Project on Data Access and Quality

As the Center has conducted policy research on diverse topics, we have found too often that our efforts have been halted by our inability to obtain needed data. We have discovered that some of the reasons are similar across quite different topic areas.  In many areas, the state simply lacks the technology, resources, or commitment to gather and analyze data essential for effective management.  In other areas, the state has built useful data systems but failed to make the non-personal information in those systems publicly available.

Accordingly, we will begin to describe different data systems in New Hampshire and the quality of information they contain.  We will highlight areas in which state data systems are inadequate.  We will aggressively pursue access to data which should be made public. We also hope to draw some conclusions and make recommendations regarding how those responsible for maintaining these data systems could better serve the public.

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1. NH Department of Health and Human Service Reports

Commissioner John Stephen of the NH Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that he is committed to making reports on the department's programs more easily accessible to the public, including posting reports on the department's website.  The Center regards that commitment as a positive step and recommends that the department couple such postings with clear user’s guides so that any reader will be able to understand the content of the department’s reports. 

As the department has not yet posted these important reports on its website, the Center is doing so here.  These are public documents that others may find useful  in understanding the department's programs.

Grant Status Reports
These Excel files are large (~ 1 Mbyte), contain 32 pages that summarize the financial status of the department's major human service programs, and are produced by the department every month. These are not easy to understand and there is no user's guide.

 October 2004 (This file contains data for FY 2005 from July through October)
 June 2004 (This file contains the full twelve months of FY 2004)
 June 2003 (This file contains the full twelve months of FY 2003)
 June 2002 (This file contains the full twelve months of FY 2002)
 June 2001 (This file contains the full twelve months of FY 2001) 

Caseload Statistics Reports
These are produced by the department every month. Each contains counts of persons enrolled in Medicaid, welfare, and food stamp programs. There is no user's guide. 

  November 2004

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2. Public Access to Electronic Records

To promote broader public access to electronic databases maintained by state government, the Center helped draft a law that legislature passed in 2003. The law clarifies the state's right-to-know law, RSA 91-A, in regard to access to state data sets. It establishes a procedure by which state data can be made available to researchers after the data have been "scrubbed" of any personal identifying information. The purpose of the law is to:

(a) Preserve the confidentiality of individually identifiable information in the possession of the state;

(b) Ensure the openness in the conduct of public business that is essential to a democratic society;

(c) Ensure that information and data collected or maintained with public funds is held for the collective benefit of the citizenry; and

(d) Improve public policy  and program administration through more efficient and effective through analysis of information and data.