Results for America Statement on Evidence Wins in Government Funding Bill

Congressional Budget Bill Includes Funding for Invest in What Works Coalition Priorities

WASHINGTON – Results for America (RFA) issued the following statement today following passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which included key provisions designed to leverage data and evidence to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. The President signed the legislation this morning.

“We are glad to see lawmakers of both parties support important provisions that harness the power of data and evidence to get better results for children, families, and communities,” CEO and Co-Founder Michele Jolin said. “While we may not agree with every provision in this bipartisan budget agreement, we support the critical investments in using evidence to improve K-12 education, reduce teen pregnancy, improve infant care, and promote global development, as well as the new investments in foster care and Pay for Success.”

The budget agreement – which will raise the budget caps for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 – includes a continuing resolution to fund the government at the Fiscal Year 2017 levels through March 23, 2018, provide funding for disaster assistance, and raise the debt ceiling.

The budget bill includes funding and policies that will help advance evidence-based policymaking, including:

• ongoing funding for tiered-evidence innovation funds that improve K-12 education, prevent teen pregnancy, and reduce global poverty;

• authority for the U.S. Department of Labor to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs; and

• reauthorization of the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, which requires grantees to use evidence-based program models and newly authorizes pay-for-outcomes approaches to help new mothers prepare and care for their children.

The legislation also includes two new ground-breaking evidence-based policy provisions and key funding for the 2020 Census:

• The Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act creates a new $100 million fund for Pay for Success initiatives by repurposing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) contingency fund. The fund would support the creation of public-private partnerships to combine philanthropic, private, and federal resources to ensure publicly-funded social programs achieve demonstrable, measurable results.

• The Family First Prevention Services Act will enables states to use federal funds for evidence-based preventive mental health, substance abuse, and in-home parenting services for children at risk of coming into foster care.

• The bill includes an additional $182 million for the 2020 Census, a key source of data that helps state and local leaders target vital public services to the people who need them.

This bipartisan budget agreement also includes important funding for the Invest in What Works coalition priorities outlined in our June 2017 letter to Congress, which was signed by over 200 local, state, and national organizations and leaders.

The full legislative text can be found here.

About Results for America
Results for America is helping decision-makers at all levels of government harness the power of evidence and data to solve the world’s greatest challenges. Our mission is to make investing in what works the “new normal,” so that when policymakers make decisions, they start by seeking the best evidence and data available, then use what they find to get better results.

Contact: Zachary Coile
[email protected]

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