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Using Data to Improve Outcomes for Children, Youth, and Families

Analyzing data to verify and measure the effectiveness of services helps organizations make informed policy and practice decisions, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for the families they serve. The following resources address how the use of data improves outcomes for children, youth, and families, including State and local examples.

Using Information Management to Support the Goals of Safety, Permanency and Well-Being Institute for Child and Family Policy, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (2004) Trains supervisors to use Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems data to generate information critical to casework supervision and incorporate its use into their day-to-day work. Results Oriented Management in Child Welfare University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Assists child welfare program staff in managing programs and supervising staff to achieve results for children and families within the context of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Includes 21 modules on policy, data, and evidence-based practice. Tips for Using Data to Measure Success: Trainer's Guide (PDF - 255 KB) Institute for Child and Family Policy, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (2003) Outlines a workshop for supervisors and managers on how to use data to make program decisions, address the elements of data interpretation, and understand the relevance of reports to outcomes. Includes case studies and sample reports. Moving Child Welfare Forward: Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children, Youth and Families Institute for Child and Family Policy, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (2004) Reviews the implications of outcomes-based management strategies for child welfare practice, including a discussion of data collection and analysis techniques.

Child Well-Being and the Importance of State-Level Data
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Outlines the reasons a State-level survey of child well-being would be a valuable and cost-effective way to collect data across a range of indicators and track program effectiveness.

Information Technology Making a Difference in Children's Lives: An Issue Brief for Leaders for Children
KirkHart, Rothschuh, & Kattlove (2008)
Encourages the incorporation of information and communications technology into public programs serving children by highlighting research and case studies showing how digital tools and applications can improve children's education, health, employment, and civic opportunities.

Key Steps in Outcome Management (PDF - 595 KB)
Lampkin & Hatry (2003)
Outlines a step-by-step approach to outcome management, explaining considerations for identifying outcomes and indicators, pilot testing the procedures, reporting the findings, and applying the information to improve services. Includes sample documents.

Roundtable on Putting Data to Work to Improve Child Well-Being: Post-Convening Report
Casey Family Programs (2007)
Identifies crucial areas in which data use and data sharing have contributed to child welfare policy and performance, summarizes creative programs that use data to drive outcomes and decision-making, and highlights successes achieved by specific jurisdictions. (PDF - 1528 KB)

Strengthening Families by Increasing Access to Needed Benefits: The New Technologies (PDF - 65 KB)
Family Strengthening Policy Center, National Human Services Assembly (2005)
Examines the impact of automated systems on families' access to benefits, highlights effective models for improving benefits outreach and access, and suggests strategies and recommendations for harnessing these tools for public benefit.

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State and local examples

Adoption Technology for the New Millennium
National Adoption Center (2003)
View Abstract and Document
Describes a project that used videoconferencing and other technology to improve the adoption process and overcome barriers to successful placement. Includes information on the program model and data collection instruments.

Alameda County's Foster Care Tracking System: Innovative Use of Technology to Improve Programs (PDF - 281 KB)
Bliss & Speak (2005)
Profiles the successes and challenges of a foster care tracking system used in Alameda County, California, to reduce overpayments, improve accuracy of payments, and track children in the system more effectively.

Camellia Project: A Connected Health and Human Services Framework for Alabama: A Report of Recommendations for the Governor's Task Force to Strengthen Alabama Families (PDF - 3680 KB)
Microsoft Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments & Systems Engineering, Inc. (2007)
Summarizes the results of a study to assess how coordinated agency and program efforts and shared information technology services could assist Alabama to materially increase health and human service outcomes.

Case Studies in Tribal Data Collection and Use (PDF - 3910 KB)
Cross, Fox, Becker-Green, Smith, & Willeto (2004)
Discusses the lack of reliable data on American Indian/Alaska Native children and youth and its impact on their well-being. Presents promising practices in the use of Tribal data to positively influence public policy and funding, and provides a road map for Tribes seeking to collect and use reliable data.

Data and Child Welfare Practice
North Carolina Division of Social Services & North Carolina Family and Children's Resource Program
Children's Services Practice Notes, 9(4), 2004
Emphasizes the need for data to demonstrate outcomes and identify areas for improvement, reviews strategies for involving staff in data collection efforts and applying information to self-evaluations and Child and Family Services Reviews, and highlights data resources available from the State.

KidBits: Using Data to Drive Better Outcomes for Children and Youth (PDF - 2220 KB)
Children's Advocacy Roundtable, DC Action for Children (2007)
Presents statistics on the well-being of children and youth in the District of Columbia and makes recommendations to improve outcomes in school readiness and success, health, youth opportunity, stable families for children and youth, and youth transitioning to adulthood.

Illustrative (Fictional) Sample Court Report to Demonstrate the Potential Use of Automated Performance Data
Hardin & Hicks (2002)
View Abstract
Uses data from a fictional automated system for a county juvenile court to explore common problems in achieving permanency outcomes and how to improve them, strategies for ensuring child safety, and improving procedural fairness and the treatment of parties and witnesses in court.

Spreadsheets, Service Providers, and the Statehouse: Using Data and the Wraparound Process to Reform Systems for Children and Families
Bruns, Rast, Peterson, Walker, & Bosworth
American Journal of Community Psychology, 38(3-4), 2006
View Abstract
Describes the evaluation efforts of a State reforming its child welfare system, discussing how data collection evolved to meet the needs of stakeholders and lessons learned about the roles of research and information sharing in shaping community change.

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Updated on March 1, 2010