South Carolina’s Child Care Data Bridge Project Building Bridges from Data to Policy to Practice Children’s Defense Fund August 2010

Few Basics: Who Are We?  South Carolina Department of Services, Child Care Services  Leigh Bolick, Director and PI for the grant  3- year child care capacity grant, funded by ACF/OPRE  In 3 rd year (ends Sept )

Big Picture: What Did We Want to Do?  To create new or improved databases w/ the goal to link and/or integrate child care databases and where appropriate integrate with the State’s data warehouse. BUILD and expand upon the State’s existing infrastructure  Create & explore the use of web-based tools that access information from your PC (Cubes)  An integrated data infrastructure For Integration/ linking - common identifiers are the key  Build on the SC Budget & Control Board’s Office of Research & Statistics with the state’s integrated data warehouse and cubes (enhance a strategic partnership)  Build upon and/or develop new partnerships in our research community This investment in our data infrastructure will provide better quality information and more integrated information for the development of services and policy.

South Carolina’s *Integrated Data System, goal is to enhance Child Care

* For more information on South Carolina’s Integrated Data System, contact Budget & Control Board’s Office of Research & Statistics Health and Demographics Section Chief - David Patterson, Ph.D. (803) Sarah Crawford (803)

SC Dept of Social Services Clemson University* University of South Carolina* SC Budget & Control Board’s Office of Research &Statistics South Carolina’s Partnerships (Structure for Grant) Includes: Child Care Services, PI Information Technology Research *While Clemson and USC represent the primary research community in the Data Bridge Grant, other entities will participate as appropriate. Other Partners: SC Center for Child Care Career Development (CCCCD) Other Agencies/Organizations SC Data Bridge Advisory Group

One More Big Picture: Understand and support the vision to link with the Dept of Education 2 important additional components to the SC Picture  The SC Department of Education participates in the SC Data Bridge Advisory Group  SC Department of Education received a Year 2 LDS grant.  SCDSS partnered on the grant’s application.

Use Project’s Research Question as Guide to our Work What are the relationships* of Child Care Development Funds on improving the quality of care available to and utilized by low-income working parents and at-risk families to support parental outcomes and child well-being? * With proper research design – hope to look at impacts eventually

Resources include our Child Care related databases  State-regulated centers/providers (licensing) Built internally by DSS IT staff  ABC centers/providers (quality provider system) Built by SC Budget and Control Board, ORS staff  ABC Voucher/client-child (subsidy system) Parts under development by DSS IT staff  Professional development TEACH & other CCDF funded higher education Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC)  Technical assistance (registry and reporting) Built by CCCCD

Linking bridges across Data Systems  Needed 2 Linking Methodologies- (Provider level, Child level)  At Provider Level - No existing methodology (Childcare Licensing, ABC Quality Provider, ABC Voucher, Other Provider databases)  DSS IT developed Web-based methodology to link providers across multiple organizations (DSS for Licensing and ABC Voucher & ORS for ABC Quality)  SC Data Bridge project tapping into existing methodology (Linking at the Child/Person level) Person level unique id methodology resides w/ SC Budget and Control Board’s ORS

“Getting to Know You …” Getting to know our data, that is …  Quick Overview of all the databases  Data dictionaries  Frequency Distributions  Crosswalk tables

A Cube is a Web-Based Desk-Top TOOL To help explore or answer policy questions What Is an Analytic Cube?  Secure Web-based database  A way to “slice & dice” lots of data  Define “slicers” or characteristics (fields)  Pre-aggregate the linked data  Developed a Provider Licensing Cube

Why does this matter (an ex)? Policy An example: In 2005 regulatory requirement for hand washing sinks next to diaper changing tables Practice An example: agility in budgeting and targeting ARRA funds to promote health and safety in child care Specific: Install sinks next to diaper changing tables to help providers meet health and safety regulations Result Healthy children Empowered Providers

Another Policy Question of Interest How well are we targeting our high-risk children? Are there geographic pockets that need additional vouchers? Developing and refining our tools to help us better ask and help answer this question

Developing/ Refining the Child Cube To better target children at risk Allows DSS to crosstab children served by ABC Vouchers with other programs such as TANF, SNAP (Food Stamps), Children who are in founded abuse and neglect cases and children in foster care Will allow DSS staff with proper security to “drill down” into clients in order to check on program issues (operational purposes only)

Children (Ages 0-5 years) Served in 2009 through ABC Vouchers Status in 2009 ABC Voucher TANF - no Food Stamps - no 7,42223% TANF - no Food Stamps - yes 24,26574% TANF - yes Food Stamps - no 1,1764% In analyzing data from the child cube, realized that TANF transitional services were not captured using the year slicer. A former TANF client receives up to 2 years of transitional services including the use of ABC Vouchers

Cubes continue to be updated & edited …  Cubes based on Provider Data Licensing  cube has been updated with more recent info ABC Quality Reviews  draft cube under review  Cube based on Child Level Data  reviewing & editing With agency permissions, use the Integrated Data Warehouse Began with ABC Voucher children, DSS TANF & Food Stamp children, Human Services Need to receive permission from SC Dept of Health & Human Services (SC’s Medicaid agency) Eventually want to add slicers (if approved by the agency) from: Mental Health, Disabilities, & other agencies SC Dept of Education

Have begun exploring available outcomes data from ORS data warehouse  Through our ORS partnership, have begun exploring availability of education outcomes to children served by ABC Voucher  Begun synthesizing answers to research questions using data from the warehouse and through this project

Challenges  Process of getting to know the data was time consuming and held some surprises  Required a shift in thinking for researchers, IT, and policy/program staff  Additional training required for program staff on use of data cube technology  Had to incentivize ongoing use of data cubes for program staff to “institutionalize”

Questions?