​​North Carolina’s FY25-27 budget instructions require agencies to justify requests for new and expanded programs and services. In their justifications, agencies include a statement of need that defines the problem. This is the place to describe how the need may vary across communities or subpopulations. They then map out the theory of change – how the proposed intervention and inputs will address the need and lead to the intended outcome changes. Agencies indicate the level of existing evidence supporting the expected outcomes of the proposal using OSBM’s evidence scale, and outline their plans for evaluating its implementation and effectiveness.

OSBM’s evidence scale provides a common language for communicating the effectiveness of a program or policy and the degree of confidence in those conclusions.

 OSBM provides training to agency staff to develop strong budget proposals supported by evidence, and offers assistance for evaluation planning.

The justifications agencies provide include the evidence scale rating, and this information is available to both decision-makers in the Executive and Legislative branches.