Evidence Capacity

Evidence Capacity

 

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (“the Evidence Act”) requires federal agencies to develop evidence to support policymaking. In its guidance for implementation of the Evidence Act, the Office of Management and Budget defines evidence broadly  (PDF), to include “foundational fact finding, performance management, policy analysis, and program evaluation.”  

“Evidence capacity” refers to the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and resources that enable an organization to build and use evidence in its work. OPRE’s Evidence Capacity Framework outlines five key dimensions of capacity, drawn from the literature on effective organizations. Organizations of any size can build evidence capacity, from local service providers and states to federal programs and agencies.

Examples of evidence capacity-building activities include learning agenda development, performance measurement design or improvement, and providing training and technical assistance on evidence-related topics such as rapid cycle evaluation and continuous quality improvement. Many OPRE projects support the development of evidence capacity within ACF and among its grant recipients.

 

Division of Data and Improvement Evidence Capacity Team

OPRE’s Division of Data and Improvement (DDI) supports ACF programs in responsibly managing and using data to improve the effectiveness, and efficiency, of human services programs. Within DDI, the Evidence Capacity team offers consultation with ACF programs that would like to develop and analyze data to improve management, performance, and information sharing. 
 

The team works collaboratively with ACF programs to identify and define their information needs, assess the suitability of current data to address those needs, and design data analyses and data collections that contribute evidence to program operations and administration.  The team also connects program partners to other evidence-building resources within OPRE, ACF, and the government more broadly. The ACF Evidence Capacity Support project is a resource available to support partnerships between OPRE and ACF programs in this work.
 

For more information about working with DDI’s Evidence Capacity team and the resources the team can offer, please contact Nicole Deterding (Nicole.Deterding@acf.hhs.gov), Team Lead for Evidence Capacity, OPRE Division of Data and Improvement.   
 

 

Featured Resources

Projects on this Topic

This webpage serves as a resource center for links to data pages in ACF program offices, data reports pages (e.g., annual statistical reports, reports to Congress, online tabular data), and ACF data catalogs and archives (e.g., national surveys, administrative data, evaluation data).

Explore the Evidence Capacity Support project’s work to strengthen evidence culture, evidence infrastructure, data access, knowledge and skills, and dissemination, while incorporating principles of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.

Learn about the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and its work to develop a strategy for increasing the availability and use of data to build evidence about government programs while protecting privacy and confidentiality.

OPRE’s LEARN project supports the Division of Economic Independence to plan, communicate, and facilitate use of research evidence on welfare and family self-sufficiency.

The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network (the FSSRN) supports independent researchers working to enhance and improve family self-sufficiency research at the state and local levels.

This cooperative agreement, awarded to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago in 2013, supported the development, implementation, and ongoing operations of technical assistance to support family self-sufficiency research and administrative data analysis...

In 2013, OPRE awarded grants to a network of university-based researchers to investigate critical issues in improving family self-sufficiency and stability. The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network supported...