Standards of Excellence

Honor Roll of State Grant Programs that Define and Prioritize Evidence of Effectiveness

State/ Child Health/Child Welfare/Development/Economic/Education/Housing/ 2022/

State governments can produce better and more equitable results for residents by increasing the proportion of public resources directed through state grant programs to interventions with evidence of effectiveness.

This honor roll features state grant programs in select issue areas¹ that define and prioritize evidence of effectiveness. State agencies can nominate their state grant program(s) for potential inclusion using this form. Results for America reviews nominations and updates the honor roll on a rolling basis.

State grant programs that meet all of the following criteria are featured:

  • The program must define evidence of effectiveness, either by establishing criteria for qualifying interventions or by specifying interventions that have qualifying evidence of effectiveness.
  • The program must prioritize evidence of effectiveness by doing at least one of the following:
    • Require the use of evidence-based programs and services by all grant recipients (Evidence-Requirement); 
    • Award preference/bonus points to grant applications that propose evidence-based interventions (Evidence Preference/Bonus Points);
    • Set-aside a specific portion of the overall grant program funding amount and award it to grant applicants that propose evidence-based interventions (Evidence Set-Aside).
  • The program must have published a request for applications since January 1, 2020. The program must have awarded grants to organizations that applied for funding.
  • For a program entirely funded by federal resources with an evidence requirement, the program must meaningfully exceed the federally required amount of funding supporting interventions with evidence of effectiveness.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions or if you are interested in receiving assistance incorporating evidence into your state grant program.

¹The issue areas featured in this honor roll are: education and youth development, health and well-being, workforce development, justice and public safety, housing and community development, and financial security. Evidence-based practices in these areas can be found in Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog.