IGPA selects two inaugural Data Hub projects on Illinois policy making and child care data

The Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) has announced two inaugural Data Hub project awards for 2025 and 2026. IGPA aims to develop a library of original data products designed to support research on key issues in Illinois and provide valuable resources to government and related institutions. These data products, ranging from surveys to curated datasets, are intended to serve researchers, policymakers, advocates, and the public by making critical information more accessible and usable.

Principal investigator E.J. Fagan, assistant professor of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago, is leading a new research project to track and analyze policymaking activities within the Illinois state government. The project will collect detailed data on legislative and executive actions, then classify each item by policy content using the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP) topic coding system—a widely used framework that categorizes policy into 21 major topics and 220 subtopics. This method allows for consistent comparisons across time, issues, and government outputs.

“By making these data publicly available, we hope to enhance transparency and help researchers, journalists, and the public gain a deeper understanding of how policymaking happens in Illinois,” said Fagan.

Sheena Martenies, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at Illinois, will lead the other Data Hub project, which will create a multi-wave survey to collect timely data from those who care for children. The initiative will launch a statewide registry and multi-wave survey to collect essential information from parents and childcare providers about their demographics, caregiving experiences, and perceptions of their social and physical environments. The data will serve as a  resource for policymakers and researchers amid evolving childcare policy in Illinois, enhancing our collective understanding of childcare conditions statewide.

“To build strong, evidence-based policies for young children, we must start with accurate, detailed data about the environments that shape their daily lives,” said Martenies. “This project is about making those invisible factors visible and usable for the people who care for children, set policy, and drive change.”