How proactive planning helps organizations share information responsibly and support stronger coordination.
Risk is often the point where data-sharing conversations slow down. For organizations supporting youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, that caution is understandable. Concerns about privacy breaches, legal requirements, and the potential for sensitive information to be misinterpreted can make organizations hesitant to share data.
These concerns are real, but they can also be productive. They encourage organizations to think carefully about what responsible collaboration should look like before sharing information.
That is the focus of How to Build a Collaborative Approach to Data Sharing, a PolicyWise for Children & Families report that outlines five considerations for collaborative data sharing in the social-serving sector. This story focuses on the second consideration, identifying and mitigating risk. The report shows that organizations do not need to choose between collaboration and caution. Instead, they can use caution to build stronger collaboration.
One interview participant in the report captured the issue clearly:
“If we share something and we break privacy, we could get sued, right? What are the risks if we don’t share information? And sometimes those risks are death, right?”
That question widens the conversation by reminding organizations to consider the other side of risk. That is, when programs operate in isolation, important information can be missed, coordination can suffer, and young people may fall through gaps in services.
This is where the report offers a valuable shift in thinking. Rather than viewing risk as a reason to avoid data sharing, it encourages organizations to see risk as something that can be identified, assessed, and managed. For organizations that want to strengthen coordination, protect privacy, and build trust across partnerships, this approach can create a stronger foundation for data sharing from the start.
Why identifying and mitigating risk matters
When organizations treat risk as a design consideration instead of a stopping point, they can move the conversation forward. Rather than asking only whether data sharing should happen, they can focus on how to make it safe, clear, and workable. That helps organizations make better decisions about roles, processes, protections, and expectations. It also helps staff turn concerns into planning.
This matters in youth homelessness services because young people often rely on support from several organizations, including shelters, outreach teams, community agencies, and government programs. A thoughtful approach to data sharing can support informed referrals, reduce duplication, and strengthen coordination across services.
When organizations approach risk this way, they can explore how to share information in ways that better support young people while also protecting sensitive information.
Start by identifying risks early
The report highlights the importance of identifying and understanding risks early. That means giving staff and partners room to raise concerns, ask direct questions, and examine the risks tied to the data and its possible uses. These early conversations help organizations move from avoidance to planning and action. They also reinforce that concerns are not barriers to collaboration. They are an important part of building it well.
This early planning can also strengthen the collaboration itself. It gives partners an opportunity to clarify legal obligations, identify what each organization needs from the process, and determine what safeguards should be in place before any information is shared. In partnerships where organizations bring different mandates, capacities, and levels of readiness, that shared understanding can help partners begin with greater clarity.
Purpose still shapes the risk conversation
Although this story focuses on risk, the report makes clear that risk is tied to purpose. This connects directly to the first consideration, establishing purpose and intention. When partners are clear about why they are sharing information, they can better decide what information should be shared, who needs access to it, and what protections are required.
That connection is one of the report’s key insights. Organizations manage risk by ensuring information sharing is guided by a clear purpose. That helps partners make deliberate choices and keep the collaboration focused on what is necessary, useful, and appropriate.
Build privacy into the collaboration from the beginning
The report also emphasizes that privacy protections work best when organizations build them into the collaboration from the start. Privacy works best when it is part of the design, not something added later. When organizations begin with purpose, they can make privacy decisions earlier and shape how information is shared, protected, and used.
One participant described that approach this way:
“…be intentional about all these pieces right up front. You can mitigate cyber security risk. You can mitigate a lot of these. Then it allows you to take more risk because you have the knowledge.”
That insight highlights a simple but important idea: better knowledge supports better choices. When partners understand the purpose, the process, and the protections, they are better prepared to collaborate with confidence.
Use technology to support responsible sharing
Technology can support responsible data sharing when organizations use it with care. The report notes that well-designed systems can streamline work, support secure information exchange across organizations, reduce administrative burden, enable real-time collaboration, and support decision making. In youth homelessness services, those tools can help organizations provide youth with more timely, consistent, and coordinated care.
At the same time, the report emphasizes that technology is only one part of the solution. Effective data sharing also requires strong security and privacy practices, clear processes, and proper training. Technology is most useful when staff know how to use them responsibly. This helps technology strengthen collaboration rather than create more work or confusion.
Identifying and mitigating risk creates a stronger path forward
Identifying and mitigating risk is not just a technical step in data sharing. It is key part of how organizations build confidence in collaboration. When partners raise concerns early, connect risk back to purpose, build privacy protections into the work, and choose tools that support responsible sharing, they create stronger conditions for coordinated support.
For organizations supporting youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, this creates a more practical path forward. It helps teams strengthen coordination without losing sight of privacy, trust, or accountability. The full report offers additional guidance for organizations looking to strengthen their data-sharing practices and partnerships.
Learn more
To explore all five considerations, read the full report and visit the project page for related resources and updates.
Project partners
PolicyWise for Children & Families is proud to be collaborating with The Alex and the Trellis Society on this project.
Project funding
This project was funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia.
