ReMerge Achieves Outcomes with Initial Pay for Success Agreement, Second Agreement Awarded
Media Release
April 30, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — ReMerge of Oklahoma County successfully achieved the predetermined outcomes set out in its first Pay for Success agreement, which went into effect in June 2021, with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) and the Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative (Collaborative). This success resulted in a recently awarded second Pay for Success agreement to the nonprofit.
ReMerge is a pre-trial diversion program that serves mothers of minor children and expectant mothers who are facing charges in Oklahoma County. They utilize evidence-based treatment and programming to provide comprehensive, wrap-around services like safe and sober housing, addiction recovery, healthcare, transportation, education, and pathways to employment for ReMerge mothers.
“This program highlights the very essence of diversion, treatment and recovery by putting dollars where they provide the greatest return on investment,” said Ginny Bass Carl, ReMerge’s interim CEO. “The results produced by a robust diversion program like ReMerge not only save the state millions of dollars, it also lifts up work that transforms people into productive citizens, reconnects families, and puts the state on the trajectory it needs to be if it wants to be a top 10 state. ReMerge is grateful to partner with the Collaborative and work together to procure positive social change.”
Through a contract with ODOC, ReMerge will receive a success payment from the State of Oklahoma for mothers who graduate from their program. Additional success payments will be made if participants do not return to prison over a period of several years. ReMerge can use the payments to repay the upfront financing provided by the Collaborative.
These Pay for Success contracts provide private, philanthropic funding to promising programs expected to improve outcomes for Oklahomans while ensuring accountability for taxpayer dollars. Investors participating in the second ReMerge contract include Inasmuch Foundation, McLaughlin Family Foundation, and MetaFund. The Collaborative invests these dollars on their behalf.
“Oklahoma foundations and philanthropists have joined together to invest in proven solutions,” said Ed Long, Collaborative President. “This innovative structure makes it possible for private dollars to take on risk and public dollars to only pay for success.”
Courtney Jones, ODOC Probation and Parole administrator, stated that “ReMerge has been a great partner to ODOC since 2010. We collaborate to provide participants with a comprehensive diversion program. This program not only provides supervision but also much-needed treatment services while the women remain connected to their families and community support. ODOC recognizes that community-based programs are the solution to the high incarceration rate among Oklahoma women. With ReMerge’s continued success, it is evident that community-based programs work, and we are honored to be a part of the solution.”
ReMerge received success payments for 37 program graduates in its first Pay for Success contract. These graduates entered the program at different times and will be tracked up to 54 months post-admission. To date, 30 of the 31 women reaching either the 30- or 42-months post-program admission milestone have succeeded in remaining out of prison. ReMerge also received success payments for these milestones from ODOC, allowing them to fully repay the Collaborative, who in turn can now invest the funds in new projects.
Additional positive results from the ReMerge program include women obtaining their high school equivalency diplomas and receiving training to become information technology professionals through a specialized program. This, along with employment support, has led to an average wage increase of 26 percent.
For more information about MetaFund and the Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative, visit www.metafund.org.
Media Contact:
Ed Long, President, Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative
Phone: (405) 922-7580
Email: Elong@metafund.org