At the January 5 hearing of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking in Chicago, Mathematica Senior Fellow Matthew Stagner will talk about the importance of using evidence to improve programs and inform policy decisions. Stagner’s remarks will be grounded in his own experience evaluating child welfare programs—particularly those for youth transitioning out of foster care—and policy changes designed to minimize the occurrence of child abuse and neglect.
In his testimony, Stagner will emphasize three priorities: translating research evidence into actionable policy changes; expanding access to administrative data in support of that research; and ensuring that the evidence used in policymaking is rigorous. A copy of Stagner’s prepared remarks is available here.
The hearing in Chicago is part of the commission’s efforts to engage the policymaking and research communities in discussions about how to increase the use of data and evidence in federal policymaking and program improvement. In December, Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker submitted a public letter to the commission covering several topics related to evidence-based policymaking.
