IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v58y2015icp127-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using big data for evidence based governance in child welfare

Author

Listed:
  • Kum, Hye-Chung
  • Joy Stewart, C.
  • Rose, Roderick A.
  • Duncan, Dean F.

Abstract

Numerous approaches are available for improving governance of the child welfare system, all of which require longitudinal data reporting on child welfare clients. A substantial amount of agency administrative information – big data – can be transformed into knowledge for policy and management actions through a rigorous information generation process. Important properties of the information generation process are that it must generate accurate, timely information while protecting the confidentiality of the clients. In addition, it must be extensible to serve an ever-changing policy and technology environment. Knowledge discovery and data mining (KDD), aka data science, is a method developed in the private sector to mine consumer data and can be used in public settings to support evidence based governance. KDD consists of a rigorous 5-step process that includes a Web-based end-user interface. The relationship between KDD and governance is a continuous feedback cycle that enables ongoing development of new information and knowledge as stakeholders identify emerging needs. In this paper, we synthesis the different frameworks for utilizing big data for public governance, introduce the KDD process, describe the nature of big data in child welfare, and then present an updated KDD architecture that can support these frameworks to utilize big data for governance. We also demonstrate the role KDD plays in child welfare management through 2 case studies. We conclude with a discussion on implications for agency–university partnerships and research-to-practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Kum, Hye-Chung & Joy Stewart, C. & Rose, Roderick A. & Duncan, Dean F., 2015. "Using big data for evidence based governance in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 127-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:58:y:2015:i:c:p:127-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.09.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740915300591
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.09.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McBeath, Bowen & Briggs, Harold E. & Aisenberg, Eugene, 2009. "The role of child welfare managers in promoting agency performance through experimentation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 112-118, January.
    2. Jill S. Cannon & M. Rebecca Kilburn, 2003. "Meeting decision makers' needs for evidence-based information on child and family policy," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 665-669.
    3. Flaherty, Chris & Collins-Camargo, Crystal & Lee, Elizabeth, 2008. "Privatization of child welfare services: Lessons learned from experienced states regarding site readiness assessment and planning," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 809-820, July.
    4. Stewart, C. Joy & Kum, Hye-Chung & Barth, Richard P. & Duncan, Dean F., 2014. "Former foster youth: Employment outcomes up to age 30," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 220-229.
    5. David J. Hand & Heikki Mannila & Padhraic Smyth, 2001. "Principles of Data Mining," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026208290x, April.
    6. Lisbeth B. Schorr & Patricia Auspos, 2003. "Usable information about what works: Building a broader and deeper knowledge base," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 669-676.
    7. Millett, Lina & Lanier, Paul & Drake, Brett, 2011. "Are economic trends associated with child maltreatment? Preliminary results from the recent recession using state level data," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1280-1287, July.
    8. Lawrence, C. Nicole & Rosanbalm, Katie D. & Dodge, Kenneth A., 2011. "Multiple Response System: Evaluation of Policy Change in North Carolina's Child Welfare System," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2355-2365.
    9. Naccarato, Toni, 2010. "Child welfare informatics: A proposed subspecialty for social work," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1729-1734, December.
    10. Carolyn J. Hill & Laurence E. Lynn, 2004. "Governance and public management, an introduction," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 3-11.
    11. Rebecca A. Maynard, 2006. "Presidential address: Evidence-based decision making: What will it take for the decision makers to care?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 249-265.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. DeZelar, Sharyn & Lightfoot, Elizabeth, 2018. "Use of parental disability as a removal reason for children in foster care in the U.S," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 128-134.
    2. 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.
    3. Barbara Fallon & Joanne Filippelli & Tara Black & Nico Trocmé & Tonino Esposito, 2017. "How Can Data Drive Policy and Practice in Child Welfare? Making the Link in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Ben Mathews & Leah Bromfield & Kerryann Walsh, 2020. "Comparing Reports of Child Sexual and Physical Abuse Using Child Welfare Agency Data in Two Jurisdictions with Different Mandatory Reporting Laws," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-22, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Collins-Camargo, Crystal & Sullivan, Dana & Murphy, April, 2011. "Use of data to assess performance and promote outcome achievement by public and private child welfare agency staff," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 330-339, February.
    2. McBeath, Bowen & Collins-Camargo, Crystal & Chuang, Emmeline & Wells, Rebecca & Bunger, Alicia C. & Jolles, Mónica Pérez, 2014. "New directions for research on the organizational and institutional context of child welfare agencies: Introduction to the symposium on “The Organizational and Managerial Context of Private Child Welf," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 83-92.
    3. Andersen, Signe Hald, 2019. "The effect of aftercare on human capital acquisition among foster care alumni," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 28-41.
    4. Le, Hong Hanh & Viviani, Jean-Laurent, 2018. "Predicting bank failure: An improvement by implementing a machine-learning approach to classical financial ratios," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 16-25.
    5. Li, Hui & Sun, Jie, 2009. "Hybridizing principles of the Electre method with case-based reasoning for data mining: Electre-CBR-I and Electre-CBR-II," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 214-224, August.
    6. Min-feng Lee & Guey-shya Chen & Shao-pin Lin & Wei-jie Wang, 2022. "A Data Mining Study on House Price in Central Regions of Taiwan Using Education Categorical Data, Environmental Indicators, and House Features Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Caruso, Germán & Scartascini, Carlos & Tommasi, Mariano, 2015. "Are we all playing the same game? The economic effects of constitutions depend on the degree of institutionalization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 212-228.
    8. Dominic Richardson & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2018. "Key Findings on Families, Family Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals: Synthesis Report," Papers inorer948, Innocenti Research Report.
    9. M. Almiñana & L. Escudero & A. Pérez-Martín & A. Rabasa & L. Santamaría, 2014. "A classification rule reduction algorithm based on significance domains," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 22(1), pages 397-418, April.
    10. Silvia Figini & Ron Kenett & SILVIA SALINI, 2010. "Integrating Operational and Financial Risk Assessments," UNIMI - Research Papers in Economics, Business, and Statistics unimi-1099, Universitá degli Studi di Milano.
    11. Matt Andrews, 2014. "An Ends-Means Approach to Looking at Governance," CID Working Papers 281, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Andrews, Matt, 2014. "An Ends-Means Approach to Looking at Governance," Working Paper Series rwp14-022, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    13. Onur Doğan & Hakan Aşan & Ejder Ayç, 2015. "Use Of Data Mining Techniques In Advance Decision Making Processes In A Local Firm," European Journal of Business and Economics, Central Bohemia University, vol. 10(2), pages 6821:10-682, January.
    14. Patricia E. N. Lutu & Andries P. Engelbrecht, 2013. "Base Model Combination Algorithm for Resolving Tied Predictions for K -Nearest Neighbor OVA Ensemble Models," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 517-526, August.
    15. Adrien Jamain & David Hand, 2008. "Mining Supervised Classification Performance Studies: A Meta-Analytic Investigation," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 25(1), pages 87-112, June.
    16. Hirokazu Yoshikawa & Robert G. Myers & Kathleen McCartney & Kristen L. Bub & Julieta Lugo-Gil & Maria A. Ramos & Felicia Knaul, 2008. "La educación durante la primera infancia en México: expansión, mejora de la calidad, y reforma curricular," Papers inwopa08/48, Innocenti Working Papers.
    17. Smith, Brenda D. & Kay, Emma Sophia & Womack, Bethany G., 2017. "How can county-level maltreatment report rates better inform child welfare practice?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 341-347.
    18. Federica Gullo & Laura García-Alba & Amaia Bravo & Jorge F. del Valle, 2021. "Crossing Countries and Crossing Ages: The Difficult Transition to Adulthood of Unaccompanied Migrant Care Leavers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, June.
    19. Matt Andrews & Roger Hay & Jerrett Myers, 2010. "Governance Indicators Can Make Sense: Under-five Mortality Rates are an Example," CID Working Papers 207, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    20. Almeida Prado Cestari, José Marcelo & Pinheiro de Lima, Edson & Deschamps, Fernando & Morton Van Aken, Eileen & Treinta, Fernanda & Moura, Louisi Francis, 2018. "A case study extension methodology for performance measurement diagnosis in nonprofit organizations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 225-238.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:58:y:2015:i:c:p:127-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.