2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence Analysis

As part of the release of the 2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence, Results for America celebrates seven leading states for building and using evidence and data to drive taxpayer dollars toward proven solutions. Through their results-driven budgeting, grantmaking and direct services, these states are expanding early childhood education opportunities, improving mental health outcomes, reducing recidivism rates and addressing other urgent problems facing their communities.

Platinum: Minnesota and Tennessee
Gold: Colorado
Silver: Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina

The 2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence also recognizes the data and evidence building progress of six Honorable Mention states: New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and Utah.

Our 2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence evaluates all states against 12 criteria that measure how they are leveraging their budgeting, grantmaking and direct services authority to invest in what works and deliver better results for their residents faster. A record 48 states are represented in this year’s State Standard of Excellence in some way, an increase from 46 states last year.

The states featured in the 2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence invested billions of dollars in evidence-based solutions between 2021 and 2024, including Minnesota ($2.1 billion), Tennessee ($2.1 billion), Colorado ($1.7 billion) and Michigan ($1.1 billion).

Highlights from the 2024 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence

Certified States

Minnesota, *Platinum Certification*

A national leader in Investing in What Works Through Budgeting and in Investing in What Works through Direct Services.
Minnesota committed over $2.1 billion through grants and contracts and direct services over a three year period to more effective solutions supporting children and families, including $387 million invested in Universal School Meals.

Tennessee, *Platinum Certification*

A national leader in Investing in What Works Through Grantmaking and in Investing in What Works Through Direct Services.
Invested over $2.1 billion in grants, contracts and direct services over a three year period in evidence-based programs and services across mental health, education, corrections and more, including $135 million invested in evidence-based summer learning programs.
Leads the nation in Investing in Capacity to Learn What Works by allocating $1.5 million in recurring state dollars for rigorous program evaluations to support evidence building.

Colorado, *Gold Certification*:

A national leader in Investing in What Works Through Budgeting and in Results-Driven Contracting, as exemplified by its Pay for Success programs.
Allocated over $1.7 billion over a three year period to programs with a track record of success in early childhood, behavioral health and higher education; this amount also includes $94 million invested in an evidence-based Nurse-Family Partnership program.

Connecticut, *Silver Certification*:

A national leader in Investing in What Works Through Grantmaking.
Allocated $339.9 million over a three year period to six grant programs prioritizing evidence-based strategies, such as the 2023 High-Dosage Tutoring Program Grant ($10 million), which supports effective tutoring for improved student performance.
Also a national leader in Data Policy and Practices, prioritizing robust data standards to inform effective decision making and enhance program transparency.

Maryland, *Silver Certification*:

Recognized for leadership in Community Participation, ensuring that community input is integral to program design and delivery, and emerging leadership in Investing in What Works Through Budgeting.
Appropriated $15 million in 2024 to the ENOUGH Act, a grant program created to help end concentrated poverty through place-based interventions in high-need communities.

Michigan, *Silver Certification*:

Recognized for its leadership in Investing in What Works through Grants and Contracts.
Invested $1.1 billion over a three year period across three major programs, including the Great Start Readiness Program ($486 million), which funds high-quality preschool initiatives that have demonstrated substantial developmental benefits for children.

North Carolina, *Silver Certification*:

Excels in Evaluation Policy and Learning, underscoring its commitment to continuous improvement through systematic evaluation practices.
Invested $17 million in evidence-based grant programs over a three year period, including its evidence-based Substance Abuse and Prevention & Treatment Block Grant program ($6 million) that improves outcomes for both parents and children affected by child maltreatment and parental substance use disorders.

Investing in What Works

Our Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence focuses on three crucial levers for evidence-based decision-making — budgeting, grantmaking and direct services.

Investing in What Works Through Budgeting
Colorado and Minnesota are recognized for their leadership in developing and implementing their evidence-based budgeting systems to improve outcomes for their residents. Learn more about the five steps to evidence-based budgeting here.

Colorado has integrated evidence-based criteria across its budget process, setting a standard by defining evidence of effectiveness for budget development, incorporating evidence indicators in public budget documents, and adding fields for evidence collection in internal budget forms.
Minnesota is leading with transparency and accountability by including evidence indicators in public budget documents and summarizing legislative measures that support evidence-based interventions. Additionally, Minnesota incorporates evidence-based criteria within internal budget processes, ensuring state funds go toward programs that deliver measurable impact.

Investing in What Works Through Grantmaking
Michigan, Connecticut, California and Tennessee are leading the way in evidence-based grantmaking, increasingly investing in programs proven to yield positive outcomes.

Michigan: Invested $1.1 billion across three major programs over a three year period, including the Great Start Readiness Program, which funds high-quality, evidence-based preschool initiatives that have demonstrated substantial developmental benefits for children.
Connecticut: Allocated $339.9 million over a three year period to six programs prioritizing evidence-based strategies, such as the 2023 High-Dosage Tutoring Program Grant, which supports effective tutoring for improved student performance.
California: Directed $324.7 million over a three year period to eight programs emphasizing evidence-based impact, including the 2022 Adult Reentry Grant Program, which provides Housing First services to formerly incarcerated individuals.
Tennessee: Committed $320.6 million over a three year period to five programs, including programs that successfully reduce recidivism and support post-incarceration success.

States that define and prioritize evidence of effectiveness in grant programs can continue to nominate their programs by emailing states@results4america.org. Approved nominations will be included in future State Standards of Excellence and the Honor Roll of State Grant Programs that Define and Prioritize Evidence of Effectiveness.

Investing in What Works Through Direct Services
Minnesota, Tennessee and Colorado are recognized for their investments in evidence-based direct services to improve outcomes for their residents. Across 14 states, a total of $8.8 billion has been dedicated to evidence-based direct services, demonstrating bipartisan support for outcome-focused government programs.

Minnesota: Committed over $1.8 billion over a three year period to evidence-based programs supporting children and families. This includes $387 million invested in Universal School Meals to provide free school meals for students, $36 million invested in Voluntary Prekindergarten to improve school readiness, and more.
Tennessee: Invested over $1.8 billion over a three year period in evidence-backed services across mental health, education and corrections. This includes $338 million in the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship: Hope, $22 million in Tennessee Promise, a scholarship and mentoring program focused on increasing the number of students who attend college, and more.
Colorado: Allocated over $1.7 billion over a three year period to 28 programs, including early childhood, behavioral health, human services and higher education. This includes $94 million invested in an evidence-based Nurse-Family Partnership program, a program that improves the lives of moms and their children, $75 million invested in the Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act to improve early literacy development for students, and more.