Leveraging Administrative Data to Better Serve Children and Families

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13047
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019

Leveraging Administrative Data to Better Serve Children andFamilies 675

Abstract: The challenge of complex social issues drives the need for data systems that can connect information across

multiple service delivery systems. Integrated data systems provide significant value for needs assessment, program

planning, policy decision making, and collective impact evaluation across a range of social issues. This case study

describes a mature county-based integrated data system. The case study has three aims: (1) to highlight the value of

integrated data systems to research, (2) to outline common challenges that such initiatives face, and (3) to present several

ongoing considerations for the field that could inform policy recommendations to facilitate the use of integrated data.

The authors present examples from the experience of developing this integrated data system, including involvement

in the design and evaluation of the first county-level social impact bond. The case study highlights the benefits and

limitations of integrated data use in research and the potential to advance evidence-based social decision making.

Evidence for Practice

• Integration of administrative data provides an opportunity to better understand the cross-system experiences

and outcomes of those served.

• Challenges to data integration include access to source data, maintaining data security, and the technical

aspects of data linkage.

• Regional data integration presents an opportunity to inform local decision making as it relates to

understanding community needs and tracking the effects of interventions.

Children and families interact with a range

of programs and public systems aimed at

supporting them in achieving and maintaining

positive well-being. These systems assist families in

domains such as economic security, housing, family

stability, child development, and education. Over

time, individuals and families may engage with

multiple service systems, sometimes concurrently

and sometimes sequentially. In the course of working

with families, these programs produce administrative

records that are typically used internally to track

patterns of service receipt, monitor program costs and

outcomes, and report relevant data to funders and

stakeholders.

Children and families who use one program are

often involved in other programs at the same time

and ultimately traverse multiple systems across time.

Historically, the ability to fully understand families’

complete experiences has been limited by the existence

of pertinent data, access to it, and the ability to

analyze it. In the last two decades, however, with

advances in both underlying data systems and the

technological infrastructure for analysis, the ability to

integrate data across programs, systems, and time has

grown dramatically. Over this time, there has been a

growing movement to use linked administrative data

to better understand complex community needs,

design programs and strategies, inform policy, and

understand how the collective work of social systems

is affecting entire communities and geographies

(Fantuzzo and Culhane 2015).

Integrated data systems (IDSs) have been dubbed

“the next frontier for generating quality evidence”

(Culhane et al. 2010). According to the Actionable

Intelligence for Social Policy Initiative, IDSs are

being developed and used in a variety of ways across

the United States. Based on a survey of eight IDSs

operated by state and local governments and private

universities, Culhane et al. (2010) conclude that the

type of information that an IDS can produce has the

power to drive decision making and policy change in

human service systems that may ultimately lower costs

and target interventions to those most in need. The

federal government has taken note of these potential

benefits. Between 2010 and 2014, the Office of

Management and Budget issued a series of memos

encouraging and providing guidance on the use of

administrative data to inform economic and social

Robert L. Fischer

Francisca García-Cobián Richter

Elizabeth Anthony

Nina Lalich

Claudia Coulton

Case Western Reserve University

Leveraging Administrative Data to Better Serve Children

and Families

Nina Lalich is senior programmer/

analyst in the Center on Urban Poverty and

Community Development, Jack, Joseph and

Morton Mandel School of Applied Social

Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

E-mail: nrl@case.edu

Elizabeth Anthony is research

assistant professor in the Jack, Joseph and

Morton Mandel School of Applied Social

Sciences, Case Western Reserve University,

and researcher in the Center on Urban

Poverty and Community Development.

E-mail: exa136@case.edu

Francisca García-Cobián Richter

is research assistant professor, Jack,

Joseph and Morton Mandel School of

Applied Social Sciences, Case Western

Reserve University, and researcher in the

Center on Urban Poverty and Community

Development. Her work includes the

analysis of social interventions and the

environments in which they operate,

with a particular focus on housing and

neighborhoods.

E-mail: fxr58@case.edu

Robert L. Fischer is associate professor

in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel

School of Applied Social Sciences, Case

Western Reserve University, and codirector of

the Center on Urban Poverty and Community

Development. His research focuses on

nonprofit accountability and the application

of evaluation research methodologies in

applied and nonprofit settings.

E-mail: fischer@case.edu

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 79, Iss. 5, pp. 675–683. © 2019 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13047.

Claudia Coulton is Distinguished

University Professor and codirector of the

Center on Urban Poverty and Community

Development, Jack, Joseph and Morton

Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences,

Case Western Reserve University. She has

been recognized as a leader in analyzing

linked administrative records data to inform

community development, public health, and

human services strategies. Her research focuses

on the effects of neighborhood and housing

environments on family and child well-being.

E-mail: claudia.coulton@case.edu

Research Article