Introductory User Training Workshop for the Report and Placement Integrated Data System (RAPIDS)

RAPIDS is a data construction algorithm (a SAS program) which is used to merge the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) files and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) files. While NCANDS and AFCARS have been available for some time, linking the data to support longitudinal analyses is quite a technical challenge. RAPIDS allows broader access to these data for analysis by making this algorithm available without cost. RAPIDS transforms existing NCANDS child maltreatment report records and AFCARS foster care records into a single, user-friendly dataset. The combined dataset is useable by researchers who have established AFCARS and NCANDS data use agreements with the National Data Archive for Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University. The RAPIDS program combines the NCANDS and AFCARS data from 2005 forward into a single, linked longitudinal dataset that contains records at the child/event level for both NCANDS child maltreatment reports (one record per report per child) and AFCARS foster care spells (one record per foster care episode [entry-to-exit] per child), while preserving temporal information between events. A child's entire lifetime trajectory (currently during the 2005-2021 timeframe) of child maltreatment reports and foster care spells will be available in a dataset the RAPIDS program constructs. The RAPIDS program includes two additional notable features. First, it includes network analysis-based algorithms that can place children in sibling groups by assigning common family identifiers to members of the same family. Second, additional data linkage algorithms will allow users to link the RAPIDS data with a broad range of policy and census data.

Due to the complexity of the program and the size of the files, each research site must use the open-source RAPIDS program to build a local version of combined data from the component NCANDS and AFCARS data files. Therefore, the objective of this training workshop is to introduce RAPIDS algorithms to both new and experienced child welfare researchers who conduct research with child welfare administrative data. We will introduce the RAPIDS algorithms, codebook and user guide. We will review computing requirements and how to run the RAPIDS code that will build the combined data at a user's local research site. We will provide brief examples of RAPIDS research capabilities and minor caveats. While we will explain some SAS basics to help understand the RAPIDS program, interested attendees are more than welcome to have a beginner level of SAS programming language prior to attending this workshop. Interested attendees may also choose to attend a complementary symposium at SSWR at which our team will present results of early research using RAPIDS.