Third year results show Newpin continues to help families stay together

Australia’s first social benefit bond has delivered strong social and financial returns in its third year.

The latest results for Newpin show that as at 30 June 2016:

  • 130 children have been restored to their families, including 20 children restored to their father’s care
  • 47 families have been supported to prevent their children from entering care
  • A cumulative restoration rate of 61% for the program (which is the proportion of children referred to Newpin that are subsequently returned from out of home care to their families over three years)
  • 12.2% return to investors based on Newpin’s performance.

Read the 2016 Annual Investor Report from Social Ventures Australia for more information. 

Newpin is an intensive, therapeutic support program delivered by Uniting, and supported by a $7 million social benefit bond. The Newpin bond is the first of its kind in Australia and began in 2013. The latest results show that Newpin effectively supports parents to create safe and stable homes for their children.

Participating parents attend Newpin centres for at least two days per week over 18 months. In this time, they are supported to develop their parenting skills, attend therapeutic support groups, and interact meaningfully with their children. Each centre includes a ‘Fathers Outreach’ program that offers tailored peer support for fathers, an innovative addition to the Newpin model. There are currently five Newpin centres, in Sydney and on the Central Coast.

The NSW Government recently announced the On TRACC social impact investment, the third investment for the NSW Government and the first in Australia to support parolees to successfully reintegrate into the community following release from prison. This follows a second social benefit bond, The Benevolent Society bond, which aims to prevent at-risk children from entering care.

The NSW Government is also developing three other investments to achieve better outcomes for vulnerable young people transitioning to independence, people with chronic health conditions and people with mental health conditions.

The Office of Social Impact Investment recently hosted market sounding sessions to explore opportunities for investments to increase access to early childhood education, to increase permanency for children in out of home care, and to address youth unemployment. Materials from these sessions are now available.

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