Strengthening Child Safety and Well-Being Through Integrated Data Solutions

This volume explores the use of integrated administrative data to understand and address the significant public health problem of child maltreatment. Child maltreatment results in substantial adverse consequences for children and families, posing significant costs to individuals through the potential psychological and physical suffering of victims of abuse or neglect. Further, child maltreatment poses significant economic burden to society at large through increased health care, criminal justice, educational, and other costs. Given the scope and complexity of child maltreatment, coupled with the limited resources available to the child welfare system, there is considerable need for programmatic and policy-level solutions that are demonstrably effective and financially efficient in promoting child safety, permanency, and well-being.  To address this need, this volume explores the use of linked, or integrated, administrative data to increase understanding of population-level needs within the child welfare system, or across this and other public systems, and to inform decision making efforts within and across these systems. Such efforts have seen tremendous growth during the past decade. The volume details the technological innovations that have allowed for the accumulation and centralization of large datasets critical to identifying risks of child maltreatment and its negative consequences and to more accurately target community and system responses to these challenges. The chapters in this volume examine the ways in which these data can be leveraged to promote more effective efforts to detect, prevent, and respond to child maltreatment. They also showcase emerging and innovative approaches in the acquisition and use of administrative data to inform the societal and governmental response to child maltreatment. The volume highlights the use of multisystem data and integrated data systems to conduct predictive analytics, risk monitoring, or policy- and program-focused research and evaluation to inform child welfare system solutions. Leading experts from the fields of child maltreatment, child welfare, and human services research share their insights and experiences at the forefront of this critical research area and how it is shaping understanding of identification, intervention, and policy affecting children and families.Strengthening Child Safety and Well-Being Through Integrated Data Solutions is a must-have volume for academic researchers, clinicians and practitioners, policy makers and related professionals, as well as for students in the fields of social and child welfare, public health, psychology, social work, educational and public policy, and related disciplines.