The Baltimore Youth Data Hub (“Data Hub”) will launch this year, creating a dynamic new system to share data among public and private partners to understand young people’s outcomes better and use the data to inform policy and resource allocation. Data sharing among partners will center equity and transparency, and will be done in collaboration with community members with lived experiences.
The Data Hub will aggregate data provided by Baltimore City, Baltimore City Schools and Baltimore’s Promise to help address the most pressing issues facing youth in our community. Led by Baltimore’s Promise, the development of the Data Hub has been in the works for years as partners worked on a legal framework that complied with federal, state, and local data sharing regulations. A final step came when the General Assembly approved legislation to establish the Hub and authorize data-sharing between the partners.
“The Baltimore Youth Data Hub reflects my commitment to prioritizing youth, as outlined in my action plan and a top priority in my legislative agenda for the past session in Annapolis. This will be a critically important new tool to track how our children and youth are doing,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “This initiative is long overdue, and I applaud the advocates and our partners in the General Assembly for coming together to get this essential initiative across the finish line. City agencies look forward to working collaboratively with City Schools, Baltimore’s Promise, and other nonprofit partners to share data, measure progress, and identify areas where we need to do more.”
“City Schools is excited to partner with the Baltimore City government to share and analyze data to better understand how our young people are being served,” said City Schools CEO Sonja Santelises. “Having data from multiple agencies will help us glean a more complete picture as we continue working to improve outcomes for our young people.”
“The Data Hub has been in the works for several years, and we owe thanks to the many people who worked collaboratively to build the relationships and partnership agreements needed,” said Julia Baez, CEO of Baltimore’s Promise, the nonprofit that has spearheaded the effort to create the Data Hub. “While there is still work needed to formalize the Data Hub’s governance and data-sharing agreements, we have now cleared a major hurdle for Baltimore’s young people."
Many other cities and states have successfully implemented this type of data hub and the Baltimore Data Hub will build on the field’s best practices while breaking new ground by blending data from health and human service agencies and the school system. The Data Hub will also be distinctive by being administered by a nonprofit organization.
Data Hub partners have carefully considered policies to protect young people’s data privacy. All data used in the Data Hub will be deidentified, meaning that the data won’t include names or personal information that could identify an individual person. A trusted service provider will manage the Data Hub’s technological systems with the expertise and experience to implement data security measures, protect against ransomware attacks, and keep up with developments in the system management and security fields.
“The Data Hub will allow Baltimore to have access to integrated and actionable data on the outcomes for Baltimore’s young people,” said Bridget Blount, Chief Impact Officer at Baltimore’s Promise. “Together, we will be able to use this information to ensure that we can make more equitable and coordinated decisions as a community to improve outcomes for youth and young adults. It’s an exciting opportunity for us to come together as a city to share data, examine inequities and support our most vulnerable children.”
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Baltimore's Promise is a city-wide collaborative composed of public, business, higher education, nonprofit, community, and philanthropic leaders. The organization serves as a catalyst for organizing efforts and resources around a shared vision: all Baltimore City youth will travel a safe, healthy, and successful educational path from cradle to career.
