2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

The analysis of administrative data depends on accurately and reliably linking individual-level identifiersin data records across multiple service system databases. Linking is done through a process ofprobabilistic record matching, which calculates the probability that two records belong to the same personby using multiple pieces of identifying information. The most uniform common identifiers include name,Social Security number, date of birth, gender, race/ethnicity, and zip code, but these vary acrossadministrative data systems. Because of data entry errors, administrative data systems may have errors inclient-identifying information, which can result in more than one system-unique ID for the same person.Probabilistic matching technology corrects for these “duplication” errors by linking records in differentsystems based on the probability of similar identifiers representing data records for the same person.Household SurveysAnother component of the study involves more intensive data collection on a sample of 531 families withchildren born in the TGAs during 2004 and 2005. The primary source of information on these families isa structured survey conducted twice a year, once in person and once by telephone; this information issupplemented by data obtained from administrative records. The sample for this part of the study wasrecruited through two maternal health programs in Palm Beach County, the Healthy Mothers/HealthyBabies Coalition and Healthy Start/Healthy Families, between July 2004 and November 2005. 76 Thebaseline study report (Spielberger, Schuerman, Lyons & Haywood, 2006) provides other informationabout the recruitment process and recruitment issues for the study.The sample was stratified along two dimensions. First, we assumed that families with more risk factorswere more likely to have contact with services. Thus, we attempted to develop the sample so that abouthalf would be families identified as “high risk” (children at high risk of poor outcomes or families at highrisk of dysfunction) on a hospital screen or home assessment. Second, because the Glades TGA issparsely populated and historically more transitory than other areas of the county, 77 we wanted to ensurethat the sample was large enough to make reasonable estimates of its characteristics. Hence, the samplewas structured according to the proportions shown in Table A- 2.76 We followed this approach as an alternative to obtaining permission to sample from birth records for several reasons. First, wedid not know whether we would be able to attain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval under the Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to use protected health information for sample identification and recruitment. Wealso were following the precedent of an earlier study about access to prenatal care in Palm Beach County (Tandon, 2004), whichrecruited and interviewed newly delivered mothers in maternity wards. Finally, we recognized that because of their experienceworking with mothers in the TGAs, the hospital liaisons and nurses might be more trusted by potential respondents than otherrecruiters.77 In contrast to the other three TGAs, the Glades TGA in the western part of the county is a large, but sparsely populatedagricultural area that includes several migrant families who harvest sugarcane, citrus fruit, and other crops. According to datafrom the 2000 Census, percentages of families with children under the age of 18 living in poverty is higher in the Glades (46%)than in the other TGAs (25%) (CSC, May 2006). These percentages compare with an overall percentage of 13 percent for theproportion of all families with children under the age of 18 who live in poverty in the county as a whole.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 158