A comprehensive implementation science (IS) literature has identified key drivers impacting organizational readiness to implement and deliver evidence-based programs with fidelity. Although IS has predominantly focused on single entity providers, stakeholders in Pay for Success projects tend to use more complex networks of providers or grantees. For example, a network of providers may include a number of specialty organizations supported by an “anchor” organization which administratively supports and helps manage the project. The different constellations have implications for the content of readiness assessment as well as the focus of assessment processes.

This presentation, given at the American Evaluation Association Conference, explores such implications, including perspectives on readiness for scale-up (an anchor organization requires readiness for scaling up an innovation, whereas other organizations in the network require readiness for what is being scaled up); and readiness as emergent (a challenge in assessing the readiness of a network is capturing inter-organizational readiness over and above what each organization contributes).