Cross-ministry service use patterns of Albertan children and youth receiving maltreatment-related intervention services

Objectives: The Child and Youth Data Laboratory (CYDL) links administrative data across government ministries to provide new insights into determinants and outcomes for children and youth, including those receiving... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: The Child and Youth Data Laboratory (CYDL) links administrative data across government ministries to provide new insights into determinants and outcomes for children and youth, including those receiving maltreatment-related intervention services in Alberta, Canada. Longitudinal investigations of service use patterns inform policy development, resource allocation, and service coordination and delivery across ministries. The CYDL engaged partnering ministries in all phases of the research to ensure methodology and findings were best suited to inform policy and program development.

Method: Service use data were collected for children and youth aged from 0 to 22 years old who received maltreatment-related intervention services between 2006 and 2011 in Alberta. These data were linked across more than twenty child- and youth-serving programs from five Government of Alberta ministries (Advanced Education, Education, Health, Human Services, and Justice and Solicitor General). Linkage rates were based on the populations of overlap between the intervention program and other programs. The patterns of non-matches were also studied to provide further insights.

Results: The program overlap matrix presents the proportions of individuals receiving maltreatment-related intervention services who also received services from other programs, such as income support or child care subsidy. Conversely, the matrix shows the proportions of individuals involved in other programs who received the maltreatment-related intervention services.

Conclusions: The program overlap matrix helps partnering ministries describe and understand the extent of overlap across services for children and youth who were maltreated. It also provides insights into transitions between services. The matrix informs cross-ministry policy and program development and evaluation for Alberta’s children and youth.