Child welfare experts urge data sharing and the use of analytics to protect children, families
Will Jones
President/CEO @ THOMPSON Child & Family Focus | Strategic + Thought Leadership
I remember when I first started in public child welfare 21 years ago and the word "outcomes" was introduced. At that time, we believed that if it felt good and children and families seemed happy that we were doing a good job - those were our outcomes. We were wrong. We now know the differences between outputs and outcomes and the importance of measuring multiple indicators to determine positive results and identify areas of improvement.
This point was brought home at the recent National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators Annual Meeting. Fittingly, the tagline for the three day meeting was "Improvement, Reform, Impact". I applaud the state and local child welfare leaders who gathered throughout the weekend to learn and share new and innovative approaches to improving service and outcomes for children in child welfare systems.
Several major topics were covered, however, a key theme throughout the meeting was the importance and need to utilize data in an effort to enhance improvements and deepen impact. Topics included breaking down information silos to integrate data and improve decision making, the future of analytics and predictive modeling, mobilizing outcomes and using research and evidence to drive reforms.
It was heartening to see this as, even though we know the importance of measurement and evidence, many organizations have yet to create a results-oriented culture that prioritizes the use of data. Some states and many county administered agencies have yet to implement true Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS), or case management systems that allow them to collect and analyze child and family specific data timely and accurately. How are they measuring success and better informing case practice?
Many public child welfare agencies have positioned themselves to truly analyze and use data from their case management systems to inform practice. Still, more work must be done to improve data sharing with other public agencies and create linkages that better inform practitioners when making life impacting decisions for children.
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Security @ Cisco
9 年Great article, Will!
Chief Behavioral Health & Addictions Officer | Peer Recovery Specialist | Social Entrepreneur
9 年I agree with the notion that we need to break down barriers to share data to utilize data analytics to improve outcomes for our children, youth, and families. There has been a push to get more data recently, but I believe there is not enough training for frontline staff at this point to have fidelity in the data. Most frontline staff do not realize that guessing on questions instead of seeking the answers tarnishes the fidelity of the data, and therefore reducing the ability to draw clear, concise conclusions. Until we get better at training frontline staff on fidelity of data collection and the importance of it, we will not obtain truly accurate data. Once this issue is taken care of, we will be able to use data to better understand where a child should and should not be placed, and how certain trauma will impact specific life domains and to what extent.