Illinois's Longitudinal and Relational Child and Family Research Database

Abstract

The Integrated Database on Children and Family Services in Illinois is a state-level longitudinal and relational database constructed out of administrative data main tained by public agencies serving children and families. This database, which when complete will document all child contact with Illinois public services over 7 or more years, links individual client records both longitudinally and across agencies. The database yields a dynamic, client-level view of human services and can support a wide variety of research. This paper describes the major challenges involved in creating such a database: acquiring and working with agency data, database design, record matching, creating summary records, and normalization. We also briefly discuss some methods of analysis, such as event-history and geographical analysis, to which the data is particularly suited. Keywords: data archive, relational database, event- history analysis, human services research, children's policy.