NC to verify benefit of programs

North Carolina has established a new organization to review its many programs, determine if benefits are worth the cost and recommend changes where needed.

The Program Evaluation Division will "delve into how the state tackles wide-scale issues such as education and health care, and target smaller operations to find out whether the money spent has a real effect on the people served" according to the article just released.

The new organization should fill a much needed role to help insure state funded programs are producing value for N.C. taxpayers and to help improve or eliminate programs when needed. North Carolina is the 46th state to implement this type of "watchdog" organization.

News & Observer
August 27, 2007
Dan Kane, Staff Writer

N.C. to verify benefit of programs

North Carolina has auditors who make sure taxpayer money is spent as intended. But what if the spending has little public benefit?

Lawmakers have typically left that question up to the agencies and nonprofit groups that receive the money. But this year, lawmakers decided to create their own watchdog to get those answers: the Program Evaluation Division.

The division will delve into how the state tackles wide-scale issues such as education and health care, and target smaller operations to find out whether the money spent has a real effect on the people served.

"It will not be as focused on management processes and financial controls," said state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat who sponsored the legislation creating the division. "It will focus on more fundamental questions, such as 'Does this program still serve a fundamental purpose?' " Read more...