Foster youth present a unique challenge to educators. Probably the most famous former foster care child in the world right now is Simone Biles, already one of the more formidable and successful athletes in the history of American sports. As a big fan of women’s gymnastics, Biles has thrilled me with her accomplishments.
Cities must work with companies, universities, other cities and organizations to truly realize the Smart Cities vision. This was a consistent message at last week’s Smart Cities Innovation Summit, where leaders from more than 200 cities met with technology and service providers and academics to talk about new innovations that
In my last blog post, I introduced common concerns I’ve heard about predictive analytics in child well-being efforts. In this post, I want to address those concerns and reassure leaders and advocates that predictive analytics can be a tremendous boon to our ability to help kids and ease the burden on
As state and local government leaders and community advocates explore how predictive analytics can improve child well-being outcomes, many questions and potential concerns surface. It is critical to understand that government youth services agencies across the United States have used actuarial Risk & Need Assessment tools for many years. Many
Happy Tax Day, America! Today marks our annual ritual of filing tax returns in the United States. And complaining about taxes. And cursing the IRS (even though it's misguided to shoot the messenger, in my opinion). Think you know a lot about taxes? Let's travel back in time to 1913, when
In this third post about a government center of analytics, the focus is on creating an environment that enables successful implementation, and perhaps even more importantly, successful adoption of new analytic solutions. (Check out "Hey, government of [insert state], where's your center of analytics?" and "4 keys to building a
Monday, April 18th is Tax Day, aka, National Identity Theft Day. OK, that part’s not true, but as millions of taxpayers go online to file taxes, it may as well be. The majority of taxpaying citizens file online, using services such as the popular TurboTax, H & R Block, and
Tax preparation software has encouraged the gamification of tax evasion, making it tantalizingly simple to bump up the value of a tax refund. This is alarming, but it's easy to see how we got here. I love classic video games. When I was a kid, Atari made the best games, but hard
Welcome to the dreaded week when procrastinators embrace their fates as responsible taxpayers. While you and I may be paying our taxes, to no surprise, as much as $2 trillion in the underground economy will go unreported this year in the U.S. While that number may seem shocking, and the percentage is higher than
Tax fraud doesn’t just steal money from taxpayers, it can strip people of their livelihoods and reputations. When a manager in a tax agency’s property tax division stole nearly $50M in property tax refunds, the media and external auditors asked: “How did no one notice this?” The woman started small,
With tax week quickly approaching, tax agencies have been issuing press releases alerting the public they’re holding tax refunds for review longer than in years past. This is a departure for tax agencies. Tax agencies have traditionally lived and died by refund cycle time. Refund cycle time, or getting refunds
“We could send a juvenile justice youth to Harvard for what we pay for incarceration, and we don't get very good outcomes.” That was said by Gladys Carrion when she was Director of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. (She’s now Commissioner of NYC Administration for
In my previous blog post I talked about how the rapid and varied growth of data calls for states to consider an enterprise analytics program, in the form of a Center of Analytics. This entry, first posted as an article on Government Executive's Route Fifty, gives the most important success
Groundhog Day is one of those quirky bits of Americana that add richness and flavor to life. Everyone likes Groundhog Day. It’s a fun, light-hearted way to cope with the cold, dark days of winter. Taxes, on the other hand, are not so fun and light-hearted. Mention the word “taxes”
“What keeps you awake at night?” my colleague asked me. At the time, I was a child protective services administrator responsible for thousands of at risk children on any given day. While there were many things that weighed on my mind, worker turnover created many sleepless nights, and days filled
Imagine trying to make the right decision for a child in protective custody if your information was limited only to what was reported to your department about a single incident. Without additional information about the child’s home environment, health and education, criminal background of adults in the child’s life, and
Government organizations are seeking new and innovative ways to use an abundance of data – both internally for government operations and externally to provide the public with greater access to information. This intersection of open and internal government data is the topic of a Route Fifty webinar taking place on
“(Teaching) is an incredible opportunity to be a catalyst for what we want the future to be," says Shannon Hardy, a 21-year math and science teacher from The Exploris School, a Wake County charter school in Raleigh, NC. Ms. Hardy uses data not just as a summative measurement tool, but
What happened to the adage, "What gets measured, gets done"? Though progress is being made, there are too many child protection agencies that have yet to understand the profound impact data-informed policy and practice have on performance outcomes, as well as staff retention and satisfaction. Without dipping deep into the
John Beale was one of the highest paid government employees. A 10-year veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Beale defrauded the Federal Government of nearly $1M in employment wages and fraudulent travel. Beale came under suspicion after it was noticed that the he was still being paid wages 19
Barbarians are relentless, and they are inside the gates! That didn't go well for the Romans, and they had the most advanced technologies of their day. So how do we do better against the relentless waves of cyber barbarians attacking virtually everywhere? The answer to that is analytics, which offers early
Identity fraud typically conjures thoughts of credit card scams or stolen Social Security numbers. Medical identity fraud is often overlooked, but can be a crime that kills. On the black market your medical identity can be worth as much as $50 per person versus $1 for a Social Security Number.
Identity quizzes are a hot topic among fraud fighters, and particularly so among tax administrators. A quick web search finds that a lot of state tax agencies use quizzes to fight refund fraud, including Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio. Even the IRS has gotten into the game. In reading the press
To prepare for the data challenges of 2015 and beyond, health care fraud, waste and abuse investigative units (government funded and commercial insurance plans, alike) need a data management infrastructure that provides access to data across programs, products and channels. This goes well beyond sorting and filtering small sets of
International Fraud Awareness Week begins on Monday, and you know what that means. Our intrepid team of fraud experts is taking over the State and Local Connection blog! Fellow bloggers, get ready. Each day next week one member of the SAS Fraud and Security Intelligence team will post on a
This post shares the story of a teacher and coach, and a student-athlete who was the first in his family to graduate college, attend graduate school, and aspires to become a Mathematics professor. It's the first entry in a blog series that will highlight some tremendous educators with whom I’ve
People encounter stress in all types of situations. Positive stress occurs when we are exposed to new situations or challenges, perhaps a new job or attending a new school – this type of stress is typically short term and is a necessary factor in healthy development. Tolerable stress results from
New York City is a pioneer in use of technology in many ways. For instance, the work of the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics has been cited repeatedly as an example of smart city innovation. But the innovation doesn’t stop there. Two projects that used SAS data visualization and data
A Vermont Department of Children Families (DCF) worker was murdered last month. The lead suspect is the mother of a child that was previously removed from her care and placed in foster care. This tragedy illustrates the challenges and risks that workers have in the field of serving at risk
In a little more than two weeks, I will be in one of my favorite places, San Diego, California, recruiting potential SAS Press authors at the JMP Discovery Summit, which will be held at the beautiful Paradise Point Resort and Spa from 14 September to 17 September 2015. I’m especially
