Inventory of innovations: Data and child welfare

Using big data for child welfare practices which includes increased information gathering efficiency, increased creation of evidence based practices and policy, increased cross-referencing of data in new ways, and understanding the impact of existing programs on children and families they serve. 

Big data refers to “extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions” (Big data, 2017). The term “big” in this case refers not only to volume but also to the variety of the data and the complexity of the processes required to turn the raw data into usable information (Coulton et al., 2015).