NCJ Number
224553
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 392-399
Date Published
November 2008
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes the use of databases to promulgate evidence- based child welfare policy.
Abstract
The article notes that changes in technology, including data storage, computational speed, transfer systems, and software advances have made the creation of truly advanced multisector databases vastly easier than was the case even 10 years ago, and argues that this meshes well with the emerging recognition that practice and policy should be evidence based. This work describes the need for and the practicality and utility of longitudinal, multisector, and multilevel administrative data to address key issues in child maltreatment prevention and intervention, with the goal not to alert the reader to a new technology, but rather to clarify its potential and overview the process of creating such a database. It is noted that the time is at hand when child welfare policy could be informed by a much more complete understanding of who the profession serves, how the public is served over time, what other social service systems they encounter, and what outcomes they commonly experience. A detailed discussion is also provided on technical barriers and other potential limitations. References