In partnership with Casey Family Programs, Chapin Hall and the Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data are pleased to offer Advanced Analytics for Child Welfare Administration, a five-day course for child welfare managers, on November 9-13 2009, in downtown Chicago. The purpose of the course is to enable participants to become critical users and consumers of child welfare administrative data as a means toward making continuous quality improvements in their organizations.

Participants accepted for the Advanced Analytics course will receive full support for tuition, room, and most meals. Travel, ground transportation, and three evening meals are the responsibility of the student. The course is limited to sixteen participants.

Who should take Advanced Analytics?

Advanced Analytics is designed for mid-level managers who will be working directly with information resources, supervising those who do, or who are in a position to influence the use of information in their organization. Child welfare managers in policy, finance, program, quality assurance, research, and computing are encouraged to apply. Advanced Analytics is particularly recommended for individuals seeking a career as a child welfare manager or a policymaker within public, private, or advocacy organizations. At this time, Advanced Analytics is not open to full-time students.

What will I learn in Advanced Analytics?

Advanced Analytics builds on Chapin Hall’s introductory Administrative Data Institutes, offered to child-welfare agency managers since the early 1990s. The principles and skills taught in Advanced Analytics were developed at Chapin Hall over the past two decades and span three domains: computing, statistics and research, and the integration of research with policy and practice. Chapin Hall delivered the first week-long Advanced Analytics course in Chicago in October 2007 and has delivered three more since then.

Advanced Analytics focuses on techniques for organizing, processing, summarizing, and presenting complex child welfare information in a way that is useful for both policymaking and evaluating the impacts of policy changes. At the computing level, the course involves techniques to make the manipulation of complex system information more efficient.

Course participants learn state-of-the art methods for using longitudinal administrative data in child welfare decision making, program planning, and outcomes monitoring. To maximize skill-building, participants complete independent homework assignments and meet one-on-one with course instructors. Members of the Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data may work with their state’s Foster Care Event and Spell File as a means toward understanding analytic principles and methods.

What policy applications are explored in Advanced Analytics?

Among the areas covered during the week are:

• Thinking Systematically about Child Welfare: From Investigations to Permanency
• Effective Communication of Child Welfare Outcomes
• Understanding Racial Disparities
• Developing Baseline Expectations for Innovation
• Informing Continuous Quality Improvement
• Evaluating Contract Agency Performance
• Using Longitudinal Information in the Budget Process

How do I apply to Advanced Analytics?

Admission is selective, based on professional responsibility, analytic and computing skills, and the content of the individual’s recommendation. Candidates must complete an application form, submit a resume or CV, and include a recommendation from a supervisor at their current organization. Certification that travel funds will be available and that the applicant will be released from all job responsibilities during the five-day course is also required. The application process may involve a telephone interview.

Please submit your application to Rosemary Gill.

Applications are due on or before September 30, 2009. To facilitate the review process, interested applicants should send an email to Rosemary Gill indicating their intention to apply at the time they begin to prepare an application. Applicants will receive notification of acceptance no later than October 7, 2009. Accepted applicants will be expected to confirm participation by October 12. 2009.

For more information about the course, contact Jennifer Haightor Britany Orlebeke.