PolicyWise for Children & Families is continuing to celebrate 20 years of impacting meaningful change. As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we are sharing stories about our successful projects, both past and present.
The Child and Youth Data Laboratory (2007-2019)
In 2007, PolicyWise started one of its most ambitious undertakings, the Child and Youth Data Laboratory. It involved two major research projects that linked administrative data from across the Alberta Government. Ultimately, these projects shed light on the experiences of more than two million children, youth, and young adults.
The first project studied one year of government services provided to youth. Completed in March 2012, reports for the first project examined Alberta youth experience. It focused on socioeconomic status, mental health, education achievement, and health service use.
The second project was an extensive study linking and analyzing six years of administrative data on Albertans aged 0-30 years old from six Alberta ministries and over 20 programs. This project’s ground-breaking research approach provided opportunities to study:
- Long-term trends and relationships
- Assess program results and long-term outcomes
- Measure policy impacts across government sectors
As a result of the Child and Youth Data Laboratory, we produced over 40 reports and publications. We also conducted over 100 presentations, discussions, and workshops. With this knowledge, the Government of Alberta was able to understand trends found in the services used by children and youth. It helped inform the government when developing effective future policies and programs.
To remind us that we had “shot for the stars” when the research agreement ended in June 2019, we purchased a star found in the constellation of Orion on behalf of the Child and Youth Data Laboratory. It symbolizes the lasting effects of what we learned and produced throughout the 12 years of the project.
Our experience gained through the Child and Youth Data Laboratory helped us become a leader in improving social sector outcomes through data collection, use, and analysis.
We have since applied these skills to other social sector projects, including:
- Creating a data infrastructure roadmap to help prevent youth homelessness, supported by the Making the Shift National Centre of Excellence.
- Developing and implementing the Alberta Nonprofit Data Strategy, which provides data collecting and analyzing tools and resources to support social sector non-profits.
This project was sponsored by the Government of Alberta.
To learn more about how PolicyWise is making an impact and to read similar stories, check out our 2022-2023 Annual Report.
