Washington

Washington has the infrastructure to support program evaluation and reporting. While most states have external auditing functions, it is notable that Washington has several internal facing entities: The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (legislative branch), State Auditor’s Office Performance Audit section (separately elected), and the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (nonpartisan research on behalf of the legislature) provide evaluation services. The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ Research and Data Analysis (RDA) division conducts evaluations for state partner agencies using a unique integrated client database. The Department of Children, Youth and Families Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability, the Office of Financial Management’s Washington Data and Research Office, and the Education Research and Data Center, are other examples in addition to DSHS-RDA where executive branch agencies are staffed with substantial evaluation and analytic staff.

Since 2012, at the direction of the legislature, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) has produced a series of inventories of evidence-based, research-based, and promising programs. These inventories are developed with the aim of informing state agencies about effective and cost-beneficial options for service provision. In addition, a 2013 state law directed the Department of Corrections, in consultation with WSIPP, to: (1) compile an inventory of existing programs; (2) determine whether its programs were evidence-based; (3) assess the effectiveness of its programs, including conducting a benefit-cost analysis; and (4) phase out ineffective programs and implement evidence-based programs. As a result of laws like these that require evidence reviews and/or direct outcome evaluations, WSIPP has published hundreds of benefit-cost analyses in a wide variety of issue areas over the past 10 years. The WSIPP benefit-cost framework allows the translation of program effects into dollars and cents and has been emulated by several state governments across the country.

WSIPP’s most recent inventories include reviews of the evidence in the areas of children’s mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice (2020) and K-12 educational programs for struggling students (2020), which is also featured on the state superintendent’s Menus of Best Practices and Strategies website. The 2023 legislature directed WSIPP to update its inventory of adult corrections programs, with a focus on programs for individuals in prison facilities.

In addition to evidence reviews and benefit-cost analyses, WSIPP is often directed by law to study the implementation and effectiveness of state programs as an objective evaluator independent of state agencies. WSIPP currently has ongoing legislatively directed work to examine the long-term costs and benefits of legalizing recreational cannabis, evaluate the effectiveness of Washington State’s Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, and more. All projects on WSIPP’s research and evaluation plan are published on its Current Project Projects page.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Research and Data Analysis (RDA) division provides policymakers with data and analyses to improve the effectiveness of services for clients. RDA maintains integrated client databases, which bring together data from 10 state agencies, 40 separate data systems, and individuals receiving services through publicly funded health and human services programs in Washington. Among many other applications, predictive modeling and clinical decision support tools developed and maintained in RDA’s integrated data environment have been used by the state’s Health Home Program to generate tens of millions of dollars in performance payments from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as the result of improved care management for persons dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.

The Education Research and Data Center (ERDC), integrates data across multiple education, workforce, other state agencies, and institutions to conduct collaborative analyses from early learning through postsecondary education and training and into the workforce. ERDC brings together more than a dozen partners to compile education and workforce data to improve student achievement and workforce outcomes. The ERDC is directed to provide research that focuses on student transitions within and among the early learning, K-12, and higher education sectors in the P-20 system. The ERDC shares data with the education and workforce agencies and shares education and workforce data with external data requesters proposing to audit or evaluate state or local education programs.

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) maintains and uses a criminal history database that links records across courts, adult corrections, and juvenile rehabilitation over time. This database allows the institute to investigate long-term outcomes for individuals in the state who participated in state-funded initiatives and programs related to criminal justice and juvenile rehabilitation. Recently, this database was used to examine the effectiveness of Washington State’s Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative.

In 2022, the governmental organization Serve Washington used a tiered evidence framework from the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange to both define and prioritize evidence, as well as allocate funds through its AmeriCorps Washington State Grant Program. Criteria from the Evidence Exchange assigned preference to evidence-based interventions assessed as ‘Moderate’ or ‘Strong’. To do this, the grant attributed points within the Evidence Base (up to 20) depending on the evidence tier reached, from Pre-Preliminary to Strong. The RFP asserted that “many of these interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in improving outcomes for individuals living in underserved communities and that the agency has committed resources to supporting grantees seeking to replicate and evaluate these interventions in similar communities”; thus, evidence was prioritized by stating that “all applicants must propose program designs that are either evidence-based or evidence-informed. Applicants assessed as lower than the Preliminary evidence tier (i.e., Pre-Preliminary) must provide adequate responses to the Evidence Quality review criteria in order to be considered for funding.” Applicants were encouraged to consider interventions through the AmeriCorps Mandatory Supplemental Guidance that further defined evidence tiers.

A 2013 Washington State Executive Order established Results Washington (Results WA) to strengthen performance management and continuous improvement throughout Washington State government. At that time, the Washington State Governor’s Office issued five overarching goal areas with aligned outcome measures: world-class education; prosperous economy; sustainable energy and clean environment; healthy and safe communities; and effective, efficient, and accountable government. Results WA is responsible for developing a system of work that supports these five goal areas as well as ongoing state initiatives.

Results Washington gathered and published performance management dashboards and goal metrics from across state agencies. We also published These dashboards provide metrics related to the governor’s five goal areas.

Within Results Washington (Results WA), the Governor’s performance audit liaison fosters the process among auditors, executive branch agencies, the Governor’s Office, the Office of Financial Management (OFM), and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). The liaison also serves as a resource for guidance and escalation. Part of the liaison’s role includes working with the audited agencies and OFM or OCIO to provide a joint response to each performance audit. If the auditor finds gaps and makes recommendations, the response includes specific agency actions and due dates that the liaison tracks and publishes on Results Washington’s website through completion. We post agency actions plans on our website.

In 2020, Results WA implemented a new Public Performance Review (PPR) process. The PPR process includes a monthly meeting with the Governor, agency leaders and experts, and community members designed to focus on a cross-agency project tied to the Governor’s five goal areas and to hear from those impacted by the project – those with lived experiences and those who are customers and process partners in the community. In 2022, Results Washington presented seven cross-agency projects to the Governor during the public performance reviews. This year, we have already held seven PPRs and plan for 5 more before the end of 2023.

Washington state’s Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG) is an interagency effort focused on the systemic policy, program, and partnership changes needed to realize our vision of a Washington without poverty and injustice. Governor Inslee created the PRWG in 2018, tasking the group to create a comprehensive, 10-year plan to reduce poverty and inequality. For two years, a diverse and dedicated group of 45 stakeholders, directed by a 22-member Steering Committee of people experiencing poverty, met monthly to ultimately craft and co-design eight strategies containing 60 specific recommendations that make up the Blueprint for an Equitable Future: The 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty in Washington State (10-Year Plan) [www.dismantlepovertyinwa.com].

One of the foundational principles of the 10-Year Plan was that people most affected by poverty must be involved and have equal power and influence in the creation of the plan and its implementation. PRWG upheld this by creating the Steering Committee to set the work group’s priorities and approve the final plan. The Steering Committee included people from urban, suburban, rural, and tribal areas in Washington state, and has diverse representation from communities most affected by poverty, including: Indigenous, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, immigrants and refugees, and single parents. Collectively, they provided the knowledge and expertise PRWG needed to develop a strategic plan that would measurably and meaningfully reduce poverty in Washington state.