J-PAL North America has recently chosen its government partners for the 2024-25 Leveraging Evaluation and Evidence for Equitable Recovery (LEVER) Evaluation Incubator cohort. These selected collaborators will benefit from funding and technical support to initiate or enhance a randomized evaluation for a specific program. This initiative highlights the increasing interest in evidence-based policymaking across various jurisdictions in the United States.
Launched in 2023, LEVER is a strategic collaboration between J-PAL North America and Results for America. The Evaluation Incubator, along with trainings and other resources, is designed to help tackle the challenges that state and local governments encounter when attempting to find and create evidence to inform program design. LEVER offers government officials insights into best practices for conducting policy evaluations and ways to integrate evidence into decision-making processes. Over 80 government jurisdictions have already engaged with LEVER offerings since its inception.
The Evaluation Incubator from J-PAL North America empowers collaborators to transform policy-relevant research questions into rigorously designed randomized evaluations, providing credible evidence to inform critical programmatic and policy choices. The initiative also seeks to cultivate a culture of evidence utilization and equip government partners with the necessary tools to continue generating and applying evidence in their everyday operations.
In addition to funding and technical support, these selected state and local government partners will engage with researchers from J-PAL’s extensive network to further develop their evaluation concepts. The focus will also be on community-engaged research practices, fostering collaboration and learning from the communities most impacted by the programs under evaluation.
Highlights of Selected Evaluation Incubator Projects
Pierce County Human Services (PCHS) in Washington State is set to evaluate two programs through the Evaluation Incubator. The first program will assess how prolonged stays in a fentanyl detox program influence successful completion rates for inpatient treatment and hospital usage among participants. Trish Crocker, grant coordinator at PCHS, notes, “PCHS is committed to evaluating extended fentanyl detox durations to better inform funding choices, optimize resource allocation, and encourage further financial investments to meet the crucial needs of individuals facing opioid use disorder.”
The second initiative from PCHS aims to evaluate the effects of supplying medication and outreach services through a mobile distribution unit for individuals dealing with opioid use disorders. Margo Burnison, a behavioral health manager at PCHS, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: “We are excited to partner with J-PAL North America to analyze our data thoroughly to advise our elected officials on the most effective use of available resources.”
In Los Angeles, the Youth Development Department (YDD) will assess a research-informed program called Student Engagement, Exploration, and Development in STEM (SEEDS). This intergenerational STEM mentorship initiative aims to support underrepresented middle and college students by offering culturally responsive mentorship to enhance their STEM identities and drive success in higher education. The department has previously collaborated with researchers at the University of Southern California to gauge the impact of the SEEDS program and is now eager to implement a randomized evaluation for deeper insights. Professor Darnell Cole, co-director of the Research Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice, shared, “We are excited to gauge the SEEDS program’s impact on our students’ academic journey. Systematic testing of this program will enable us to enhance support for STEM students, ultimately bolstering their persistence and success.”
The Fort Wayne Police Department’s Hope and Recovery Team in Indiana plans to investigate the effectiveness of two programs designed to link social workers with individuals who have faced overdose incidents or are dealing with mental health issues. Police Captain Kevin Hunter remarked, “We believe we’re on a positive path with our crisis intervention social worker and recovery coach; however, an external evaluation of both programs would greatly assist us in understanding which aspects are most effective.”
Meanwhile, the County of San Diego’s Office of Evaluation, Performance and Analytics is poised to collaborate with J-PAL staff to explore evaluation opportunities linked to two initiatives outlined in the county’s Climate Action Plan. The Equity-Driven Tree Planting Program aims to increase tree canopy coverage, while the Climate Smart Land Stewardship Program fosters environmentally conscious agricultural practices. Chief evaluation officer Ricardo Basurto-Davila stated, “The county is devoted to evidence-based policymaking and decisive actions against climate change. Our collaboration with J-PAL will help us merge these commitments to optimize the effectiveness of emission-reducing strategies through these programs.”
J-PAL North America eagerly anticipates working alongside these selected partners in the upcoming months to delve deeper into these promising initiatives, clarify evidence objectives, and design robust randomized evaluations to measure their impacts.
Photo credit & article inspired by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
