Dr. Yutian Thompson, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has reached significant milestones alongside her research team, with support from the Data Institute for Societal Challenges (DISC) Faculty Seed Funding Program. Their work centers on enhancing the quality of child maltreatment administrative data within the child welfare system, a critical area used in research, service evaluation, policy development, and budgeting for children’s safety, permanency and wellbeing.
Research Goals and Achievements
Led by Dr. Thompson, the team’s research aims to evaluate the quality of child maltreatment data, identify factors contributing to low data quality, and implement effective solutions. With DISC funding, the team successfully assessed data quality from the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) database, NCAtrak, which includes 23 years of data from over 400 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) across 45 states, representing more than 1.2 million child maltreatment cases.
Findings reveal that while NCAtrak demonstrates moderate to good data quality overall, significant variability exists across CACs, with some performing exceptionally in service provision and data management. Notably, CACs in the central U.S. outperformed those in other regions. This variability underscores the need for further research into factors influencing data quality, aiming to create universal improvements.
Publications and Presentations
The team’s groundbreaking work has led to the following publications:
- Thompson, Y. T., Li, Y., Silovsky, J. F. (2024). From Scientific Research to Practical Implementations: Applications to Improve Data Quality in Child Welfare, The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 51(2), 289-301. DOI: 10.1007/s11414-023-09875-y
- Thompson, Y. T., Li, Y., Kang, Z., Miller, M., Wurgler, R., Silovsky, J. (Under review). Evaluating Data Quality in Child Maltreatment Administrative Records: Insights from the National Children's Alliance Database in U.S., Child Abuse & Neglect.
The research has also been presented at five key national and international conferences:
- 2024 International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Annual Conference, Uppsala, Sweden
- 2024 American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA
- 2024 Center on Child Abuse and Neglect Annual Conference, Edmond, OK
- 2025 NCA Leadership Conference, Washington, DC
- 2025 24th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Maryland
Impact and Future Directions
Dr. Thompson and her team are trailblazing efforts to improve data quality in child welfare, a vital step toward enhancing the reliability of information used for decision-making and service delivery. With ongoing efforts to secure additional funding, the team is poised to expand their research and continue benefiting families and children across the nation.
