DCYF Assistant Secretary Vicky Ibarra told the Home Visiting Advisory Committee she would not move forward immediately with a formal, department‑sponsored evaluation of the newly implemented rate structure for home visiting.

Vicky Ibarra said she appreciated the well‑developed proposal from committee members but that she believed it was premature to start a formal evaluation now. “After reviewing the proposal and the cover letter that came with it, I responded ... that we would not be moving forward with it at this time,” Ibarra said. She explained that the department has not yet fully implemented the rate structure and that an outcome evaluation would be premature. The assistant secretary also cited the need to evaluate current contractual staffing and other demands on the department’s evaluation contract.

Ibarra proposed reassessing the evaluation request in the spring, when DCYF expects to be further into early implementation and better able to judge the timing and scope of an evaluation. Martha (data subcommittee co‑chair) and other committee members urged DCYF to consider an early, developmental or implementation‑focused evaluation to capture how stakeholder input informed rate design and early implementation lessons. Ibarra said she supported capturing learnings but expected the department and local implementing agencies to continue providing feedback throughout implementation and that a formal evaluation could be considered in the spring.

Discussion points:
- Ibarra’s reasons for delay: not fully implemented rates, need to assess departmental evaluation capacity and contractual resources, and current budget uncertainty.
- Committee requests: members asked for a developmental evaluation focused on early implementation and design processes and said delay risks losing input while implementation is fresh in staff memory.

Decision and next steps: DCYF will not proceed with the formal evaluation at this time; the department invited the committee to reconvene the request in the spring and to continue to surface implementation learnings through ongoing DCYF‑LIA communications and technical assistance.

Ending: Committee members were asked to continue documenting implementation feedback so DCYF can incorporate lessons even without a formal evaluation immediately.