RFS: Linking State and Federal Data to Strengthen Federal Program Evaluation

On June 30, 2025, ATI published the following Request for Solutions (RFS): Linking State and Federal Data to Strengthen Federal Program Evaluation.

The submission deadline for the project is July 16, 2025, at 5 PM ET. Membership in ADC is not required for submission. However, if chosen, the selected organization must join ADC.

Be sure to explore our Consortia Member Training for helpful resources and support tools as your prepare your proposal.

Linking State and Federal Data to Strengthen Federal Program Evaluation

Evaluation is a key agency function. The ability to link administrative data records across multiple sources is critical to understanding results achieved with federal funding. Many federal programs are administered at the state level, but the federal government does not have or has limited direct access to the administrative data collected by the states from these programs (examples of such programs include Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), unemployment insurance (UI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)). Although these state data are valuable for understanding the impact of federal programs, there are numerous, well-documented barriers to accessing and using them.

This Request for Solutions (RFS) seeks to develop a toolkit or framework for the federal community to facilitate federal-state data linkages for evaluation activities by: (a) conducting an analysis of current federal-state linkages in a federal program evaluation office to identify implications for other federal program evaluation offices; (b) applying innovative strategies to address data access and integration challenges by conducting a two-state use case that acquires and links state child care data with the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) block grant data; and (c) documenting solutions that can support a scalable and repeatable process for future state-federal data integration efforts.

A Teaming Speed Networking Event will also be held on July 3 at 1 PM ET. Learn more and register here.

Request for Solutions