CHHS Annual Record Reconciliation

We are proud to announce that the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency, in partnership with the Children’s Data Network, has completed its first ever “record reconciliation” that links and organizes administrative, client-level records across eight major CHHS programs (i.e., CalFresh (aka Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program); CalWORKs (aka Temporary Assistance for Needy Families); Child Protection; Developmental Services; Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT); In-Home Supportive Services; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)); and Medi-Cal.

Through the creation of an encrypted master “intra-agency” client identifier, this project facilitates the exchange of statistical information both within and between individual CHHS departments and the generation of important information about service involvement at a client and population level. In short, it is helping to break down program siloes and create a more holistic view of clients and their cross-program experiences.

“The program-centric nature of California’s health and human services data has made it challenging for us to make decisions that reflect a client’s end-to-end experiences. Despite efforts to assemble data within individual departments, this is our first unified effort to systematically connect records across our largest public service delivery programs,” said Adam Dondro, CHHS Agency Information Officer.

This new initiative follows other recent CHHS efforts to promote innovation and improve coordination by making better use of data, including the launch of its Open Data Portal. “This Record Reconciliation will allow us to achieve better outcomes for all Californians through a richer evaluation of policy options, the improved stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and a more coordinated design and delivery of public services,” said Michael Wilkening, Secretary of CHHS. “We have long known that our programs are serving many of the same clients. Now we have organized our data so that we can directly assess the implications of both budget cuts and program investments on individuals and their families.”

For more information about the project and to access program-specific results, please visit: https://www.datanetwork.org/research/chhs-record-reconciliation-and-research-data-hub/

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