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Section 1: Introduction

The federal government spends over $1.2 trillion annually on grants to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, whose leaders need to know what works and how to sustain high performance. Moreover, many policy challenges and priorities leaders face require holistic approaches that draw on multiple agencies and programs. Because answering these questions requires timely and reliable data from across programs, leading state and local governments have created:

• Integrated data systems (IDS) that bring together administrative data from different programs and systems. IDS allow data to be managed efficiently and securely, protecting individual privacy.
• Capacity to analyze the raw data from IDS to understand what is happening inside and across public programs and to manage programs more effectively and give the public useful insights.

How exactly can an IDS benefit policy challenges that cut across agencies and programs? Read the field guide case study on how North Dakota is leveraging multiple federal grants to support a more holistic approach to early childhood decisions and impact.

In addition to providing critical insights, one of the most basic benefits of integrated data systems is their capacity to generate automated reports at significantly lower cost, freeing up resources for more productive activities that improve program effectiveness.

Hear from Arkansas Chief Data Officer Robert McGough about the benefits of an integrated data system.

What's the problem?

While some jurisdictions have found a way, robust IDS and analytic capacity are not the norm for states, localities, tribes, and territories. A key reason has been a lack of clarity and incentives around the ability to use federal funds. As a result, too many elected leaders and the public lack data-driven insights on program outcomes and how to improve them.

Katy Collins, Chief Analytics Officer in the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, describes how their Data Warehouse helps drive cross-program outcomes.

How does the field guide help?

This field guide explains how policy, program, data, and finance leaders at all levels of government can use funding across federal grants and other sources to support robust, efficient integrated data systems and evaluation capacity. Drawing on recently updated federal guidance from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that clarifies many areas of past confusion, this guide:

• Walks through allowable ways to spend federal grant dollars on data and evaluation capacity.
• Shows how to match funding strategies with goals for building, operating, and/or enhancing an integrated data system (IDS).
• Provides rich examples and case studies of how leading states and localities are already doing this work and paying for it effectively.
• Explains how to prepare for an audit of IDS.
• Points the way to non-federal sources that can help fill gaps in IDS funding.

Together with further engagement across levels of government, this guide can help to develop a broader, shared vision of enterprise-wide approaches to integrated data to power evaluation and performance and to help state, local, tribal, and territorial officials access and use more sources of federal funding for better decision-making.

Who can benefit from this guide?

IDS can generate information that benefits stakeholders from elected leaders to auditors, from front-line program staff to the taxpaying public. This guide can help the following IDS stakeholders to address key needs:

Tennessee Chief Evaluation Officer Jonathon Attridge describes how the state’s IDS helps power its learning agenda to advance outcomes across the agencies.

How was this Field Guide created?

The content of this guide emerged from collaboration with dozens of stakeholders inside and outside government in policy, budget, finance, data, research and evaluation, program administration, and auditing roles. The lessons learned can help all levels of government navigate existing, complex rules and processes for financing integrated data systems and evaluation capacity. These lessons also can inform future actions by the federal government that would enable and encourage many more jurisdictions to develop their capacity to use data and evaluation to get better results for taxpayers.

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