DEFINING A CONTEXT FOR THINKING ABOUT DATA AND DCFS WORK MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012

DATA PRODUCERS:  Generate massive amounts of data  Focus on what you DO  Behave according to tradition and past practice  Base many decisions on anecdotal thinking  Focus data systems on compliance  Are generally reactive  Produce static reports  Obscure data sources and results MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012

DATA-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS:  Build KNOWLEDGE  Focus on ACCOMPLISHMENTS  Base behavior on clear VALUES and GOALS  Focus data efforts on informing and improving practice  Base decisions on critical, fact-based thinking  Are proactive in identifying and correcting problems  Are dynamic in reporting—stimulating discussion and debate  Are transparent with data sources and results MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012

 What needs to happen to evolve from a Data Producer to a Data-Driven CW Organization? MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012

VALUES AND ANALYTICS  A consensus and commitment to values about how to work and what you are trying to achieve  And analytics: constantly evaluating and re-evaluating how you are doing (at every level) to bring about the desired outcomes for kids and families  Analytics have many dimensions. They can be:  Informal or Formal  Qualitative or Quantitative  Focused on Process or Outcomes  DCFS Specific or Defined in Comparison to other jurisdictions, child-serving systems, or relevant organizations  All of these dimensions must co- exist MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012

NUMEROUS MOVING PARTS AT DCFS  As you have already discussed this morning, you are in the midst of many different efforts all of which will help to forge a cohesive and consistent set of values, desired outcomes and practice skills and behaviors across the agency  You are just at the start of building the right kind of analytic infrastructure to support that vision—one that can encompass all of the analytic dimensions and engage everyone, at every level of DCFS  To start to illustrate how beneficial such an infrastructure can be, going to do a table exercise to help make analytic dimensions clearer and to dramatize how much synergy there is among and between what may seem like disparate work efforts MAY 16, 2012ECREVEAL FOR WPIC: MAY 2012