Over the past decade, The Pew Results First initiative has worked with 27 states to implement an innovative evidence-based policymaking approach that helps them to invest in policies and programs that are proved to work—ensuring that states moved over $1.1 billion toward more effective services.

The Results First initiative launched in 2010 to help states understand and incorporate evidence use into their budgeting and policymaking processes. By 2017, Results First had partnered with 27 states throughout the country, and by 2019, these states had shifted more than $1 billion toward effective, evidence-based programs.

Colorado is a leader among states using data and research to strengthen their budget investment choices. Since 2014, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Results First initiative has partnered with Colorado to help the state apply research evidence to fund programs that work. To be sure that the state invests taxpayer funds in projects that are effective, the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) requires evidence in an agency’s budget requests for changes to program funds, including expansions, reductions, and new projects.

For the past decade, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Results First initiative has helped state and local leaders throughout the country better understand and use evidence to inform their budgeting and policymaking processes. Results First has developed innovative tools and resources that have assisted these stakeholders when incorporating research and evidence into their decision-making.