Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Puerto Rico is undergoing a fiscal crisis that required the implementation of austerity measures to balance budgets and meet debt obligations. In many cases, protecting programs that serve children, youth and their families can become difficult given the limited data on their performance. Understanding how programs incorporate the best scientific evidence available can help determine how to better invest limited resources from the state coffers, since programs that use the best evidence available can increase efficiency and, thus caliber adequate funding streams. However, the use of evidence in Puerto Rico is a largely understudied policy issue. Through the Joint Resolution 1378 of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, new data from 19 local agencies that administer programs for children, youth and their families was collected. Using data from 157 respondents of a culturally adapted version of the Structured Interview of Evidence Use (SIEU) survey and 17 in-depth semi-structured interviews, new data was made available to understand the state of evidence use by agencies and programs in Puerto Rico. Findings from this data show that many agencies in Puerto Rico have a high use of evidence in their programming, however challenges like funding, high personnel turnover and continuity of leadership can be detrimental to the progress made at the agency level. This paper discusses the data analysis and policy recommendations of the H.R. 1378 report and provides insight as to what would be the first steps in developing an agenda for increasing the use of evidence in Puerto Rico.