Evaluation Plan Reporting Requirements
Reporting Additional information

This chapter:

• Reviews the reporting requirements for evaluation plans and
• Describes information in excess of the requirements that may be included in evaluation plans.

Evaluation Plan Reporting Requirements

CDC requires that each health department create an evaluation plan prior to beginning the evaluation activities described in the Guidance. Health departments submitted their initial evaluation plans to CDC in September 2000, along with their funding applications for fiscal year 2001. Evaluation plans should be revised annually and submitted to CDC.

The evaluation plan outlines the activities the health department will undertake to implement the Guidance and meet reporting requirements. The goal is for the health department to create a plan that will guide the collection and reporting of evaluation data that meet each of the Guidance reporting requirements, improve HIV prevention efforts, and inform stakeholders of the progress made in HIV prevention.

At a minimum, the evaluation plan should answer the three questions listed below. Sub-topics are included for each question to further clarify the types of information to be addressed. These questions represent a simplification of the six steps for creating an evaluation plan listed in the Guidance, volume 1, chapter 8.

1. How will each of the Guidance reporting requirements be met?

• What is the health department's plan to meet Guidance requirements including timelines, roles, and responsibilities for staff and contractors?

2. How will evaluation data be collected, managed, and used?

• What systems are currently in place to collect and manage required data?
• How and when will systems to collect and manage required data be improved (if necessary)?
• How are evaluation data currently being used, and by whom?
• How will evaluation data be used in the future?

3. What are the evaluation technical assistance (TA) needs for the jurisdiction?

• What are the unmet evaluation TA needs of health department staff, contractors, and other relevant stakeholders?
• How and when will unmet TA needs be addressed?

Health departments may choose how to organize this information in their evaluation plan. The most common approach used by health departments for plans submitted in September 2000 was to organize the plan according to the chapters of the Guidance. Using this approach, health departments can clearly describe how required data will be collected, managed, and used for each reporting requirement, as well as describe any unmet evaluation TA needs related to meeting those requirements. Technical assistance needs that are not specific to a Guidance chapter, or that relate to several aspects of the Guidance, can be described in a separate section. Another common approach was to organize the plan according to the goals and objectives for implementing Guidance activities. Within this structure, the plan describes action steps for meeting Guidance requirements; collecting, managing, and using evaluation data; and identifying and addressing TA needs.

CDC requires health departments to update their plans annually. Jurisdictions may choose to use one of the formats described above, or any other structure they prefer, for revising their plan and clarifying how they will proceed with Guidance activities. (For more information on creating an evaluation plan, see the Guidance, volumes 1 and 2, chapters 8 and 9.)

Reporting Additional information

CDC undertook a national review of evaluation plans submitted in September 2000, to better understand progress in Guidance implementation. A data abstraction form was developed to guide analysis of what information was and was not described in the plans. To ensure a comprehensive review, this form enabled abstraction of information that exceeded expectations for evaluation plans as described in the Guidance. When the results of this review were shared with health department staff, several suggested that the data abstraction form could serve as a useful guideline for health departments interested in further developing their evaluation plans.

Health departments may include information in their evaluation plan that exceeds the minimum reporting requirements. However, this is not expected or required. For those that choose to go beyond the minimum requirements, the following list of topics, gleaned from the data abstraction form, may provide ideas about other information to include in the plan. Health departments may choose to address one or more of these issues, or may include any other information they deem relevant.

Additional Information That May be Included in Evaluation Plans

• Health department and non-health department resources and capacity for evaluation including overall funding, supplemental funding, non-CDC funding, evaluation staff, and consultants.
• Systems for using the Guidance risk population and intervention definitions for reporting and strategies for reconciling differences between the Guidance definitions and jurisdiction-specific definitions.
• Barriers to collecting data on any particular variables (e.g., age data, scientific basis)
• Methods for designing and delivering interventions that can be evaluated.
• Evaluation activities in excess of Guidance requirements, such as process evaluation and quality assurance.
• Approaches to collaborating with stakeholders to develop the evaluation plan.
• Strategies to get evaluation buy-in from stakeholders.