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It's not as simple as it sounds: Problems and solutions in accessing and using administrative child welfare data for evaluating the impact of early childhood interventions

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  • Green, Beth L.
  • Ayoub, Catherine
  • Bartlett, Jessica Dym
  • Furrer, Carrie
  • Von Ende, Adam
  • Chazan-Cohen, Rachel
  • Klevens, Joanne
  • Nygren, Peggy

Abstract

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using administrative data collected by state child welfare agencies as a source of information for research and evaluation. The challenges of obtaining access to and using these data, however, have not been well documented. This study describes the processes used to access child welfare records in six different states and the approach to combining and using the information gathered to evaluate the impact of the Early Head Start program on children's involvement with the child welfare system from birth through age eleven. We provide “lessons learned” for researchers who are attempting to use this information, including being prepared for long delays in access to information, the need for deep understanding of how child welfare agencies record and code information, and for considerable data management work for translating agency records into analysis-ready datasets. While accessing and using this information is not easy, and the data have a number of limitations, we suggest that the benefits can outweigh the challenges and that these records can be a useful source of information for policy-relevant child welfare research.

Suggested Citation

  • Green, Beth L. & Ayoub, Catherine & Bartlett, Jessica Dym & Furrer, Carrie & Von Ende, Adam & Chazan-Cohen, Rachel & Klevens, Joanne & Nygren, Peggy, 2015. "It's not as simple as it sounds: Problems and solutions in accessing and using administrative child welfare data for evaluating the impact of early childhood interventions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 40-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:57:y:2015:i:c:p:40-49
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.07.015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2000. "The Early Impacts of Moving to Opportunity in Boston," Working Papers 132, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
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    3. repec:pri:cheawb:kling_early_impacts is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Robert Goerge & Bong Joo Lee, 2002. "Matching and cleaning administrative data," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 63-64.
    5. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2000. "The Early Impacts of Moving to Opportunity in Boston," Working Papers 276, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    6. Green, Beth L. & Ayoub, Catherine & Bartlett, Jessica Dym & Von Ende, Adam & Furrer, Carrie & Chazan-Cohen, Rachel & Vallotton, Claire & Klevens, Joanne, 2014. "The effect of Early Head Start on child welfare system involvement: A first look at longitudinal child maltreatment outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 127-135.
    7. repec:pri:cheawb:kling_early_impacts.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Putnam-Hornstein, E. & Cleves, M.A. & Licht, R. & Needell, B., 2013. "Risk of fatal injury in young children following abuse allegations: Evidence from a prospective, population-based study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(10), pages 39-44.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emily Hurren & Anna Stewart & Susan Dennison, 2017. "New Methods to Address Old Challenges: The Use of Administrative Data for Longitudinal Replication Studies of Child Maltreatment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Huffhines, Lindsay & Tunno, Angela M. & Cho, Bridget & Hambrick, Erin P. & Campos, Ilse & Lichty, Brittany & Jackson, Yo, 2016. "Case file coding of child maltreatment: Methods, challenges, and innovations in a longitudinal project of youth in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 254-262.
    3. Tanana, Michael J. & Vanderloo, Mindy J. & Waid, Jeffrey D., 2018. "Harnessing the potential of administrative data to inform child welfare programming with dynamic visualization methodologies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 81-90.
    4. Landers, Ashley L. & Danes, Sharon M., 2016. "Forgotten children: A critical review of the reunification of American Indian children in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 137-147.
    5. Witte, Susanne, 2020. "Case file analyses in child protection research: Review of methodological challenges and development of a framework," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    6. Zanti, Sharon & Berkowitz, Emily & Katz, Matthew & Nelson, Amy Hawn & Burnett, T.C. & Culhane, Dennis & Zhou, Yixi, 2022. "Leveraging integrated data for program evaluation: Recommendations from the field," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Hall, Martin T. & Walton, Matthew T. & Huebner, Ruth A. & Higgins, George E. & Kelmel, Aimee B. & Lorenz, Doug, 2021. "Sobriety treatment and recovery teams for families with co-occurring substance use and child maltreatment: A propensity score-matched evaluation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    8. Green, Beth L. & Ayoub, Catherine & Bartlett, Jessica Dym & Furrer, Carrie & Chazan-Cohen, Rachel & Buttitta, Katherine & Von Ende, Adam & Koepp, Andrew & Regalbuto, Eric, 2020. "Pathways to prevention: Early Head Start outcomes in the first three years lead to long-term reductions in child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

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