Introduction
Requirements
Methods

Introduction

Given that CDC requires a variety of evaluation activities that draw on health department resources and staff time, it is critical that health department grantees develop evaluation plans outlining their evaluation needs and describing, in a realistic and concrete manner, the ways in which they will meet them. To this end, CDC requires that each health department create an evaluation plan prior to beginning the evaluation activities described in this guidance.

Requirements

Evaluation plans should contain information about how each type of required evaluation will be conducted and should describe the grantee health department’s evaluation technical assistance needs.

Evaluation plans should be submitted to CDC in 2000 when health department grantees submit their funding applications for fiscal year 2001. During the remainder of the 5-year period, the plans should be revised as needed and submitted to CDC.

Methods

The following steps will enable grantees to create an evaluation plan containing the required elements.

• Step 1: Identify goals. Determine the evaluation goals for the jurisdiction and the ways in which they will be met through development of a plan.
• Step 2: Assess evaluation resources and capacity available to the health department. Health departments should identify potential sources of evaluation funding, expertise, and capacity in the jurisdiction.
• Step 3: Describe past, current, and planned evaluations of HIV prevention activities supported by the health department (and, when possible, those supported by other agencies). This includes resources within the health department as well as those in the broader community.
• Step 4: Identify evaluation activities required by CDC that are not adequately covered by existing evaluation efforts. This can be accomplished by comparing the health department’s past, current, and planned evaluation activities with types of evaluation required by CDC.
• Step 5: Determine when each type of evaluation will be implemented. Evaluation activities that are required need to be instituted well before the data are required so that the data will be available in time for submission.
• Step 6: Determine how data will be collected, managed, and monitored for each type of evaluation. Drawing on knowledge about evaluation expertise available and the type of data expected for each evaluation activity, identify practical ways for obtaining and keeping track of data so that they are accessible and can be applied for program improvement and other purposes.

Additional guidance on creating an evaluation plan is provided in Chapter 8 of Evaluating CDC HIV Prevention Programs–Volume 2: Supplemental Handbook.

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