United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-09-29 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GGD-00-204 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204 P0b002ee18039def3 f:gg00204 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204 GGD-00-204 Productivity in government Performance measures Agency missions Strategic planning Interagency relations Data collection Program evaluation Reporting requirements Internal controls APHIS Mediterranean Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Program SAMHSA Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program Upward Bound Program DOL Welfare-to-Work Grant HHS Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program Letter Report GGD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how federal agencies used evaluation studies to report on their achievements, focusing on: (1) how program evaluation studies or methods served in performance reporting; and (2) circumstances that led agencies to conduct evaluations.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) evaluations helped the agencies improve their measurement of program performance or understanding of performance and how it might be improved--some studies did both; (2) to help improve their performance measurement, two agencies used the findings of effectiveness evaluations to provide data on program results that were otherwise unavailable; (3) one agency supported a number of studies to help states prepare the groundwork for and pilot-test future performance measures; (4) another used evaluation methods to validate the accuracy of existing performance data; (5) to better understand program performance, one agency reported evaluation and audit findings to address other, operational concerns about the program; (6) four agencies drew on evaluations to explain the reasons for observed performance or identify ways to improve performance; (7) three agencies compared their program's results with estimates of what might have happened in the program's absence in order to assess their program's net impact or contribution to results; (8) two of the evaluations GAO reviewed were initiated in response to legislative provisions, but most of the studies were self-initiated by agencies in response to concerns about the program's performance or about the availability of outcome data; (9) some studies were initiated by agencies for reasons unrelated to meeting Government Performance and Results Act requirements and thus served purposes beyond those they were designed to address; (10) in some cases, evaluations were launched to identify the reasons for poor program performance and learn how that could be remedied; (11) in other cases, agencies initiated special studies because they faced challenges in collecting outcome data on an ongoing basis; (12) one departmentwide study was initiated in order to direct attention to an issue that cut across program boundaries and agencies' responsibilities; (13) as agencies governmentwide update their strategic and performance plans, the examples in this report might help them identify ways that evaluations can contribute to understanding their programs' performance; and (14) these cases also provide some examples of ways agencies might leverage their evaluation resources through: (a) drawing on the findings of a wide array of evaluations and audits; (b) making multiple use of an evaluations findings; (c) mining existing databases; and (d) collaborating with state and local program partners to develop mutually useful performance data. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204.pdf GAO/GGD-00-204 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-00-204 Letter Report GAO/GGD-00-204; Program Evaluation: Studies Helped Agencies Measure or; Productivity in government Performance measures Agency missions Strategic planning Interagency relations Data collection Program evaluation Reporting requirements Internal controls APHIS Mediterranean Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Program SAMHSA Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program Upward Bound Program DOL Welfare-to-Work Grant HHS Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program