For the purposes of §§21.440 through 21.449, and any Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) issued pursuant to §§21.440 through 21.449, the following definitions apply:

Applicant is an eligible entity that submits an application for a VEPFS grant announced in a NOFA.

Eligible entity is a public or nonprofit agency, to include institutions of higher learning.

Employment outcome is the employment or earnings of a participant in an intervention group or control or comparison group during or after the service period. Improving employment outcomes means creating positive impact in terms of these outcomes, where the results for individuals that receive the intervention are better than the results for a valid control or comparison group that did not receive the intervention.

Intervention is a service or technology that is provided to individuals and is intended to achieve certain results.

Outcomes payments are funds that are paid to an investor or service provider and that are released only for the achievement of outcomes, as compared to those of a control or comparison group, that meet target levels that have been agreed to in advance of the provision of intervention (i.e., if positive impact has been created by the intervention in terms of these outcomes). When investors have provided the upfront capital for the project, these payments generally cover repayment of the principal investment and provide a modest return on investment for any associated risks of paying for the intervention upfront.

Pay for Success (PFS) agreement is a multi-party agreement to deliver an innovative or evidence-based intervention intended to improve outcomes for a targeted population signed by the entities that constitute the project partnership.

Project partnership is a collaboration among entities that negotiate one or more agreements and execute a project to improve employment outcomes for Veterans with service-connected disabilities. The entities that may be involved in a project partnership include:

(1)

(i) Outcomes payor. Entity that receives a VEPFS grant and pays for outcomes of services that meet target levels that have been agreed to in advance of the provision of the intervention.

(ii) Project coordinator. Facilitates, coordinates, and executes a PFS agreement to improve employment outcomes for Veterans with service-connected disabilities. With respect to other PFS projects, project coordinators are sometimes referred to as intermediaries.

(iii) Evaluator. Independent entity that determines the impact of the services provided, including whether the services have resulted in employment outcomes that meet target levels that have been agreed to in advance of the provision of the intervention.

(iv) Investor. Person or entity that provides upfront capital to cover costs of providing services/delivering an intervention and other associated costs before a determination has been made as to whether certain employment outcomes have been achieved at pre-set target levels.

(v) Service provider. Entity that delivers an intervention designed to achieve improved employment outcomes for Veterans with service-connected disabilities.

(2) A full project partnership is a project partnership that includes an outcomes payor, evaluator, investor (if the PFS agreement involves PFS financing), and service provider. A partial project partnership includes an outcomes payor and at least one of the following: Evaluator, investor (if the PFS agreement involves PFS financing), or service provider.

Recipient is the entity that receives a VEPFS grant under §§21.440 through 21.449. The recipient is also the outcomes payor.

Secretary refers to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Service-connected disability is a disability that is “service-connected” as defined in 38 CFR 3.1.

Social finance strategy is a method for securing financial resources using an investment approach that focuses on achieving positive social and/or environmental impact with some form of financial return.

Strong evidence constitutes results from previous studies, the designs of which can support causal conclusions (i.e., studies with high internal validity), that include enough of the range of participants and settings to support scaling up to the state, regional, or national level (i.e., studies with high external validity).

Veteran has the same definition as provided in 38 CFR 3.1.

Veterans Employment Pay for Success (VEPFS) agreement is a PFS agreement to deliver an innovative, evidence-based intervention intended to improve Veteran employment outcomes.

Veterans Employment Pay for Success (VEPFS) project is a project with a strategy for delivering a service with a goal to significantly improve a current condition with respect to unemployment of a target Veteran population and sufficient evidence to support the theory behind the project using a financial model that includes cost savings by funding the project only if it is successful.

Work-plan is a document that articulates tasks and milestones with regard to a particular project.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3119)

[81 FR 52775, Aug. 10, 2016, as amended at 85 FR 37755, June 24, 2020]