Oregon

The Oregon Governor’s Office published a series of strategic initiatives directly related to the current biennium (2021-2023), and specifically helping Oregon “build back better” after the COVID-19 pandemic. These strategic initiatives include a 10-point action plan for economic recovery, informed in partnership with the Governor’s Racial Justice Council, as well as a strategic direction for guiding Oregon’s recovery from COVID-19 within a framework of racial equity and social justice. The 10-point action plan includes concrete priorities and critical investments related to fostering economic growth and recovery in a post-pandemic Oregon.

A 2018 Oregon statute requires agencies to submit key performance measure data to the Legislative Fiscal Office on a regular basis, in addition to sharing reports publicly to indicate Oregon’s progress toward identified measures. Oregon also has a Key Performance Measures system in which agencies report regular progress on identified measures to the legislature and the governor’s office. With the development of Oregon’s Racial Justice Council, the state is in the process of establishing a centralized vision for racial justice and equity that includes guidance for agencies on identifying strategic objectives and measures to support racial equity and in evaluating services from a community-focused standpoint. Progress of the vision in terms of budget accomplishment and legislative support are summarized in a Racial Justice Council April 2022 presentation.

The Governor’s 2022 State of the State address highlighted the value of data-driven policy making centered on equity and racial justice to inform how the Governor’s investments would help build a stronger, more equitable future for all residents. For example, the Governor’s Racial Justice Council provided community feedback through the Council’s membership and prioritization of evidence-based processes for the development of the Governor’s Recommended Budget, which was delivered to the Legislature as part of the 2021 legislative session. Community feedback and support of the Racial Justice Council will be incorporated in the 2023 Governor’s Recommended Budget process.

Additionally, the Racial Justice Council worked with communities to establish Future Ready Oregon, a $200 million dollar package that invests in job training with a focus on health care, technology and manufacturing, and construction. Beyond the budget recommendations and State of the State address, the Governor provided public pandemic status updates (press conferences), which demonstrate data’s value in guiding decision-making. Similarly, in grappling with wildfires, the state has relied on the Oregon Office of Emergency Management’s dashboard to support efforts.

A 2017 Oregon law instituted a Chief Data Officer responsible for the state’s centralized data strategy, including an enterprise open data platform. The Chief Data Officer is charged with creating open data standards, providing privacy guidance for state agencies, identifying opportunities for data sharing, and designing stakeholder engagement strategies, including an advisory committee. In 2021, the program was funded to grow from six to twelve staff members and procured a geospatial data-sharing and management platform. The Chief Data Officer also released Oregon’s first data strategy in 2020 and data strategy website in February 2021. The state continues working toward the actions identified in the data strategy’s biennial action plan.

Published in February 2021, Oregon’s statewide 2021-2023 data strategy and data strategy website identify high-level principles and practices for how the state will effectively and ethically use data, including collection, use, design, community engagement, and transparency. The state continues working toward the actions identified in the data strategy’s biennial action plan pursuant to a 2017 law.

Codified by state statute in 2017, Oregon’s Open Data Program allows state agencies to inventory, prioritize, and publish open datasets to improve transparency and internal data sharing among state agencies and government partners. Oregon’s Open Data Program Resources links contain information on the state’s Open Data Standard, webinars held by the Chief Data Officer, and external tools and resources.

A 2017 Oregon law requires the Chief Data Officer to create an enterprise memorandum of understanding to facilitate data sharing across state agencies. To support this approach, the Chief Data Officer has convened integrated data users and leaders from across the state. The State Longitudinal Data System, launched in 2018, brings together education and workforce data. The Sustainable Solutions for Accelerated Learning (SSAL) Work Group and Trauma-Informed Pilot Project identify areas of inequities for increased funding. To further advance this data integration across the state, a 2021 state law created a “system of care advisory council” responsible for integrating appropriate data to help determine holistic care and support needs within health, education, public safety, and other program services. The System of Care Council has produced an initial version of a system of care dashboard to identify youth served within Oregon’s systems of care.

As part of the implementation of the 2003 Oregon law on evidence-based health, youth, and corrections programs, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) maintains an ongoing inventory of approved evidence-based practices in behavioral health, including culturally relevant services.

The Oregon Health Authority has established the Health Evidence Review Commission to continually review and update an ongoing inventory of evidence-based practices at work within OHA. The commission vets medical evidence to identify new and valuable practices and maintains a publicly available list of practices in a wide range of clinical and treatment areas. In 2020, Oregon Youth Authority provided an updated report identifying the cost-effectiveness of their programs and services, with the next report being released in late 2022.

In 2021, the Oregon Office of Workforce Investments used a tiered evidence framework from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to both define and prioritize evidence, as well as allocate funds through its AmeriCorps Oregon State Grant Program. Criteria from the CNCS assigned preference to evidence-based interventions assessed as ‘Moderate’ or ‘Strong’. To do this, the grant assigned points within the Evidence Base section (up to 20), with Evidence Tier allotted 12 points and Evidence Quality 8 points. The RFP prioritized evidence by stating that “all applicants must propose program designs that are either evidence-based or evidence-informed. Applicants assessed as lower than the Preliminary evidence tier (i.e., Pre-Preliminary) must provide adequate responses to the Evidence Quality review criteria in order to be considered for funding.” Applicants were encouraged to consider interventions through the AmeriCorps Mandatory Supplemental Guidance that further defined evidence tiers.

A 2003 Oregon law provides a definition of evidence-based program as a program that “incorporates significant and relevant practices based on scientifically based research; and is cost effective” and states that the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Oregon Youth Authority, the Oregon Youth Development Division, and “the part of the Oregon Health Authority that deals with mental health and addiction issues” shall (1) spend at least 75% of state moneys that the agency receives for programs on evidence-based programs; (2) perform cost-benefit analyses; and (3) compile a biennial program inventory with results from funded programs. As of 2018, the Oregon Youth Authority spent “90% of General Fund and almost 92% of total funds subject to Oregon’s Senate Bill 267 (SB267) on evidence-based programming.” In a 2020 report to the legislature, the Oregon Department of Education Youth Development Division  indicated that 92% of reported expenditures support local programs that have met evidence-based practice criteria (an interim progress report is avail