produces show-stopping campaigns. The company recently received global recognition for its artistic skywriting display of several hundred pi characters over the 2014 South by Southwest festival. Walsh is a veteran entrepreneur.

Working to Enact Grant Reform for All State Agencies

CHICAGO - As legislators head back to Springfield, Governor Pat Quinn urged members of the Illinois Senate to pass House Bill 3820. The bill, which the Governor has been working to enact since February, would create the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act to strengthen and streamline requirements for all state grants across all state agencies.

The bill's reforms include stronger state grant procedures to bring them all up to federal standards; improved conflict of interest disclosure requirements; and strict, real-time auditing of all state grants. It would make Illinois the first state in the nation with a comprehensive set of uniform rules covering the entire life cycle of a grant (pre-award, award and post-award).

"It is imperative that all grantees in Illinois have strict oversight and are always held accountable for their work," Governor Quinn said. "That's why I am working to pass House Bill 3820 this legislative session that will reform grant procedures and strengthen oversight to make state grantees more accountable than ever.

"I salute the sponsors for their work to pass this reform legislation.

"With just a few weeks left in the legislative session, I urge the Senate to pass this important bill."

The legislation was recommended by the Illinois Single Audit Commission, which Governor Quinn worked with legislators to create. The legislation also builds on a law the Governor signed in 2012 that strengthened grant procedures for human service agencies.

The bill has already passed the House and is currently before the Senate. It is sponsored by State Representative Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) and State Senator Pam Althoff (R-McHenry), and the Chief Co-Sponsors are State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) and State Representative Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale).