Although Reentry Central has reported on America’s first social Impact Bond funding at Rikers Island in the past, we thought our subscribers would be interested in an update from Free Enterprise.
The Adolescent Behavioral Learning Experience (ABLE) program at New York City’s Rikers Island prison complex is based on Moral Reconation Therapy, a method that has proven to be effective in changing negative behavior in inmates.
ABLE is being funded for four years by a $9.6 million loan to New York City by Goldman Sachs under America’s first Social Impact Bond.
Free Enterprise reports that already the program is having a positive impact on the young inmate participants:
"Jafar Abbas has noticed a distinct change in attitude among his students. No more yelling out the window, fewer obscenities, and much less negativity in general. “It’s not just fully about everything negative. You start to talk about stuff that’s positive. And that’s something that you weren’t hearing too much when we first started this program.”
Source: MDRC
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