2019 Federal Standard of Excellence
Leadership
Did the agency have senior staff members with the authority, staff, and budget to build and use evidence to inform the agency’s major policy and program decisions in FY19?
Score
7
7
Administration for Children and Families (HHS)
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation serves in a role equivalent to the Chief Evaluation Officer for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). A Senior Executive Service career official, the Deputy Assistant Secretary oversees ACF’s Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) and supports evaluation and other learning activities across the agency. ACF’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation oversees a research and evaluation budget of approximately $200 million in FY19. OPRE has 64 federal staff positions; OPRE staff are experts in research and evaluation methods and data analysis as well as ACF programs, policies, and the populations they serve.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- In 2016, ACF established a new Division of Data and Improvement (DDI) providing federal leadership and resources to improve the quality, use, and sharing of ACF data. The Director of DDI reports to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation and oversees work to improve the quality, usefulness, interoperability, and availability of data and to address issues related to privacy and data security and data sharing. DDI has 9 federal staff positions and an FY19 budget of approximately $4.4M (not including salaries).
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- With the 2016 reorganization that created the Division of Data and Improvement (DDI), ACF nested the following functions within the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation: strategic planning; performance measurement and management; research and evaluation; statistical policy and program analysis; synthesis and dissemination of research and evaluation findings; data quality, usefulness, and sharing; and application of emerging technologies to improve the effectiveness of programs and service delivery. This reorganization was for the purpose of consolidating and giving the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation oversight for evaluation, data, statistical, and related functions.
Score
8
8
Administration for Community Living
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Director of the Office of Performance and Evaluation (OPE) serves as the Administration for Community Living (ACL) evaluation officer. OPE, which oversees the agency’s performance and evaluation work, has seven full time staff positions and in FY19 had a budget of approximately $11.5 million. The Director of OPE has the education, skill, and experience to meet the Evaluation Officer requirements listed in the Evidence Act and routinely gauges the coverage, quality, methods, consistency, effectiveness, independence, and balance of the portfolio of evaluations, policy research, and ongoing evaluation activities of the agency and assesses agency capacity to support the development and use of evaluation. The Director is also the designated ACL Performance Officer.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- As an operating division of a CFO Act Agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACL is not required to have its own Chief Data Officer. But the Director of OPE has demonstrated training and experience in data management, governance, collection, analysis, protection, use, and dissemination and fulfills the aspects of this role which are relevant to ACL. These include coordinating with ACL’s CIO and Chief Privacy Officer on use, protection, dissemination, and generation of data to ensure that the data needs of the agency are met; ensuring that agency data conform with data management best practices; engaging agency employees, the public, and contractors in using public data assets; and encouraging collaborative approaches on improving data use.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- As an operating division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, ACL is not required to have its own Chief Data Officer or Statistical Official. But ACL does have a governance structure to coordinate the use of evidence for program operations and policy making. The Office of Performance and Evaluation staff work with staff across ACL to define and implement ACL’s learning agenda and evaluation plan. This includes semi-annual meetings with ACL leadership and management staff and annual consultation with all program managers. In FY 2019 ACL funded a council to improve ACL’s data governance, including the development of improved processes and standards for defining, collecting, reviewing, certifying, analyzing, and presenting data that ACL collects through its evaluations, grant reporting, and other administrative data collections. ACL is also a member of the Interagency Council on Disability Research and the Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics. These councils promote coordination of federal data, set federal research priorities, work closely with policy makers, and inform comprehensive government wide strategic plans for aging, disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research.
Score
8
8
U.S. Agency for International Development
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Director of the Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (LER) serves as the USAID evaluation officer. In compliance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, the Administrator of USAID designated the LER Director as the Agency’s Evaluation Officer through an internal Executive Message that was shared with the Agency on June 4, 2019.
- USAID’s Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (LER) in the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL) helps the Agency build a body of evidence from which to learn and adapt programs. The LER Director is a senior staff member with the authority, staff, and budget to ensure agency evaluation requirements are met, including that all projects are evaluated at some level, and that decision-making is informed by evaluation and evidence. The LER Director oversaw approximately 25 staff and an estimated $4.6 million budget in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.
- USAID has proposed creating a Bureau for Policy, Resources, and Performance (PRP), which will align policy, resources and evidence-based programming, and elevate the evaluation function by creating an Office for Learning and Evaluation that will manage the Agency’s Evaluation Policy. The office will also create and update the Agency Learning and Evaluation Plans, and commission or conduct cross-cutting evaluations. If approved by Congress, the estimated timeline for establishing the bureau is approximately a year and a half. In the meantime, working groups for each new office are developing work plans and focus areas for the new bureau to ensure PRP will be able to meet its mandate.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- The Agency’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) reports to the Chief Information Officer in the Bureau for Management. In compliance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, the Administrator of USAID designated the Chief Data Officer through an internal Executive Message that was shared with the Agency on June 4, 2019. The CDO manages the USAID Data Services team which focuses exclusively on improving the usage of data and information to ensure the Agency’s development outcomes are supported and enhanced by evidence. The CDO’s team includes several direct hire data science and IT professionals along with a budget for contract professionals who provide a comprehensive portfolio of data services in support of the Agency’s mission. The CDO oversaw approximately 55 staff and an estimated $12.5 million budget in 2019. The CDO is a senior career civil servant, and the USAID Data Services team is regularly called upon to generate products and services to support the Agency’s highest priorities. USAID also invests in roles including the Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Geographer, Chief Economist, Chief Scientist, and other key roles that drive the use of evidence across the agency.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- The Agency uses several governance structures and processes currently, and will be updating these in accordance with OMB guidance related to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. Two notable current examples include:
- InfoGov: Agency policy, ADS 579 – USAID Development Data, establishes an Information Governance Committee (InfoGov) under USAID’s Management Operations Council (MOC). First issued in 2014, this policy is undergoing a comprehensive re-write and will constitute a Data Administration and Technical Advisory (DATA) Board, replacing InfoGov, to address the full data management lifecycle and will enhance the Agency’s data governance structure to align with more recent legislation, including the Evidence Act and Open Government Data Act. The DATA Board supports the work of the Agency Evaluation Officer by directing data services to facilitate evaluations.
- Management Operations Council: USAID also uses a Management Operations Council (MOC) as the platform for Agency leadership to assess progress toward achieving the strategic objectives in USAID’s Strategic Plan and cross-agency priority goals and additional management issues. Established in 2014, the MOC provides Agency-wide leadership for initiatives and investments to reform USAID business systems and operations worldwide. The MOC also provides a platform for senior leaders to learn about and discuss improving organizational performance, efficiency, and effectiveness. The Agency’s Performance Improvement Officer and Chief Operating Officer co-chair the MOC, and membership includes, among others, all the Agency’s Chief Executive Officers (e.g., Senior Procurement Executive, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer and Project Management Improvement Officer). Depending on the agenda, it also includes the Chief Data Officer, Agency Evaluation Officer, and (once in place) the Agency Senior Statistical Official.
Score
6
6
Corporation for National and Community Service
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Director of the Office of Research & Evaluation serves as the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) evaluation officer. The Director of Research and Evaluation (R&E) oversees R&E’s FY19 $4 million budget and a staff of 5.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- CNCS hired a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) in FY19. The CIO was appointed by the agency’s CEO as the Acting Chief Data Officer (CDO). The CIO has a long-term plan for standing up a department overseen by a permanent Chief Data Officer. The plan will likely be formalized in FY20.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- CNCS established a Data Council in FY19. The purpose of this Council is to improve data governance and evidence-building activities within the agency. Members of the Council include the Director of R&E, the CIO/Acting CDO, the Chief of Staff, as well as representatives from the Chief of Program Operations and the Chief Operating Officer.
Score
8
8
U.S. Department of Education
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Commissioner for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) serves as the Department of Education (ED) evaluation officer. ED’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), with a budget of $616.5 million in FY19, is primarily responsible for education research, evaluation, and statistics. The NCEE Commissioner is responsible for planning and overseeing ED’s major evaluations and also supports the IES Director. IES employed approximately 160 full-time staff in FY19, including approximately 20 staff in NCEE.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- ED has a designated Chief Data Officer, who serves as the Director of the Policy and Program Studies Service. The Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD) Policy and Program Studies Service (PPSS) has a staff of about 20 and serves as the Department’s internal analytics office. Historically, PPSS has performed data analysis, and conducted short-term evaluations that support continuous improvement of program implementation, fostered a culture of data management and transparency, and worked closely with program offices and senior leadership to inform policy decisions with data and evidence.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD) reports to, and advises, the Secretary on matters relating to policy development and review; program performance measurement and evaluation; and the use of data and evidence to inform decision-making. The Director of IES reports to, and advises, the Secretary on matters related to research, evaluation, and statistics and coordinates education research and related activities carried out by IES with those carried out elsewhere in government.
Officials from OPEPD and IES participate in the Department’s Policy Committee, which is led by the OPEPD Assistant Secretary. OPEPD officials serve a policy leadership function, managing the Secretary’s policy priorities including evidence, while IES is focused on (a) bringing extant evidence to policy conversations and (b) suggesting how evidence can be built as part of policy initiatives. OPEPD plays leading roles in the formation of the Department’s policy positions as expressed through annual budget requests, grant competition priorities, including evidence. Both OPEPD and IES provide technical assistance to Congress to ensure evidence appropriately informs policy design
The Evidence Leadership Group (ELG) supports program staff that run evidence-based grant competitions and monitor evidence-based grant projects. It advises Department leadership and staff on how evidence can be used to improve Department programs and provides support to staff in the use of evidence.
Score
8
8
U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The General Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) serves as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) evaluation officer. HUD’s Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) is led by an Assistant Secretary and the career General Deputy Assistant Secretary. PD&R comprises six offices, 139 staff including a team of field economists that work in HUD’s 10 regional offices across the country, and a budget of $96 million in FY19. The Assistant Secretary and Evaluation Officer ensure that evidence informs policy development through frequent personal engagement with other principal staff, the Secretary, and external policy officials including consultation with Congress, speeches to policy audiences, sponsorship of public research briefings, and policy implications memoranda.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- HUD’s Chief Data Officer is a senior advisor in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Budget and staffing have not been determined. The PD&R GDAS and Statistical Official are responsible for numerous data infrastructure functions such as the collection and analysis of national housing market data (including survey collaborations with the Census Bureau); developing income limits and factors to support program operations; advising and assisting program offices with the development and analysis of administrative data collections; and developing open data products drawn from administrative systems, including geospatial data products.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- PD&R informs HUD’s policy development and implementation by conducting, supporting, and sharing research, surveys, demonstrations, program evaluations, and best practices. PD&R achieves this mission through three interrelated core functions: (1) collecting and analyzing national housing market data (including with the Census Bureau); (2) conducting research, program evaluations, and demonstrations; and (3) providing policy advice and analytic support to the HUD Secretary and program offices. PD&R is supporting the decision-making and roles of the evaluation officer, chief data officer, and statistical official for the Department.
Score
8
8
U.S. Department of Labor
h6>1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Chief Evaluation Officer serves as the evaluation officer for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The Chief Evaluation Officer oversees DOL’s Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy (OASP), and the coordination of evaluations Department-wide, including office staff and leadership to interpret research and evaluation findings and to identify their implications for programmatic and policy decisions.
CEO is directly appropriated $8.04 million and then, may receive up to 0.75% from statutorily specified program accounts, based on the discretion of the Secretary. In FY18, that number was $1.9 million, bring the spending total to $9.94 million. The FY19 number is not known yet, because the Secretary has not determined the set-aside amount.
CEO includes nine full-time staff plus a small number of contractors and one to two detailees at any given time. This staff level is augmented by staff from research and evaluation units in other DOL agencies such as the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which has nine FTE’s dedicated to research and evaluation activities with which CEO coordinates extensively on the development of a learning agenda, management of studies, and dissemination of results.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 202(e))
- Building on existing efforts initiated before the OPEN Government Data Act, Secretary Acosta released a Secretary’s Order (02-2019) directing the department to create a Chief Data Officer position and a data governance board to help realize the strategic value in data, as well as to establish, coordinate, and manage policy, processes, and standards for data management.
The Department has designated a Chief Data Officer. The Chief Data Officer chairs DOL’s data governance body, and leads data governance efforts, open data efforts, and associated efforts to collect, manage, and utilize data in a manner that best supports its use to inform program administration and foster data-informed decision-making and policymaking.
DOL has arranged for temporary staffing to support governance and open data efforts as well as compliance with the Evidence Act, the Federal Data Strategy, and DOL’s data governance goals. DOL is in the process of hiring permanent staff to support the office through customized position descriptions.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- DOL, through a Secretary’s Order, has created a structure that coordinates and leverages the important roles within the organization to accomplish objectives like those in the Evidence Act. The Secretary’s Order mandates collaboration between the Chief Data Officer, the Chief Performance Officer, Chief Evaluation Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Statistical Officer.
The Secretary’s Order mandates a collaborative approach to reviewing IT infrastructure and data asset accessibility, developing modern solutions for managing, disseminating and generating data, coordinating statistical functions, supporting evaluation, research and evidence generation, and supporting all aspects of performance management including assurances that data are fit for purpose.
DOL continues to leverage current governance structures, such as the Chief Evaluation Officer continuing to play a role in the formation of the annual budget requests of DOL’s agencies, recommendations around including evidence in grant competitions, and providing technical assistance to the Department leadership to ensure that evidence informs policy design. There are a number of mechanisms set up to facilitate this: The Chief Evaluation Officer traditionally participates in quarterly performance meetings with DOL leadership and the Performance Management Center (PMC). The Chief Evaluation Officer reviews agency operating plans and works with agencies and the PMC to coordinate performance targets and measures and evaluation findings; quarterly meetings are held with agency leadership and staff as part of the Learning Agenda process; and meetings are held as needed to strategize around addressing new priorities or legislative requirements.
Score
8
8
Millennium Challenge Corporation
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Managing Director serves as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Evaluation Officer. The Managing Director is a career civil service position with the authority to execute M&E’s budget, an estimated $24.6 million in due diligence funds in FY19, with a staff of 28 people. In accordance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, MCC designated an Evaluation Officer.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)?
- The Director of Product Management in the Office of the Chief Information Officer is MCC’s Chief Data Officer. The Chief Data Officer manages a staff of 7 and an estimated FY19 budget of $900,000 in administrative funds. In accordance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, MCC designated a Chief Data Officer.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- The MCC Evaluation Management Committee (EMC) oversees decision-making and quality control on the agency’s evaluation and programmatic decision-making. The EMC is intended to integrate evaluation with program design and implementation to ensure that evaluations are designed and implemented in a manner that increases their utility, to both MCC and in-country stakeholders. The EMC includes the agency’s evaluation officer, Chief Data Officer, representatives from M&E, the project lead, the economist, and gender and environmental safeguards staff.
Score
6
6
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1.1 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Evaluation Officer (or equivalent)? (Example: Evidence Act 313)
- The director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) Office of Evaluation serves as the agency’s evaluation lead with key evaluation staff housed in this division. SAMHSA evaluations are funded from program funds that are used for service grants, technical assistance, and for evaluation activities. Evaluations have also been funded from recycled funds from grants or other contract activities.
1.2 Did the agency have a senior leader with the budget and staff to serve as the agency’s Chief Data Officer (or equivalent)?
- CBHSQ, led by its Director, designs and carries out special data collection and analytic projects to examine issues for SAMHSA and other federal agencies and is the government’s lead agency for behavioral health statistics, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget.
1.3 Did the agency have a governance structure to coordinate the activities of its evaluation officer, chief data officer, statistical officer, and other related officials in order to inform policy decisions and evaluate the agency’s major programs?
- Evaluation authority, staff, and resources are decentralized and found throughout the agency. SAMHSA is composed of four Centers, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ). CMHS, CSAT, and CSAP oversee grantee portfolios and evaluations of those portfolios. Evaluation decisions within SAMHSA are made within each Center specific to their program priorities and resources. Each of the three program Centers uses their program funds for conducting evaluations of varying types. CBHSQ, SAMHSA’s research arm, provides varying levels of oversight and guidance to the Centers for evaluation activities. CBHSQ also provides technical assistance related to data collection and analysis to assist in the development of evaluation tools and clearance packages.