The requirement that partners share data relevant to the collaboration’s efforts
WHY IT MATTERS: Openly sharing information, including disclosing sensitive facts, gives collaboration partners a more comprehensive understanding of the issue and builds trust among partners and in the collaborative process.
Encouraging partners to share data.
Partner organizations likely possess differing types of data related to the issue the collaboration aims to address. While some partners may come to the collaboration willing to share data, the collaboration will likely need to actively encourage partners to share information. Collaborations may choose to clearly communicate how information will further or enable the aims of the collaboration, develop information sharing protocols, establish confidentiality agreements, and more.
Managing shared data.
Partners will be more likely to share information if the collaboration can instill confidence that the data will be managed safely and securely. The collaboration may choose to entrust this task to partner who has a proven track record of successfully managing proprietary information, to a neutral third party, to a collaboration funder, or consider other possible management structures.
“Improving Educational Outcomes for Foster Children in Marion County”
Children and youth in foster care face a unique set of educational challenges, including frequent school transfers, a lack of communication between public schools and child welfare agencies, and a lack of stable academic support and guidance. FosterEd is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the academic outcomes of foster children by ensuring they are adequately supported by educational champions and strengthened by education teams. Jesse Hahnel, FosterEd’s founder and Executive Director, witnessed how on-the-ground stakeholders such as teachers, school guidance counselors, foster care agency social workers, foster parents, and court staff worked hard to coordinate students’ day-to-day activities but often operated in isolation from one another. FosterEd sought to address the challenges that foster children face by enhancing coordination among these individuals and agencies. Working with Sundaram LLC, FosterEd developed an educational case management system that served as a mechanism for stakeholders to track the educational strengths and needs of individual foster children. The partners involved agreed that sharing information about student performance and educational barriers would enhance understanding among the professionals working with the children and reduce duplication of services. The case management system also allowed stakeholders to review student data longitudinally and pinpoint what kind of support individual students needed. The system also allowed the program to be effectively managed by tracking student demographics and educational attainment, which helped organizations to allocate staff resources and train staff appropriately. Critically, the web interface brought these agencies and institutions into greater communication with each other and ensured collective ownership of students’ educational plans.
Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing
This comprehensive resource provides detailed guidance, including explanatory text and several tools and templates, related to many aspects of information sharing, including risks, governance, agreements, storage, and more. The Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing works to inspire and improve data sharing across the public sector in the United Kingdom.
“Data Governance Checklist” from the U.S Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center
While this resource is not designed for cross-sector collaborations in particular, it provides a comprehensive checklist to assist organizations with establishing and maintaining data governance programs and provides considerations that may be helpful for collaborations, such as assigning decision-making authority over data, conducting data inventories, generating policies and procedures, and more.
The requirement that partners share data relevant to the collaboration’s efforts
WHY IT MATTERS: Openly sharing information, including disclosing sensitive facts, gives collaboration partners a more comprehensive understanding of the issue and builds trust among partners and in the collaborative process.
Encouraging partners to share data.
Partner organizations likely possess differing types of data related to the issue the collaboration aims to address. While some partners may come to the collaboration willing to share data, the collaboration will likely need to actively encourage partners to share information. Collaborations may choose to clearly communicate how information will further or enable the aims of the collaboration, develop information sharing protocols, establish confidentiality agreements, and more.
Managing shared data.
Partners will be more likely to share information if the collaboration can instill confidence that the data will be managed safely and securely. The collaboration may choose to entrust this task to partner who has a proven track record of successfully managing proprietary information, to a neutral third party, to a collaboration funder, or consider other possible management structures.
“Improving Educational Outcomes for Foster Children in Marion County”
Children and youth in foster care face a unique set of educational challenges, including frequent school transfers, a lack of communication between public schools and child welfare agencies, and a lack of stable academic support and guidance. FosterEd is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the academic outcomes of foster children by ensuring they are adequately supported by educational champions and strengthened by education teams. Jesse Hahnel, FosterEd’s founder and Executive Director, witnessed how on-the-ground stakeholders such as teachers, school guidance counselors, foster care agency social workers, foster parents, and court staff worked hard to coordinate students’ day-to-day activities but often operated in isolation from one another. FosterEd sought to address the challenges that foster children face by enhancing coordination among these individuals and agencies. Working with Sundaram LLC, FosterEd developed an educational case management system that served as a mechanism for stakeholders to track the educational strengths and needs of individual foster children. The partners involved agreed that sharing information about student performance and educational barriers would enhance understanding among the professionals working with the children and reduce duplication of services. The case management system also allowed stakeholders to review student data longitudinally and pinpoint what kind of support individual students needed. The system also allowed the program to be effectively managed by tracking student demographics and educational attainment, which helped organizations to allocate staff resources and train staff appropriately. Critically, the web interface brought these agencies and institutions into greater communication with each other and ensured collective ownership of students’ educational plans.
Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing
This comprehensive resource provides detailed guidance, including explanatory text and several tools and templates, related to many aspects of information sharing, including risks, governance, agreements, storage, and more. The Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing works to inspire and improve data sharing across the public sector in the United Kingdom.
“Data Governance Checklist” from the U.S Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center
While this resource is not designed for cross-sector collaborations in particular, it provides a comprehensive checklist to assist organizations with establishing and maintaining data governance programs and provides considerations that may be helpful for collaborations, such as assigning decision-making authority over data, conducting data inventories, generating policies and procedures, and more.