Advanced Analytics for Child Welfare Administration

Seminar

November 18, 2013 - November 22, 2013 All Day

In partnership with Casey Family Programs, the Center for State Child Welfare Data is pleased to offer Advanced Analytics for Child Welfare Administration, a five-day course for child welfare managers, on November 18-22, 2013, in Saratoga Springs, New York. The purpose of the course is to enable participants to become critical users and consumers of child welfare administrative data as a means toward making continuous quality improvements in their organizations.

Participants accepted for the Advanced Analytics course will receive full support for tuition, room, and most meals. Travel, ground transportation, and three evening meals are the responsibility of the student. The course is limited to eighteen participants.

Who should take Advanced Analytics?

Advanced Analytics is designed for public or non-profit child welfare managers who work directly with information resources or who are in a position to influence the use of information in their organization. New or experienced child welfare managers in policy, finance, program, quality assurance, research, and computing are encouraged to apply. Advanced Analytics is particularly recommended for individuals seeking or beginning a career as a child welfare manager or a policymaker within public, private, or advocacy organizations. At this time, Advanced Analytics is not open to teachers, professors, or full-time students.

What will I learn in Advanced Analytics?

Advanced Analytics builds on Chapin Hall’s introductory Administrative Data Institutes, offered to child-welfare agency managers since the early 1990s. The principles and skills taught in Advanced Analytics were developed at Chapin Hall over the past two decades and span three domains: computing, statistics and research, and the integration of research with policy and practice. Chapin Hall delivered the first week-long Advanced Analytics course in Chicago in October 2007 and has delivered nine more since then.

Advanced Analytics focuses on techniques for organizing, processing, summarizing, and presenting complex child welfare information in a way that is useful for both policymaking and evaluating the impacts of policy changes. At the computing level, the course presents techniques to make the manipulation of complex system information more efficient.

Course participants learn state-of-the art methods for using longitudinal administrative data in child welfare decision making, program planning, and outcomes monitoring. To maximize skill-building, participants complete independent homework assignments and meet one-on-one with course instructors. Members of the Center for State Child Welfare Data may work with their state’s Foster Care Event and Spell File as a means toward understanding analytic principles and methods.

What policy applications are explored in Advanced Analytics?

Among the areas covered during the week are:

Thinking Systematically about Child Welfare: From Investigations to Permanency
Effective Communication of Child Welfare Outcomes
Understanding Racial Disparities
Developing Baseline Expectations for Innovation
Informing Continuous Quality Improvement
Evaluating Contract Agency Performance
Performance Based Contracting
Using Longitudinal Information in the Budget Process

How do I apply to Advanced Analytics?

Admission is selective, based on professional responsibility, analytic and computing skills, and the content of the individual’s recommendation. Candidates must complete an application form, submit a resume or CV, and include a recommendation from a supervisor at their current organization. Certification that travel funds will be available and that the applicant will be released from all job responsibilities during the five-day course is also required.

Please submit your application to Rosemary Gill at rgill@chapinhall.org.

Applications are due on or before Wednesday, October 9, 2013 by 5 pm ET.

To facilitate the review process, interested applicants should send an email to Rosemary Gill at rgill@chapinhall.org indicating their intention to apply at the time they begin to prepare an application. Applicants will receive notification of acceptance no later than Monday, October 21, 2013. Accepted applicants will be expected to confirm participation by Monday, October 28, 2013.

For more information about the course, contact Jennifer Haight (jmhchapin@mindspring.com) or Britany Orlebeke (bochapin@mindspring.com).

Resources