Helping to Give California Children a Strong Start: Practical and Powerful Uses of Linked Administrative Data

• In Event: 3-201 - Using Integrated Data Systems to Foster Collaboration and Innovation in Early Childhood Policy

Integrative Statement

Researchers at the University of Southern California’s Children’s Data Network first linked child welfare (CW) and early education (ECE) records in a community in Los Angeles. Over 100,000 children (n=102,649) were born in the region between 2010 and 2012. A substantial number touched each of these systems – ECE and CW – before age 5. About 1 in every 9 of the children born in this region between 2010 and 2012 (n=11,450 or 11.2%) received subsidized ECE through CCRC before the age of 5. About 1 in every 9 of the children in the 2010-2012 birth cohort (n=11,976 or 11.7%) received a referral to the child protective services Hotline for alleged abuse or neglect before the age of 5.The families that depend on subsidized ECE programs to enhance child development and/or to provide child care while parents are at work or in school are often thought of as being different from those who are the subject of referrals to the child protective services system. The analysis shows, however, that the two groups were similar in terms of having limited incomes and assets. The similarity in these populations underscores the vulnerability of the subsidized ECE population, as well as the enhanced needs of the CW population for family strengthening and child development supports that go well beyond the usual services provided by child protective services.

In a subsequent study, researchers linked the existing cross-sector service records of home visiting clients in a Los Angeles Hospital to better understand risks, service interactions, and outcomes (e.g., birth records, child protective services (CPS), and death records) of families receiving home visiting services. The objective of this study was not to evaluate the effectiveness of home visiting, but rather better understand who receives home visiting services and examine the potential of linked records for these purposes. Results will provide valuable information about the quality and completeness of home visiting client records and the CDN’s ability to integrate them with other service records. Such information will help us to assess the viability of using linked administrative data to cost-effectively evaluate the impact of home visiting services for children and families in LA County using existing administrative data.

In this presentation, CDN will discuss these studies and their implications, as well as what it took to build the necessary integration infrastructure to execute them.

Authors

• Regan Foust, University of Southern California Children’s Data Network
  Presenting Author

• Jacquelyn McCroskey, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author