The time is now: Harnessing rigorous evaluation in a post-ARPA America

State and local governments are at the forefront of addressing historic levels of income inequality, rising housing instability and the impacts of climate change. They can supercharge their ability to create change by leading a movement of evidence building that will inform equitable programming and support economic mobility for generations.

The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act provided $350 billion to state and local governments to pilot new interventions to tackle the country’s most critical issues and collect evidence on how well their solutions perform. Evaluation––using research methods to examine the effectiveness of a program or policy in achieving a particular goal––gives agencies actionable information on how programs can most effectively support the community members they serve. 

Governments have until the end of this year to decide how remaining ARPA funds will be spent (and until 2026 to spend the funds). Now is the time for local governments to use this funding to set up evaluations of key programs and policies made possible by ARPA.

Leaders can make the most of this opportunity by thoughtfully identifying the questions in need of answers for decision-making, connecting with researchers to develop and implement rigorous evaluation, and sharing findings broadly to support other jurisdictions in advancing effective and equitable evidence-based approaches.

Identifying policy and implementation questions in need of evidence

King County in Washington has ambitious goals to advance equity and reduce climate impact. Existing data shows that fossil fuel use in residents’ homes is one of the region’s biggest contributors to climate change. To address both climate and equity goals, the county wants to ensure all households can convert aging fossil-fuel home heating to more effective and cleaner alternatives. King County currently offers a program that provides fully subsidized heat pump installations to low-income homeowners. New heat pumps not only replace oil or aging heating systems, which leads to increased energy efficiency in the home, but they also provide home cooling in a warming region where households with lower incomes tend to lack air conditioning. 

King County officials want to effectively and equitably reach homeowners with low incomes, but there is little existing evidence to guide how to best find and approach those households. A rigorous evaluation will help identify which recruitment methods (for example, in-person workshops or an interactive online application) are most effective in helping different homeowner populations complete an application for a new heat pump. Through this evaluation, the county expects to better target its outreach to ensure it best meets the needs of residents who will most benefit from the program. 

Connecting with researchers to rigorously evaluate innovations

In order to conduct this evaluation work, King County is partnering with The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) affiliated researchers. This research partnership has had immediate pay-off as analysis of existing data has quickly led to a better understanding of who does and does not take up the existing program. The evaluation will build further reliable knowledge instrumental in shaping the county’s continued investments to meet equity and climate goals, long after ARPA funding runs out. County officials plan to share lessons learned so that other communities may benefit as well. 

King County’s work to develop evidence on clean energy use is part of a broader movement of jurisdictions investing in similar rigorous learning. Many other governments are also using ARPA funding to build and share evidence. Both the State of Connecticut and the City of Baltimore have budgeted funds to coordinate evaluation work and evidence use. Maine has also budgeted for its Department of Labor to review the outcomes of state workforce initiatives. These efforts will position Connecticut, Baltimore and Maine to make evidence-informed decisions about spending for years to come and support other state and local governments to do the same using the new evidence-base they have built. 

State and local leaders looking for help maximizing their impact by building evaluation capacity have a variety of partners to choose from. Some governments have internal evaluation teams that can help, like Minnesota Management and Budget’s Impact Evaluation Unit or San Diego County’s Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics. In other places, local university centers, like California Policy Lab, support several jurisdictions. Private evaluation firms, like MDRC or Mathematica, help build evidence alongside government partners. Finally, J-PAL North America and Results for America’s LEVER program provide free training, workshops and technical assistance to build governments’ internal evaluation capacity.

When government leaders embed evaluation within their work to foster equity and economic mobility, they’re investing in building knowledge on how to best support their communities. This work is not easy. States and localities should make the most of the historic opportunity to devote ARPA funding—as well as future federal funding—to evaluation. This investment will help them sustain their programs and ensure they are best positioned to support the communities they serve for the long term.

Carrie S. Cihak is the evidence and impact officer for King County, Washington. Louise Geraghty is the government partnerships lead at The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) North America. Zachary Markovits is the vice president and local practice lead at Results for America.