Section 29-5B-7

(a) Each year, within 30 days of the conclusion of the regular session of the Legislature, or any special session where an appropriations act is enacted, the Legislative Services Agency shall identify each new program or major expansion of an existing program for which an agency received an appropriation and notify the agency and the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services of the programs subject to the provisions of this chapter. (b) Each agency shall prepare an evaluation plan for each new program and each major expansion of an existing program that is enacted in an appropriations act, as follows: (1) The evaluation plan shall, at a minimum, describe the program’s objectives, target population, key activities, expected inputs, outputs, intended outcomes, and benchmarks for intended outcomes. These variables shall be incorporated into a logic model in the plan. (2) The evaluation plan shall identify the indicators the agency will use to track inputs, outputs, and key outcomes; and for each, describe the data sources and explain how the measures will be calculated for each indicator. (3) The evaluation plan shall classify the planned level of evaluation (for example, monitoring, outcome evaluation, or causal impact evaluation) consistent with the typology in the standards issued under Section 29-2B-6. (4) For programs meeting criteria established in guidance under Section 29-2B-6, the evaluation plan shall include a proposal for a causal impact evaluation or a justification for why such an evaluation is not feasible or appropriate. (5) Evaluation plans shall be submitted to the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services for approval and publication on its website, per the standards and guidance issued under Section 29-2B-6, before data is analyzed.