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April 2022Vol. 23, No. 3Guide Provides Strategies for Implementing Antiracist Approaches to Data Collection

A new guide from the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Our Identities, Ourselves: A Guide to Anti-Racist Data Collection for System Leaders and Data Administrators, provides guiding principles and best practices for antiracist data collection within child welfare systems. The guide is designed to help caseworkers, service providers, and leaders collect demographic information in more accurate, inclusive, and affirming ways.

While child welfare agencies have long been collecting information that reveals which populations are under or inadequately served, much of the data collected are flawed, missing, or not specific enough to meaningfully support families. The guide is designed to help child welfare professionals collect more accurate and nuanced data on race, ethnicity, and other demographics to achieve the following:

  • Develop policy and practice guidelines that protect more groups from discrimination and support inclusivity
  • Direct funding and resources to programs that support historically underserved and marginalized populations
  • Improve outcomes for children and youth by having their racial and ethnic identities affirmed
The guide provides best practices for both system leaders and data administrators and features examples of specific jurisdictions implementing this work.