The Recovery Metrics below were developed for the District of Columbia Recovery Learning Agenda as broad questions about DC’s recovery that could be answered consistently over multiple years. District Agencies, Deputy Mayors’ Offices, the OCA Performance Team, and The Lab @ DC collaborated on the initial questions and the data analysis to answer them. The Recovery Metrics build upon datapoints used to guide the District’s first pandemic recovery budget in 2021 and have grown to incorporate data from federal sources, regular agency reporting, and new analyses. These metrics respond to learning questions and often reflect factors beyond the control of DC Government—they provide vital context to the District’s important budget decisions, but do not measure the impact of any one program, service, or initiative. Not all Recovery Metric questions posed will be ultimately answered. Because there is an emphasis on using the high-quality, comparable data the federal government collects, there is often a 1-2 year lag in data available for the recovery metrics.
For evaluations that measure the direct impact of recovery programs please see the Use of Evidence Section of the District’s most recent State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Report and The Lab’s Website for all impact evaluations conducted by The Lab.