Data-Driven Policy Change – A Rigorous Approach to System Analysis and Transformation

This is part of the Talks at Twelve series from the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.

Systems transformation efforts grounded in deep engagement with stakeholders, rigorous analysis of data, and a nuanced understanding of the complexity of policy and practice can maximize the impact of changes and improve outcomes among youth and families involved with public human service systems. Using examples from her work in Illinois and across the country, Dana Weiner ’92 will describe an approach to understanding complex problems in public systems, developing recommendations that are informed by both data and lived experience, and leveraging technological, policy, and operational levers to ensure that efforts produce meaningful improvements in access to and effectiveness of human services.

Dr. Dana Weiner '92 is a Chapin Hall Senior Policy Fellow with over 25 years of experience providing technical assistance, program evaluation, and data analytic support to child serving systems across the country. Since 2022, she has served Office of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker as the Chief Officer for Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation. In this role she oversees the implementation of recommendations to adjust capacity and streamline access to mental health services for youth. Weiner has taught courses in Statistics and Research Methods to graduate students at the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Service Work, as well as the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Weiner’s research has focused on quantifying resource accessibility, analyzing the role of geospatial relationships in outcomes in child welfare systems, and evaluating the implementation of evidence-based models in child welfare and juvenile justice contexts. Weiner obtained a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern in 1999 and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1992.