Using the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Clearance Process in Program Planning and Evaluation

Through well-planned health promotion and education programming, federally funded projects are often leaders in the development and implementation of sound public health practices. In public health practice, program evaluations are used to 1) determine whether program objectives related to health status have been achieved, 2) improve program implementation, 3) increase community support, 4) contribute to a scientific base, 5) provide accountability to community members and other stakeholders, and 6) guide program-specific policy decisions (1,2). To monitor program processes and obtain the evidence necessary to demonstrate a program’s effectiveness, some form of evaluation involving data collection is usually completed (3). Evaluation is considered a key component of public health programming (2,4).