Child HANDS: Building Child and Family Policy Research Data Capacity for the Commonwealth of Virginia through an Integrated Model

Using a federated data approach to multi-agency data integration, the central aim of Project Child HANDS (Child Care Subsidy, Health and Early Education: Helping Analyze Needed Data Securely) was to build an integrated, web-based data system for Virginia childhood initiatives aimed at low-income families, to guide program evaluation and policy decisions at the state and local levels. Data from agencies at local levels provided the main source of information for use in local planning, as well as state evaluation of large-scale programs.

Partners on the grant included the Virginia Department of Social Services and the Virginia Department of Education, with input from the Virginia Department of Health. Initial questions focused on child care quality in relation to the child care subsidy program, family demographics, parental choice, and how these factors relate to children’s outcomes in kindergarten. Later questions expanded into other areas of child welfare and health. This project was led by Aaron Schroeder.