Developing Australia’s first Social
Benefit Bond: the UnitingCare
Burnside experience
Presentation to the 2nd Annual Social Finance Forum
8 August 2013
Claerwen Little, Director
UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families
Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success.
Henry Ford
About UnitingCare Burnside
• 102 years old - part of the UnitingCare Children,
Young People and Families service group
• One of the largest providers of support services to
vulnerable children and families in NSW including
intensive family services and OOHC
• Sophisticated management, finance, innovation
and research skills
• No previous experience in the social finance world
The Newpin motivation
• SBB will fund the continuation and expansion of
Burnside’s Newpin program
• Evidence-based family restoration and
preservation model
• Breaking intergenerational cycles of abuse and
neglect
• Key points of difference with other crisis
interventions
The joint development phase (JDP)
• 12 months as opposed to the anticipated 6
• ‘Known unknowns’ → information gaps
established in the tender process
• Development phase provided critical access to
unpublished data
• Not all ‘unknowns’ were readily ‘knowable’
JDP – the tricky bits
• Key FACS dataset not suited to (or designed for)
comparative outcomes analysis
• To derive a counterfactual both SBBs will require
the construction of a live control group
• Significant administrative impost for all parties
• Australia does cost-benefit analysis on social
programs poorly
JDP – the investor perspective
• SBBs only useful if they raise funds → must
understand how investors think through risks v
rewards in an unfamiliar domain (OOHC) and new
finance instrument (SBBs)
• Burnside’s partnership with Social Ventures
Australia (SVA) built our understanding
• JDP – negotiates how risk is apportioned between
parties.
What did we take to market?
The $7 million Newpin SBB is expected to:
• Allow expansion from 4 to 10 centres
• Work with over 700 families approximately 55%
have at least 1 child under 5 years in OOHC
• Restore over 400 children to their families and to
prevent 60 children entering care
• Provide investor returns of 10-12% pa
• Generate long-term government savings of $95m
Meeting investors
A genuine partnership
• Genuine collaboration with government was ‘the’
key to the success of the SBB pilot process
• All parties demonstrated professionalism,
commitment, openness and trust
• This way of working will improve practice quality
regardless of the funding and financial
arrangements
• Data should not be a one-way flow
Measurement matters
• Once you’ve worked out which programs might be
compatible with SBBs or other forms of social
finance you need to ask:
• Do our data systems enable measurement of:
• Outcomes
• The counterfactual
• Direct and indirect savings?
• If not, what system change is required?
Building capacity
• What possibilities are opened up by the social
finance domain?
• How do we learn to think through these
possibilities ?
• There is no such thing as a ‘Classic SBB Model’
• Think outside the box and create tailored solutions
• Establish efficient means to test the ground
Supporting innovation
• A track record made Newpin’s SBB life easier
• What are the options for innovation seed funding
to:
• ‘Road test’ effectiveness
• Assess risks and returns for investors?
The SBB process - benefits to Burnside
• The SBB process has strengthened Newpin
practice and management
• Even before a single SBB dollar was raised the
SBB process offered us benefits in terms of:
• Discipline
• Learning to use information
• Practice quality and communication
• New strategic initiatives in performance
improvement and innovation space
The full circle
Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success.
Henry Ford
Questions or comments?
Contact details:
Claerwen Little
CEO
UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families
T: (02) 9768 6866
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