Prevalence and Changes in Usage of Mental Health Services for Rhode Island Children and Youth Before, During, and After Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study reports the prevalence of inpatient, emergency department (ED), and outpatient mental health service usage of children/youth before, during, and after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rhode Island. Additionally, we identify significant changes in usage across these time periods and the prevalence of each service type contingent upon various demographic profiles. This retrospective observational analysis used Rhode Island Medicaid claims to identify the unique children and youth who used inpatient, ED, and outpatient mental health services across three key time periods: pre-onset (March 2019-February 2020); onset (March 2020-February 2021); and post-onset (March 2021-February 2022).

Four questions to guide decision-making for data sharing and integration.

Introduction: This paper presents a Four Question Framework to guide data integration partners in building a strong governance and legal foundation to support ethical data use.

Objectives: While this framework was developed based on work in the United States that routinely integrates public data, it is meant to be a simple, digestible tool that can be adapted to any context.

Methods: The framework was developed through a series of public deliberation workgroups and 15 years of field experience working with a diversity of data integration efforts across the United States.

Leveraging integrated data for program evaluation: Recommendations from the field.

Use of administrative data to inform decision making is now commonplace throughout the public sector, including program and policy evaluation. While reuse of these data can reduce costs, improve methodologies, and shorten timelines, challenges remain. This article informs evaluators about the growing field of Integrated Data Systems (IDS), and how to leverage cross-sector administrative data in evaluation work.

Evidence-Based Policymaking: What Human Service Agencies Can Learn from Implementation Science and Integrated Data Systems.

The evidence-based policymaking movement compels government leaders and agencies to rely on the best available research evidence to inform policy and program decisions, yet how to do this effectively remains a challenge. This paper demonstrates how the core concepts from two emerging fields-Implementation Science (IS) and Integrated Data Systems (IDS)-can help human service agencies and their partners realize the aims of the evidence-based policymaking movement. An IS lens can help agencies address the role of context when implementing evidence-based practices, complement other quality and process improvement efforts, simultaneously study implementation and effectiveness outcomes, and guide de-implementation of ineffective policies.

Developmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young children: a conceptual model for research with integrated administrative data systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic made its mark on the entire world, upending economies, shifting work and education, and exposing deeply rooted inequities. A particularly vulnerable, yet less studied population includes our youngest children, ages zero to five, whose proximal and distal contexts have been exponentially affected with unknown impacts on health, education, and social-emotional well-being. Integrated administrative data systems could be important tools for understanding these impacts.

A framework for centering racial equity throughout the administrative data life cycle.

Introduction: Data integration by local and state governments is undertaken for the public good to support the interconnected needs of families and communities. Though data infrastructure is a powerful tool to support equity-oriented reforms, racial equity is rarely centered or prioritized as a core goal for data integration. This raises fundamental concerns, as integrated data increasingly provide the raw materials for evaluation, research, and risk modeling.