Research & Evidence-Based Policy Initiatives

In summer 2014, Colorado’s Executive Branch and the General Assembly partnered with the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative to implement Results First in Colorado. The Research and Evidence-Based Policy (REP) team has reviewed programs in the adult criminal justice, juvenile justice, child welfare, behavioral health, prevention, and health policy areas. The reports can be found here.

The Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, works with Colorado and other jurisdictions to implement an innovative benefit-cost analysis approach to state policy decision making. By offering cutting-edge tools and hands-on technical assistance, Results First helps public leaders identify and invest in policies and programs that produce the best outcomes for constituents.

At the core of the Results First approach is a benefit-cost analysis model. Based on a model first developed by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, it incorporates national research on program effectiveness and allows that national data to be analyzed in conjunction with Colorado-specific data.

The model helps our state:

• Systematically identify the success of state programs with a return on investment focus;
• Analyze evidence-based programs based on their projected benefits, costs, and investment risks;
• Provide advice for policymakers on programs that could be targeted for additional funding or potential cuts based on effectiveness; and
• Predict the impact of different policy options.

To implement the project, OSPB is working in collaboration with the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee, the Judicial Branch, and state departments.

Additionally, the team is focusing on promoting other supports that are necessary to implement evidence-based policymaking and achieve results, such as implementation support and rigorous evaluations of programs. OSPB is working both internally with government partners and externally with non-profits and other stakeholders to determine how to better integrate these supports into state decision-making processes. These steps are essential as programs must be implemented and evaluated properly to achieve their intended outcomes.

Please visit the Colorado Results First section of our website for more information.

In 2015, the Colorado General Assembly enacted HB 15-1317 encouraging the Office of State Planning and Budgeting to pursue Pay for Success contracts.

Under a Pay for Success contract, a state or local government pays for a service based on outcomes and impact, measured rigorously by an independent evaluator. Pay for Success contracts may also be paid for by nonprofit, private sector, or individual funders, with foundations and/or impact investors providing up-front project financing to the project's service provider(s). The government commits to repay these funders if the intervention achieves key outcomes (for instance, a reduction in recidivism, or improvements in school performance) for the individuals served by the project.

A number of innovators across the country have experimented with the Pay for Success model in recent years as part of a broader strategy to move toward evidence-based and data-driven policymaking. The city and county of Denver recently launched a Pay for Success project last year to finance services for persistently homeless individuals.

The Office of State Planning and Budgeting is currently working to implement three Pay for Success projects to improve outcomes for Colorado's underserved youth. The projects were selected from a Call for Innovation that solicited ideas and improved approaches for young people and their families from nonprofits, service providers, Colorado local governments and other stakeholders.

Please visit the Pay for Success section of our website for more information.

The Governor's Office was appropriated $500,000 on an ongoing basis to grant funds to state programs for the purposes of evaluation and implementation support. The grant focuses on supporting evidence and implementation capacity building for programs funded by the state's Marijuana Tax Cash Fund.

Please visit the Implementation and Evaluation Grant section of our website for more information.

The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab (The Colorado Lab) began in 2017. It is an innovative government-research partnership housed at the Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise at the University of Denver. The Colorado Lab works with state officials to evaluate public policies, design improvements to existing programs, and pilot new interventions intended to benefit Colorado residents.

The Colorado Lab is modeled after other “policy labs” in various regions across the country, including California, Washington, D.C., Michigan, Rhode Island, and Houston, Texas. Policy labs are government-research partnerships that seek to integrate evaluation into policymaking by pairing experienced researchers with state and local officials in order to study problems and scale proven solutions.

Please visit the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab section of our website for more information.