The program evaluation push will initially focus on social, educational, economic, and similar programs whose expenditures are aimed at improving life outcomes for individuals, the memo said.
Activities related to procurement, construction, taxation, and national defense are beyond the initial scope of the initiative but will be considered on a case-by-case basis, while drug and clinical evaluations are outside the purview of the initiative.
OMB also has announced that it formed an interagency working group of evaluation experts with the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisors to promote stronger evaluation across the federal government.
The working group will fall under the Performance Improvement Council and is intended to help build agency evaluation capacity and create effective evaluation networks that draw on the best expertise inside and outside the federal government.
It will also be tasked with sharing best practices from agencies with strong, independent evaluation offices, making research expertise available to agencies, devising strategies for using data and evaluation to drive program improvements, and developing government-wide guidance on program evaluation practices while allowing agencies tailor their own.