Joseph Ryan and Brian Perron launched the U-M Child and Adolescent Data Lab in 2015 to collect and analyze data from state agencies that deal with foster care youth. Although these agencies collect and rely upon data to make important policy decisions, they do not share their datasets nor monitor them similarly. By partnering with Ryan and Perron, the agencies benefit from U-M’s expertise in data management and analysis while providing expertise in the field. “That’s what makes this partnership so productive,” says Perron. State agencies identify issues for which they need quick and reliable information – like rates of mental health problems, drug abuse, school attendance, maltreatment in care settings, criminal offenses, or recidivism – and they send massive amounts of data to the lab for analysis and answers. Ryan says: “We are using real data to help inform policy and essentially improve the welfare of our state.”

More about Ryan and Perron analyze big datasets to provide answers to child welfare agencies >