Studying large public social programs can be a challenge for social scientists. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to use big data — data sets that combine survey and administrative data — to examine how social programs work and how they affect their participants. One method by which researchers accomplish this is “text mining,” a process of finding patterns from large amounts of unstructured text data. In this report from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, researchers explore how text mining contributed to a better understanding of the behavior of families in the foster care system and the role of the courts on reunification.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discusses interoperability, data integration, and data-informed decision-making, which are essential elements in the delivery of effective human service programs. ACF has committed to an Interoperability Action Plan with the goal of expanding data sharing initiatives within ACF and beyond. The action plan supports and strengthens the ReImagine HHS focus on aligning programs and “Putting People in the Center of HHS Programs.” The plan takes a fresh approach on serving individuals and families to examine existing and service delivery models.

Recent changes in statutes have required the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to issue a regulation to set standards for data exchange for human service programs including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This Federal Register notice by ACF requests public comments on approaches and tools to meet the statutory requirements and support program objectives most effectively, as well as how to expand the use, sharing, and analysis of data to improve results. Comments are due by January 7, 2019.

This interactive data dashboard, developed as a collaborative research project between the U.S. Census Bureau and researchers from Harvard University and Brown University, is a comprehensive Census tract-level dataset of children’s outcomes in adulthood using data from almost the entire U.S. population. In particular, the tract analysis estimates childhood outcomes in adulthood, to include earnings and incarceration rate, as they correlate to parents’ income, race, and gender. The outcomes can be traced to the poverty and incarceration rates occurring in the census tracts where the children grew up.

This brief, circulated by ASPE, details the methodology used in the report Substance Use, the Opioid Epidemic, and Child Welfare Caseloads: A Mixed Methods Study. Methods utilized included statistical modeling, geospatial analysis, and qualitative interviewing and analysis. Research centered on six questions, including exploring the relationship between substance use prevalence and child welfare caseloads, how parental substance misuse affects caseloads and outcomes, and whether opioid misuse impacts welfare differently than other types of substance use.

This report from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation is a required annual report to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence. The report provides data on benefits provided only by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The indicators reported on are mostly current through 2015, and some select indicators are current through 2016; the report summarizes the changes to the data over time.

This webinar from the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics will highlight three experts on research and data visualization. Attendees will have the chance to learn about innovative approaches to data visualization, including an overview of best practices and concrete examples of how state and municipal government agencies can use and present data in innovative ways to support program and policy goals. This webinar is the first in a series of three and will take place on June 12, 2018 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

This research brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation provides a snapshot of the progress health and human service agencies are making to integrate their data systems across programs. The brief presents the results of a questionnaire completed by officials in 45 states and the District of Columbia and provides a synthesis of results that paint a picture of this issue nationally.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 12th Report to Congress from the Office of Family Assistance provides data from the TANF program from fiscal years 2014 and 2015. It presents information on expenditures, caseloads, work participation, characteristics of TANF families, performance measures and other relevant metrics about the program. Data and information is also provided on state-specific provisions and Tribal TANF programs.