Questions/Answers

PROSPECT:EMPLOYMENT aims at placing women affected by violence in jobs that will allow them to earn a living therefore enhancing their economic and social independence. The Centre for Protection Against Violence Upper Austria and the Women’s Shelter Linz cooperate closely with the Austrian Public Employment Service and women’s organizations at the local level to bring together target group-specific modules in the areas of support and assistance for abused women, education and training, career guidance, and job placement providing an effective One-Stop-Shop for supporting services. Deliberately collaborating with, consulting, and supporting companies should not only help victims of domestic violence to be hired in long-term positions, but also raise awareness about violence against women in the business community. The project is a Social Impact Bond – a public-private partnership based on a pay-for-success scheme, initiated by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection in 2015 – and designed to have sustainable effects for highly vulnerable target groups, where expensive and extensive care and holistic case management are required and thus also help reduce costs for the public sector over the longer term. The upfront financing is provided by foundations, companies, and charitable organizations, which also assume the entire default risk: They will only receive their investment back (including a predetermined target premium) if the defined goals are achieved and determined in a neutral, third-party evaluation (auditing firm). The partnership builds bridges between private, public and civil society actors (Federal Ministry, Regional Government, Austrian Public Employment Service, Investors, Intermediary, Social Service Providers, Scientific Institutions, Auditing Firm) and mutual understanding and learning are thus not just a fundamental precondition for the success but also in itself a valuable outcome.

Overall Objective – Economic and social empowerment through individual support for abused women: Objective of the pilot project is to offer women affected by violence financial independence by placing them in long-term jobs that will allow them to earn a living on the primary labour market as well as to secure existing jobs so that the women will be able to permanently leave abusive situations. Predefined Targets: During the term of the project, at least 75 women should be placed in a job that is subject to social insurance contributions, that pays a living wage of at least EUR 19,571 per year, for at least 20 hours per week, for at least 12 months during the term of the project. Additional goals are the implementation and establishment of impact-oriented cooperation between the public sector and private and civil society organizations in order to solve an urgent social problem. Due to the outcome orientation of the SIB project, the fulfilment of targets and thus supporting women affected by violence are always at the forefront. The measure is designed to have sustainable effects for the target group, improve their lives and thus also reduce costs for the public sector over the longer term.

The issue: Poverty and marginalization of women affected by violence One in every five women is affected by domestic violence. In Austria, every year, approximately 1,700 women and 1,600 affected children receive assistance from women’s shelters, around 15,000 women and girls are supported by Austria’s Domestic Abuse Intervention Centres, and over 16,000 children are witnesses of domestic violence. Women affected by violence are disadvantaged in their careers and public lives, thus making them financially and socially dependent on their partners. Financial and social dependency and marginalization, insufficient job experience and skills, low educational qualifications, and a lack of childcare as well as support and counselling services for affected children all make it difficult for abused women to enter or return to the workforce and thus permanently get out of abusive relationships. Victims of domestic violence also tend to take more sick days and be absent from work more often due to abuse-related injuries and traumatization, which in turn puts them at greater risk of losing their jobs.

The initiative PROSPECT:EMPLOYMENT enhances the outcomes of the Austrian social protection system with regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs mainly in the following fields: » SDG 1 „End poverty in all its forms everywhereʺ » SDG 5 „Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” The delivery of public services is improved by the conceptual approach of the project to provide a wide range of clearly targeted measures to promote women affected by violence: In contrast to existing social assistance schemes, the two main criteria of the initiative are the consequent target-orientation towards long-term job prospects and the fight against in-work poverty as well as child poverty by providing decent incomes. In this way all participating women get enhanced opportunities to make a living - working on the primary labour market or to achieve a salary increase (e.g. by transition from part-time to full-time jobs). Enabling and safeguarding economic independence of women affected by violence means that their chances to permanently leave abusive situations are substantially improved and hence this initiative is a valuable contribution to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women by fostering their economic independence, social inclusion, and self-determination.

With regard to the use of public funding and resources: While in the award of subsidies the focus is on the efforts to provide the services required, in this initiative only the actual outcome at the end of the project is considered. In the long term, a very broad effect can be achieved: 1. New private investment is obtained. 2. Thanks to the long duration of 3 years, measures can develop sustainable effects and can be adapted/improved along the way – that enables operative organizations to work flexibly and more innovatively. 3. The clearly formulated terms with regard to the goals to be achieved and the features of the target group guarantee clear measurability of the project success – this promotes a rethinking towards outcome orientation among social services providers and in the social sector. 4. The target group benefits from the services offered in any event. 5. The initiative focuses on cross-sector cooperation in which the public and private sectors and the third sector cooperate in an outcome-oriented way and pull together for the benefit of the clients.

The impact of the pilot cannot yet be calculated, the results will be available by the end of 2018. In any case, the programme’s clients already benefit from the services offered. More than 300 women were contacted by the service providers so far, 269 have undergone clearing process and qualification programmes. 104 women have been successfully placed in jobs on the first/second labour market (89/15) and continue to be supported by the programme. The clients are all affected by violence in the province of Upper Austria, have been in contact with a women’s shelter or the Centre for Protection Against Violence and are entitled to work and live in Austria, with too little or no income to make a living. Thanks to the upfront financing and the unbureaucratic structure of the pilot project, the project partners can focus on the content of their work and the ability to enter into partnerships without restrictions boosts the effectiveness, efficiency, and lasting impact. In 2016 the Centre for Protection Against Violence provided counsel for 1,912 women, with around 1,200 meeting the requirements of the project's target group. This means the initiative was able to reach a very large portion of possible clients.

The Social Impact Bond-pilot project is a novel impact-oriented model which is being implemented in Austria for the first time. The target group is a new one for Social Impact Bonds in general: current SIBs in other countries usually deal with children, families, young people, and people who have committed criminal offences – to our knowledge, the issue of women affected by violence has not yet been taken up. With regard to its realization, new paths in the field of cooperation with the private and third sector, and the use of public funding and resources are treaded. The focus on the outcome enables the service providers to engage in those activities which can sustainably solve the problems of the abused women. As part of the project, bridges are built between private, public and civil society actors. The role of the intermediary is also innovative: it brings existing programmes together and coordinates them so that their effect is maximized. The intermediary ensures that established measures for the support of women affected by violence are combined in new structures, and that gaps in the placement work are closed by means of contacting additional actors.

Several Social Impact Bonds have been launched across the world although, to our knowledge, none of these deal specifically with the negative effects of violence against women or offer support to victims of intimate partner violence/domestic violence. In general, initiatives to economically empower women affected by violence are rare.

The costs to fund the pilot will be EUR 804,688 pre-funded by Investors, re-paid by the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs only in case of success. The responsible department in the Federal Ministry worked on the development of the pilot for a period of 18 months until September 2015. The same team within the department now maintains oversight of the pilot and manages the contractual relationship between the Federal Ministry, Juvat gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mbH and the project partners and also leads the sounding board. External research and analysis experts have been commissioned to undertake the process evaluation of the pilot, and independently assess the pilot outcomes.

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A transfer is possible and conserves resources, both at the conceptional level and at the content level. Over the course of the pilot project, a broad network of foundations and civil society organizations was built up. The distribution of roles, competences and process design are principally clearly regulated in an SIB – although the key performance indicators naturally have to be adapted to the respective issue and environment. These prerequisites can also lead to faster dissemination of the SIB concept at all administrative levels. In terms of content, all fields are suitable which have a high degree of complexity (large number of actors, multiple disadvantages of the target group, a target group which is difficult to reach), but where the outcomes are easy to measure (e.g. recidivism rate, placement in employment, education, youth welfare, the reduction of social benefits, integration, etc.). The more clearly the administrative and competence area is defined, the easier it is to precisely assign the success and the impact of the respective project.

Companies and private foundations finance the initiative upfront. If it has a proven effect in the form of savings for the public sector, the investors will be reimbursed (including a bonus) for their funding by the Federal Ministry and the latter will continue the project. Bonus and investment are lower than the savings and revenue obtained by the public sector due to the project being carried out. The costs arising for the public sector by a social issue can thus be reduced, as these costs would have been higher than the funding provided for the project. What is essential in this context are the outcome-orientation and the social effect: If it is successful and the cause and effect relationship is given on the basis of the independent evaluation, the public commissioner has a sound basis on whether to continue the project. Before the implementation of the project an impact assessment was carried out and the costs which the public sector would incur with and without the project were calculated. The collection of data on the basis of the evaluation mechanism is an important strong point as well, also with regard to the identification of additional problem areas. Effects which occur over the long term and which sustainably improve the situation of the target groups can be mapped. The concept of the SIB offers an opportunity to enter into cooperations without limitations, thus additionally increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of the measures carried out. Stable relationships between the sectors are built to further trust and engagement for future projects. The SIB creates the opportunity to carry out effective performance management – due to longer project durations as a result of the secure pre-financing, effects can be monitored and measures adapted if necessary, ensuring their adaptability and sustainability.

Women affected by violence are disadvantaged in their working and public lives, have an increased risk of poverty and exclusion, and are frequently financially and socially dependent on their partners making it difficult to leave abusive and violent relationships and structures. In 2015, Austrian women’s refuges provided support to a total of 3,331 persons, of whom 1,681 were women and 1,650 were children. Only a quarter of the women received an income from work (employed or self-employed), and 24% had no income at all. Around a quarter of women in women's refuges return to their abusive partner, particularly due to their financial dependence. Sustainable employment with a living wage is therefore decisive in order to enable women affected by violence to lastingly leave violent structures, attain independent and self-determined lives, and enjoy full participation in society. Integration into the labour market, which is at the forefront of the project, is thus the basis for the social inclusion of these women. A decisive element in this context is not only holistic, multi-perspective and individual support and guidance for women affected by violence, it is also about protection, accommodation and mobility, ensuring stable and supportive child care, and safe and sensitive structures in the workplace. The integration of existing and potential employers (e.g. companies) as well as training and support facilities represents an important condition for long-term and sustainable employment which also includes opportunities for career development.

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The initiative is still going through a formal evaluation, results are expected by the end of 2018. The Auditing Firm Ernst & Young (Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft m.b.H. Ernst & Young) conducts a neutral evaluation to determine whether the goals have been successfully achieved. The additional process evaluation by the Competence Centre for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship at the Vienna University of Economics and Business will provide important insight into the functional mechanisms, the potential, and the implementation of an SIB by means of literature research, longitudinal surveys of the partners, interviews, and stakeholder analyses. The Institute of Conflict Research, a non-university research institute with the legal status of a not-for-profit association, is also accompanying the project and evaluating the effectiveness of the measures carried out, focusing on the forms of support the participating women require, which benefits they experience through the project that go beyond (re-)integration into the labour market, and which prerequisites for sustainable empowerment they bring along with them. The cooperation between the project partners and the collaboration with local employers are also evaluated. In this way the development of recommendations for actions and a sound basis for discussions on the further development of the instrument will be created.

Independently of the result of the ‘success test’, the outcome orientation will be emphasised by the previously carried out impact assessment in the SIB, which can in any event positively influence public administration and service design: the effects of the measures taken are prioritized, defined in advance and subsequently checked. The outcome-oriented mechanism of a SIB can be transferred to all projects and initiatives, because the focus is not just on financial success, but also on the social impact of a measure, and in comparison to the classical subsidy regime used in the public sector it is a genuine innovation in administration. The secured pre-financing makes SIBs risk-free, promotes cooperation between civil society, the business world and the administration, and makes it possible to provide evidence of the outcome-oriented use of public funding. At this time, more than 300 women were contacted by the service providers so far, 269 have undergone clearing process and qualification programmes. 104 women have been successfully placed in jobs on the first/second labour market (89/15) and continue to be supported by the programme.

Women must be: affected by violence in the state of Upper Austria (contact with a women’s shelter or a Centre for Protection Against Violence in Upper Austria within the last 24 months), legal residents of Austria, of working age, without a living wage or at risk of losing their Jobs due to the violence. During the term of the project, at least 75 women from the target group must be placed in a job that is subject to full social insurance contributions, that pays a living wage of at least EUR 19,571 per year, for at least 20 hours per week, for at least 12 months during the term of the project.

There are 4 key partners: Intermediary, Investors, Social Service Providers, Evaluators. As the intermediary and project manager, Juvat (the Intermediary) is the contractual partner of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and manages the implementation of the pilot project in Upper Austria. The pre-financing is provided by foundations and companies. The Social Service Providers are the Upper Austrian Centre for Protection Against Violence and the Linz Women’s Shelter. They cooperate with the Austrian Public Employment Service and suitable organizations at the local level to bring together target group-specific modules in the areas of support and assistance for abused women, education and training, career guidance and job placement. Evaluation: Auditing Firm Ernst & Young (Success Evaluator), Competence Centre for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Process Evaluator), Institute for Conflict Research (Accompanying Evaluator). Cooperation on the public Level with the Region of Upper Austria and the Federal Ministry of Women's Affairs has been set up to highlight the commitment of the governmental bodies involved to the importance of the project goals, and to include local government. The SIB is based on the cooperation and partnership of the public sector with the intermediary. Private foundations, companies, non-profit entities and victim prevention organizations are involved by means of this cooperation, and the contractual relations are dealt with via the intermediary. The “Project Forum”, serves as a platform and sounding board and involves all actors and ensures a regular exchange of information.

It is important to point out that SIBs (and other new approaches) are used to complement Austria’s comprehensive social protection system. An SIB should not be seen as an alternative form of financing classical instruments and state social welfare measures, but as a tool emphasising the aspect of inter-sectoral cooperation and its innovation potential for effectively combating social challenges: public, private, and third sector are cooperating closely in the pilot project, in order to – via combinations of already existing initiatives and/or the development of new measures – close gaps, address the target group efficiently and sustainably improve the living situations of those affected. When successful, SIBs keep particularly at-risk groups of people from becoming permanently dependent on services from social protection systems and thus lead to savings for the public sector. Here, the SIB pilot project can be seen as an initial test for laying the foundation for further partnerships, regardless of whether they materialize as a SIB or in another form. Ultimately, the goal is to use existing resources effectively and efficiently in order to reach more people and to ensure that as many people as possible can be given the opportunity for a high quality of life.