The Florida Senate

411.204  Program evaluation design and conduct; independent third-party evaluation.--

(1)(a)  The Legislature finds that:

1.  In order to identify and eliminate any ineffective, unintended, and harmful effects of program implementation; to identify and sustain or enhance the effects of legislated change; and to justify the continuation or discontinuation of public funds for programs, it is desirable to have comprehensive, unbiased, and timely decision-oriented evaluation.

2.  Without a uniform evaluation design system, it would be impossible to permit the collection, aggregation, and analysis of data within, across, and among agencies, advisory structures, and field-oriented prototypes and related programs, in order to meaningfully evaluate program implementation. The uniform evaluation design system should also help ensure that pressures to prematurely measure project effects do not lead to goals, objectives, and strategies which may damage the sound development of prevention and early assistance strategies and programs most likely to help high-risk families.

(b)  The Legislature intends that:

1.  A uniform evaluation design system shall be jointly utilized by intraagency evaluators, prototype evaluators, project evaluators, and independent third-party evaluators to guide and coordinate the conduct of evaluations and technical assistance activities.

2.  Formative data collected from evaluations shall be available on a regular basis to program managers, agencies, relevant state and local advisory entities, field-based prototypes and projects, and third-party evaluators to help ensure the timely removal of bureaucratic and programmatic barriers and to empower state and local advisory panels, in order that they may review and advise on corrective actions and make judgments regarding how successfully identified problems are resolved.

3.  The design and conduct of such evaluations shall be consistent with national and state professional evaluation standards and with the intent expressed in this section.

4.  The design and conduct of such evaluations shall use existing data bases and information systems to the maximum extent possible.

(2)(a)  Intraagency and interagency evaluation activities shall be performed by internal evaluators within the Offices of Prevention, Early Assistance, and Child Development of the Department of Education and the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services as created by s. 411.222.

(b)  Major responsibilities for the evaluator in each such office shall include, but not be limited to, the following activities:

1.  Coordinating with other intraagency and interagency evaluators, evaluators of prototypes established pursuant to part III, and other related project evaluators, the State Coordinating Council for Early Childhood Services established pursuant to s. 411.222(4), and independent third-party evaluators.

2.  Facilitating and documenting intradepartmental and interdepartmental decisions and accomplishments, including, but not limited to, strategic planning, memoranda of interagency agreement, and the continuum of services.

3.  Assisting in the development of processes and criteria for decisionmaking and conflict resolution.

4.  Identifying and documenting problems which inhibit program implementation, and screening alternative solutions to those problems.

5.  Identifying and documenting unanticipated program benefits and problems.

6.  Providing technical assistance to related intraheadquarters and interheadquarters programs and field-based prototypes and related programs.

7.  Assisting in the design and implementation of timely, unbiased, decision-oriented mechanisms for identifying and bridging jurisdictional lines within and across agencies to address the needs of high-risk children and their families.

8.  Developing processes for the clearinghouses established pursuant to s. 411.222, to ensure that judgments and decisions regarding exemplary, effective programs and services are based upon an accumulation and analysis of available quantitative and qualitative evaluation evidence, the experience of practitioners, input from families of high-risk children, and consistency of such findings with other research and knowledge.

9.  Identifying processes for the clearinghouses to develop and utilize dissemination and diffusion mechanisms which ensure the exportability of exemplary and effective programs to new sites.

During the initial year of implementation, evaluation shall focus upon needs assessment and planning. During subsequent years, evaluation shall focus upon the development of solution alternatives, implementation of plans, and summative evaluation.

(3)  Prototypes established pursuant to part III shall utilize an internal evaluator to conduct evaluation activities to implement subparagraphs (2)(b)1.-7. and part III.

(4)  Other field-based programs for high-risk children and their families established either pursuant to this chapter or s. 230.2303, s. 402.27, s. 402.28, s. 402.45, or s. 402.47, or participating in the continuum, shall utilize the uniform evaluation design system specified in paragraph (1)(b) and in subsection (5).

(5)(a)  Consistent with the intent specified in subsection (1), by September 1, 1989, the Department of Education in cooperation with the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services shall contract for the development and implementation of an independent third-party uniform evaluation design system and for evaluation of program implementation which shall be consistent with the uniform evaluation design system.

(b)  The Department of Education in cooperation with the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services shall contract with one or more entities to develop the uniform evaluation design system and conduct the evaluation. Contract decisions shall be determined at the earliest possible time to ensure the integrity and utility of evaluation-related data.

(c)  The uniform evaluation design system shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1.  Activities and programs related to intraagency and interagency coordination and to the State Coordinating Council for Early Childhood Services established pursuant to s. 411.222.

2.  Evaluation of the management systems and procedures for the continuum as set forth in s. 411.203(9)(f).

3.  Activities and prototypes related to comprehensive services for high-risk infants and toddlers and their families as specified in part III.

4.  Program evaluation of ss. 230.2303, 402.27, 402.28, 402.45, and 402.47 and other programs directly related to the intent of this chapter.

Such evaluation design system shall be based upon the achievement of desired outcomes resulting from prevention or early intervention efforts.

(d)  The independent third-party evaluators shall utilize data and evaluation findings provided through intraagency, interagency, prototype, and field-based project evaluations, in addition to other data which they shall independently collect. Evaluation reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1.  Analyses of the nature and effectiveness of intraagency and interagency activities required by this chapter, of the State Coordinating Council for Early Childhood Services, of prototypes established pursuant to part III and of other field-based programs and operations as specified in subparagraph (c)4.

2.  Analyses of the nature and effectiveness of the development, revisions, and use of the continuum of comprehensive services, of strategic planning, of clearinghouse operations, and of the memorandum of interagency agreement.

3.  Formative and summative evaluations which shall ensure that the Legislature and agency heads make decisions consistent with the provisions of paragraph (1)(a). Such evaluations shall include, but not be limited to, design effectiveness; effectiveness of each delivery system; participant outcomes as specified in the evaluation design; cost-effectiveness and estimates of future savings; assessments of the use of resources; of administrative and governance structures; of policies and procedures; of staff qualifications; of programmatic methodologies; of evaluation methodologies; and of the quality and effectiveness of the programs delivered to high-risk children and their families.

History.--s. 1, ch. 89-379; s. 82, ch. 92-142.

¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.