Ohio

LeanOhio, an initiative of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, uses the Lean process improvement methodology to assist state agencies in streamlining their service delivery through consultations and training. Between 2011 and 2021, LeanOhio ran more than 400 projects in 45 agencies, boards, and commissions.

Issue Areas: Child Welfare, Criminal Justice, Economic Mobility, Education, Health, Workforce

In April 2019, Ohio’s Governor signed an executive order consolidating state data systems into the InnovateOhio Platform, which uses data as “a shared strategic asset” whose “value is multiplied when data sets are linked across programs and organizations” through data integration and management tools. The executive order created a presumption of data sharing between state agencies, except where a specific legal prohibition is identified in writing. In December 2020, the Lieutenant Governor announced the launch of the DataOhio Portal, which acts as an interactive window into Ohio’s secured data-sharing platform. The DataOhio Portal displays the platform’s public datasets and facilitates the request, approval, and delivery of secured datasets. The DataOhio Portal has DataOhio Project findings and insights available as case studies and a data catalog designed to improve transparency and use of state data by policymakers, researchers, and the public.

Issue Areas: Criminal Justice, Economic Mobility, Education, Health

In 2019, the Governor signed an executive order creating the InnovateOhio Advisory Board, whose mission is to make the state the most innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial state in the region. This office advises the Office of InnovateOhio on new technologies and innovations to improve customer service across state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions. The InnovateOhio Advisory Board’s key focus areas include: reduce costs, improve services, and spur a culture of innovation through public, private, and academic partnerships.

Issue Areas: Education, Health

In 2019, the Ohio Governor’s Office established the Chief Data Advocate role as a senior staff member with the authority to collect, analyze, share, and use data to improve state government programs. The Chief Data Advocate works under InnovateOhio, which was created in 2019 and is led by the Lieutenant Governor. The executive order that created InnovateOhio states a presumption of data sharing between state agencies, except where a specific legal prohibition is identified in writing.

Issue Areas: Child Welfare, COVID-19, Criminal Justice, Economic Mobility, Education, Health, Workforce

In April 2019, Ohio’s Governor signed an executive order consolidating state data systems into the InnovateOhio Platform, which uses data as “a shared strategic asset” whose “value is multiplied when data sets are linked across programs and organizations” through data integration and management tools. The executive order created a presumption of data sharing between state agencies, except where a specific legal prohibition is identified in writing.

Issue Areas: Child Welfare, COVID-19, Criminal Justice, Economic Mobility, Education, Health, Workforce

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) saw a need to reduce infant mortality rates across the state. ODH partnered with the InnovateOhio Platform (IOP) to expand and enhance predictive profiling models that leveraged cross-agency data to determine those most at risk for infant mortality and design targeted interventions based on the data. The project involved the Department of Health (ODH), Department of Medicaid, Department of Job and Family Services, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The Infant Mortality Phase 1 study identified that more than 22,000 low-income mothers enrolled in Medicaid were not cross-enrolled in WIC or SNAP benefits, which are proven to reduce the risk of infant mortality for enrollees. This study provided new insights about some of the most vulnerable residents (at-risk mothers and children) in Ohio. By leveraging the InnovateOhio Platform, ODH, in partnership with departments of job and family services, mental health and addiction services, and Medicaid, the platform securely links more than 30 data sets to form a 360-view of the clients that allowed the state to (1) determine indicators that are significantly tied to infant mortality – leading indicators of positive and negative outcomes; (2) create models to predict characteristics of mothers most likely to benefit from interventions; and (3) explore which state programs for mothers are most effective.

Ohio continues to help mothers and children, as well as continue to engage communities through the WIC, TANF, and SNAP programs. A study using data from the IOP found 280,000 Ohioans currently enrolled in Medicaid and SNAP/TANF who may also be eligible to receive WIC benefits. This insight is supporting the state’s efforts to boost cross-enrollment processes across agencies. Through the analysis, visualization, and capabilities of the IOP, the state is able to understand the current challenges and inform evidence-based and data-driven decisions.

Issue Areas: Child Welfare, Economic Mobility, Health

The Director of the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Research, Evaluation and Advanced Analytics enables educational leaders across the state to recognize, gather, analyze, evaluate, and leverage data in problem-solving to improve student outcomes. Initiatives such as Empowered by Evidence and Ohio’s Evidence-Based Clearinghouse are designed to foster “a culture of continuous learning… [and to] create the framework and processes needed for actionable research.” The department has partnered with the Ohio Education Research Center to share education data across the state.

Issue Areas: Education, Health, Workforce

The Ohio Department of Education’s evidence-based clearinghouse provides a common evidence framework by aligning evidence standards from various clearinghouses. The framework assists educators in identifying evidence-based interventions according to content focus area, subject, grade bands, urban/rural settings, student demographics, and the four levels of evidence in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Issue Areas: Education

The Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Aspire program uses a performance-based funding contract for workforce readiness education providers. Grants, awarded in a three-year cycle (FY18-21), require applicants to describe how the program uses rigorous research and evidence-based instruction (p. 24) and to demonstrate effectiveness through performance data (p. 8). Performance is measured annually and funding is adjusted based on performance against established benchmarks.

In 2019, the Ohio Department of Education launched a new program, Student Wellness and Success: Ideas for Innovation, to help school districts use novel strategies to increase mental health counseling, wraparound services, and mentoring programs. The evidence built from these innovation grants will be included in the Ohio Evidence-Based Clearinghouse.

Issue Areas: Education, Workforce