For many Americans, the dominant narrative in government today is one of gridlock and hyper-polarization. Congress is in the middle of one of the least productive legislative sessions in decades. An endless budget brawl kept the country teetering on the brink of a government shutdown for months.
But hidden beneath the partisan bickering, there is another story that most Americans don’t know. Without much attention, bipartisan elected leaders and career civil servants from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. have been quietly transforming how governments invest taxpayer dollars to achieve better results.
A recent report written by Dr. Christina Ciocca Eller of Harvard University showcases the progress the federal government has made over the last decade in focusing on what works. In 2013, the federal government had just one evidence clearinghouse – focused on education – that contained a few hundred evidence-based programs. Now, when making decisions, policymakers can consult more than 10 federal evidence clearinghouses featuring over 20,000 effective programs and interventions that can help improve outcomes for children, families and communities.
As government leaders learn more about what works, it is changing how they spend taxpayer dollars. At the federal level, there has been a 30-fold increase in grant dollars invested in programs backed by evidence of effectiveness since 2013. This means more funding for programs like the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which studies show leads to better health outcomes for both babies and moms. In Minnesota, more than 7,000 families are benefiting from these home visits from nurses and social workers.
Federal leaders are increasingly incentivizing state, local and tribal governments to use evidence to make better investments. In 2021, Minnesota used federal American Rescue Plan funding that encouraged evaluation to test whether grants to child care providers could alleviate worker shortages. The state found that the grants helped. Childcare providers that received the grants were more likely to increase wages for their workers and remain open. Based on this evidence, in May, Minnesota created a permanent, state-funded grant program to support the child care industry and child care workers. The state has allocated $316 million for the first two years of the program and $136 million annually thereafter.
When faced with tough challenges, federal and state leaders can quickly turn to evidence-based policies. During the pandemic, lawmakers expanded the evidence-based Child Tax Credit and kept over 3.7 million children out of poverty. After letting the expanded tax credit lapse, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are now seeking to broaden it. With such clear benefits for children, Minnesota isn’t waiting for Congress. It is offering a state-funded refundable child tax credit, which could benefit over 300,000 families and reduce child poverty in Minnesota by one-third.
In many ways, Minnesota is a model for federal lawmakers in how to invest based on what works. Thanks to bipartisan support, since 2015 the state’s central budget office has maintained an inventory of hundreds of publicly funded programs and services, which rates how effective they are based on rigorous evidence. Last year, Minnesota was one of just two states, along with Tennessee, to invest more than $1 billion each in evidence-based human and social services. Yet even more could be done. A recent study found that only 6% of Minnesota’s grant dollars for human services were spent on evidence-based practices. State leaders can improve this by requiring that evidence be used in grantmaking or rewarding grant applicants who propose programs backed by results.
At the federal level, interviews and surveys with dozens of evidence and data leaders suggest that insufficient funding for evaluation, inadequate data sharing and other constraints are holding back progress. Similarly, a survey of state policymakers, led by researchers from the University of Minnesota, found that a lack of time for rigorous evaluations (59%), limited resources (46%) and fragmented decision-making by government leaders (46%) are slowing state-level efforts to invest in the most effective programs and policies.
Federal and state leaders should act to strengthen the movement to invest in what works by prioritizing the use of evidence in legislation, budgets, grants and more. It’s not enough to know what works; policymakers also must steer money to those programs.
The scope and magnitude of the challenges facing our country demand solutions that work. By focusing on results, federal and state leaders can improve lives and begin to rebuild the public’s trust in government.
Michele Jolin is the CEO and co-founder of Results for America, a national nonprofit organization that helps leaders at all levels of government use evidence and data to deliver better results.
