Kansas Early Childhood Data Trust
Brighter Futures through Better Understanding
An important initiative of All In For Kansas Kids is the Kansas Early Childhood Data Trust (Data Trust). This work reflects the commitment of five state agencies to share data and information to improve the quality, effectiveness, and equity of programs and services for Kansas children and families. Our state agencies are dedicated to working together to use the best possible information available to make data-informed decisions that support child and family well-being in communities across our state. Our Data Trust makes this critical work possible.
The prosperity of our state depends on the well-being of our youngest Kansans. Research tells us that investing in early childhood programs yields significant returns through improved health, social, education, and economic outcomes. By sharing information about early childhood investments and outcomes across Kansas agencies, we are better able to give Kansas children and families the full range of assistance and guidance they need.
Over time, this kind of collaboration and targeted analysis of our state’s return on investment across programs and over the course of a child’s life will help ensure brighter futures for Kansas kids.
By linking participation in services to the impact they have on children and families, we can look to the data to help us ensure accountability, equitable access, program effectiveness, and return on investment. As a state, we become better able to make data-informed decisions and follow the long-term impact of those decisions. A data governance board, with the Children’s Cabinet as Trustee, will work together to govern data well, catalog it comprehensively, and share it as needed in the most effective and efficient way possible.