Applying a Race Equity Lens to Build Thriving Communities: Centering Racial Equity Across the Data Lifecycle

AISP team members co-wrote a piece that was featured in the American Public Human Services Administration (APHSA) magazine, Policy & Practice. Sharon Zanti, Matthew Katz, and Amy Hawn Nelson contributed to the piece, which highlighted AISP’s May 2020 publication, ‘A toolkit for centering racial equity throughout data integration’.

Policymakers strive to make data-driven decisions that support the common good, and as a result, sharing and integrating administrative data are now commonplace across local, state, and federal agencies. Cross-sector data sharing and integration enable the transformation of individual-level information into actionable intelligence that can be used to understand urgent and long-term community needs; improve services, systems, and practices; develop innovative policies and interventions; and, ultimately, build stronger communities. Yet, the way that cross-sector data are used can also reinforce legacies of racist policies and produce inequitable resource allocation, access, and outcomes.