Barriers to Accessing State Data and Approaches to Addressing Them

The technical challenges of accessing large administrative datasets are easily addressed with the advances in data security, computational resources, and the Internet. The most vexing barriers are legal and ethical issues, and control of the data by the agencies that generate it. This article describes those issues and promotes the notion that partnerships with the data providers are necessary to facilitate access to researchers, both inside and outside government, but also to provide benefits, in the form of evidence, research, and information to the data providers themselves. Ultimately, training of all stakeholders around the secure and responsible use of data and appropriate data stewardship is necessary to facilitate the increased use of administrative data that is required to develop evidence that will have an impact on government services and programs for individuals and families