In 2015, Cuyahoga County launched the nation’s first county-level Pay for Success project (later named Partnering for Family Success) in the combined areas of homelessness and child welfare. In Pay for Success structures, governments have greater resources to tackle social problems by tapping into private investments for the upfront costs of the programs.

This evaluation report details quantitative impact findings from the five-year randomized control trial and qualitative findings from interviews with PFS families, child welfare staff, and service providers. The program did not reduce the number of days in out-of-home care as predicted, but it had an important finding: African-American caregivers in the Cuyahoga PFS program were reunified with their children at a higher rate than both white families in Cuyahoga PFS program and African-American families who received conventional county services.

The end of the project was also covered by Rachel Dissell of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in her piece, "'Pay For Success' test didn't cut foster care stays, but did uncover lessons for reuniting black families."