Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
By the end of the presentation participants will be able to:
Identify promising strategies that have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of state immunization programs.


Background:
The Section 317 Immunization Grant Program provides grantees with infrastructure support for an array of program activities including surveillance, immunization registries, training, education, public information and outreach, quality assurance of providers, and vaccine management.
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) evaluation the 317 grant program has been successful in improving immunization rates for children and employs strong management procedures. However, a systematic mechanism for evaluating program operations, management practices, and performance could strengthen the program's ability to meet future needs and challenges. The Section 317 Immunization Grant program evaluation seeks to address this need by examining approaches to measuring efficiency and by identifying strategies to enhance program efficiency and effectiveness.


Objectives:
The objectives of the evaluation are to:
Describe the Section 317 Immunization Grant Program.
Evaluate the program's management and operations.
Analyze and make recommendations to improve budget and performance integration.
Present and disseminate the findings of the evaluation to key CDC stakeholders


Methods:
Case studies involving interviews with 49 key informants were conducted from April to August 2005. They included program directors, program managers, outreach and education managers, budget officers and vendors. Interviews were supplemented with a review and abstraction of program documents.

Results:
The evaluation identified six main factors—funding levels, unanticipated events, funding allocation, registry development, provider quality assurance, and service delivery—that appear to affect program effectiveness and efficiency.

Conclusions:
The evaluation presents recommendations to improve grant application procedures, allocation of awards; enhance technical support to Section 317 grantees and increase the capacity of Section 317 grantees to manage multiple program responsibilities with finite resources.