Cross-sector data sharing in education and health is often treated as a technical challenge, but the real constraint is how to make collaboration workable under strict privacy, legal, and institutional boundaries. When those conditions aren’t addressed directly, data either doesn’t move or isn’t used in ways that meaningfully inform services.
This case study examines what it takes to stand up a cross-sector data network in that environment. It follows a Chicago-based initiative working across schools, providers, and community organizations to test whether student health data could be shared in a way that is both actionable and compliant.
What’s inside
Cross-sector alignment. How education and health stakeholders structured a shared initiative to examine service delivery, student needs, and system-level gaps.
Governance and compliance. How partners navigated FERPA, HIPAA, and organizational policies while still enabling meaningful data use.
Privacy-preserving linkage. How data from multiple contributors could be connected and analyzed without exposing direct identifiers, allowing participation from organizations with strict risk thresholds.
Insight generation. How collaborative analysis cycles were used to define questions, test assumptions, and produce findings on service overlap, population needs, and care patterns.
Proof of viability. The pilot demonstrated that a sustainable, scalable data sharing model could be built and extended to broader collaboration across a regional ecosystem.