5 Things to know about your Human Services program data

Data is the lifeblood of your program, but many human services program executives are not using that program data to its greatest potential. Recognizing the value of your program data and managing your data more effectively will yield benefits to your clients through better and more timely decisions, more holistic views of your clients' service eligibility and consumption of those services.

1. Your program data has strategic value. Many Human Services program executives don't believe their data has strategic value because it may be incomplete or "dirty". And there are lots of perfectly good reasons why data might be this way. Recognizing the value your data has for the organization is key - once you understand the value, you'll make appropriate investments in time and energy to ensure the data quality is improved and maintained. Whether you engage outside resources or use resources that you have in house, getting your data in shape to realize its strategic value may be the single most impactful thing you do this year.
2. Sharing your program data is a good thing. Your human services program data may already be shared with other programs to perform eligibility determinations - knowing what your clients qualify for and what they are consuming is hugely beneficial to the programs, and those jurisdictions that are already doing so are reaping the benefits. If you only have to determine eligibility once, you're essentially saving the cost (in time and dollars) of repeating that process over all the Human Services program that are administered by your jurisdiction. And the bonus is that it's easier to see the patterns in the data if they are shared across programs - which means it's easier to see where to make changes in programs that benefit everybody. And for most jurisdictions, the legal precedents for sharing have already been set.
3. Data governance does not exist in a vacuum. Governance sounds ominous, but it is not a dirty word - it simply means that you're paying attention to how the data is managed and maintained and that you've got processes in place to ensure the quality of your data. Governance also includes the rules of the road for collaboration and sharing data, so you'll want to make sure you have these processes in place at the beginning of those relationships so that everyone is clear on how data sharing works.
4. Getting better at managing your data will automatically lead to getting better at delivering your program service. When you've made the commitment to manage your data proactively as a strategic asset, by default, you've made the decision to understand what your program data can tell you. From developing information about how well your program is working (or not) to discovering where innovations can take place, managing your program data will change how you do your business.
5. Data management is not the responsibility of the IT Division. This might be the most surprising concept here, but the Information Technology folks don't own your program data, you do. Sure, they can help with tools you might use for managing your data, but ultimately you driving the management of your program data ensures you get what you need from that activity, and you get it on your terms. Data management isn't necessarily a technology investment, it is an investment in process and policy that strengthens the organization as a whole. Remember the first thing in this list - your program data has strategic value to the organization - as a program executive you'll want to ensure that the organization invests in its data management program.