Connecticut Equity and Data Overview
Connecticut declared racism as a public health crisis in 2021. Key to the work of the EiPLC team is centering racial equity in state efforts and recognizing that real people are behind the data agencies collect. This document outlines the work being done by the EiPLC group in Connecticut.
Goals
Develop sustainable procedures and tools for incorporating resident perspectives and equity into state data integration efforts. We are working towards this goal by:
●Building and maintaining trust in data access and use and integrating racial equity into our systems and processes by developing policies that are transparent and accessible to all users- residents who are represented in the data systems, data providers, and data users.
●Establishing accountability through review and feedback loops that will be built into different agency data systems.
●Making progress and change beyond laws and policymaking.
Our Projects
Administrative Data
P20 WIN is Connecticut’s state integrated data system and is the mechanism used to share data across 15 participating agencies. The P20 WIN system is used to inform policy, answer research questions, and fulfill state and federal reporting requirements.
Membership spans early childhood, K-12, workforce, post-secondary/higher education, and health and human services that include social services, mental health, child welfare, correction, and homelessness and the judicial branch court support services division.
Health Data
The All Payers Claims Database (APCD) receives, stores, and analyzes health insurance claims data. Health insurers of health care services must submit medical and pharmacy claims data, as well as information on providers and eligibility. This information is used to improve the health of Connecticut’s residents through the collection and analysis of data and the promotion of research addressing safety, quality, transparency, access, and efficiency at all levels of health care delivery.
What We're Doing
Governance
Resident Advisory Board - The purpose of the Resident Advisory Board is to empower residents with lived experience in poverty and who have or currently receive state services to partner with OPM to review and to provide feedback on projects that include the data of overrepresented populations. The Resident Advisory Board is currently in development.
Data Standards
Standardized Race, Ethnicity, and Language (REL) data - Public Act 21-35 mandated the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to develop REL data collection standards in alignment with the OHS Community and Clinical Integration Program recommendations, US Office of Management and Budget race and ethnicity standards, and International Organization for Standardization language standards, to enable the aggregation and disaggregation of REL data. OHS released an implementation toolkit, a standards document, a communication tool for providers, and other resources to support the collection of standardized REL data collection.
Responsible AI Framework for State of CT - This policy establishes a framework that upholds the ethical use of AI in Connecticut state government, and prioritizes fairness, privacy, transparency, accountability, and security. This framework is intended to evolve in tandem with technological advancements, future iterations of relevant legislation at the state and federal levels, societal needs, and government operational necessities.
Resources and Guidance
Data Protection, Privacy + Equity Impact Assessment (DPPEIA) - This framework is intended to provide guiding concepts, prompts and resources for a state agency reviewing a data request to consider supporting the protection and privacy of clients’ data and safeguard tenets of equity. This document aims to provide agencies with a framework and prompts to meaningfully assess data requests and dialogue with requesters, sister agencies and P20 WIN staff about guardrails to ensure that clients’ data and their interests are protected and respected.
High value data inventory - Executive branch agencies catalog their high value data on an annual basis pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 4- 67p. The high value data inventory tells us what data are maintained by state agencies and allows us to think about how the data can be used to support our work towards centering racial equity.
Data landscapes - Transparency in data is important for data users and people who provide their data to better understand where and how it is being used. The landscape outlines different data sources in Connecticut and briefly summarizes the data that is collected for state programs, as well as nonprofit collaboratives and initiatives that use data outside of government. The CT EiPLC team is developing data landscapes to assess how data are collected and used.
Annotated bibliography of history of race in Connecticut - The annotated bibliography provides background and references to the history of racism in Connecticut and how it has impacted data collection, over/under identifying populations of people, and the continuing impact of segregation in the state.
Equity awareness in data reporting – These guidelines highlight best practices for contextualizing administrative data and applying an equity lens prior to publication – whether in tabular, textual, or visual form. They prompt the user to consider historical factors in how data was collected, inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the data, and selection of labels or images that may cause potential harm to marginalized communities.
Data visualization and accessibility guidelines - These guidelines highlight best practices for creating clear and accessible data visualizations. They include guidance on the data visualization process, tools, and accessibility best practices. These guidelines were developed for Connecticut state employees who want to visualize their data in an inclusive and accessible way.
Team Members