Evaluation Requirement—Performance Measurement

General Requirement

The Act requires an evaluation component for all programs funded through a formula grant (Sec. 501(c)). The National Institute of Justice developed general guidance on evaluations in Evaluating Drug Control and System Improvement Projects. The specific requirements for the Byrne Program evaluation component are included below.

The performance measures for the Byrne Formula Grant Program are in final review. The final version also will be posted at this site. Each purpose area will have a discrete set of performance measures, on which the SAAs will be expected to report. BJA also is requiring that the SAAs provide BJA with subrecipient grant reports.

If a program must be evaluated under this requirement, the SAA must seek out a qualified evaluator. Such an evaluator can be a state agency, a college or university, or other qualified researcher with evaluation expertise. The evaluation must be an impact evaluation, not a simple process evaluation, and must use scientifically accepted and rigorous practices. An SAA must evaluate at least one program within the first 4 years after receiving its fiscal year 2004 grant award. At least one or more programs must then be evaluated within each 4-year period following, unless all funded programs are waived from the requirement.

Evaluation Plan

To meet this requirement, an SAA will set out the plan for evaluating each program or request a waiver in its state strategies or subsequent program approval requests. This is accomplished through a simple statement either explaining the year in which the evaluation will be done or requesting a waiver and providing the reasons why. For more information on how to provide the evaluation plans, see the Program Approval Request section.

The BJA Director, at his or her discretion, may grant or delegate the authority to grant waivers to the evaluation requirement for any Byrne-funded program (Sec. 501(c)). The SAA may request a waiver through its program requests for a variety of reasons:

• The program is not of sufficient size to justify a full evaluation. Sufficient size may mean that only a small amount of funding goes to the program, the scope of the program is very limited and an evaluation would not be useful, the program is only funded for a short period of time (less than 4 years), or the program is no longer funded.

• An evaluation is not necessary because the program has already been evaluated or an evaluation has been done elsewhere on a project or program that is so significantly similar in its elements and execution that it can adequately serve to determine the effectiveness of the project or program.

• The program is designed primarily to provide material resources and supplies, such as laboratory or other equipment, that would not justify a full evaluation.