Making Victim Service Data Visible: ICJIA Presents on InfoNet Data Quality to Enhance Victim Service Reporting

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The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) InfoNet research team presented on InfoNet data quality and provider capacity at the Illinois Attorney General’s Violent Crimes Advisory Commission (VCAC) meeting on September 11, 2026, led by Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra. The meeting convened commission members and key stakeholders, including staff from ICJIA’s Center for Victims Studies: Center Manager Amanda L. Vasquez, InfoNet Research Manager Jennifer Hiselman, and Research Scientists Lucia Fernanda Gonzalez and Caroline Bailey. Collectively, attendees examined ways to democratize data, making victim service data more accessible, understandable, and actionable statewide.

As part of the presentation, ICJIA highlighted its research article, Assessing the Quality and Completeness of InfoNet System Victim Service Data, authored by Amanda L. Vasquez, M.A., Lucia Fernanda Gonzalez, M.A., Jennifer Hiselman, M.A., and Caleb Schaffner, Ph.D. The purpose of this research study was to systematically evaluate the quality and completeness of administrative data within InfoNet. Primary objectives of this research included:

  • Identifying specific fields within InfoNet that contain incomplete, missing, or internally inconsistent entries.
  • Engaging service providers to understand administrative causes behind data entry gaps.
  • Recommending tangible changes to InfoNet’s system design and data collection practices to enhance overall data quality and completeness.

The research team utilized a mixed-methods approach to assess system data quality including a quantitative analysis of InfoNet data and a qualitative analysis of focus groups that were conducted with over 50 participants representing approximately 20 domestic violence and 15 sexual assault providers. Findings pointed to five reoccurring challenges related to quality data collection and reporting in InfoNet:

  1. Delivery of services to victims is prioritized over timely input of data.
  2. System logic and design do not always align with provider operations.
  3. Statewide standardization is difficult to balance with provider-level flexibility.
  4. Providers and clients may avoid entering or disclosing information if it involves sensitive topics or unfamiliar terminology.
  5. Field design limitations contribute to incomplete or inaccurate entries.

To address these crucial insights, ICJIA identified important system enhancements including adding “hover help” pop-ups displaying standardized definitions for complex terms and introducing “soft” validation prompts that alerts users to potential data inconsistencies. By providing these key findings and system enhancements not only through research but also during the VCAC presentation, ICJIA highlighted the importance of collaborative statewide efforts to strengthen victim service reporting, refine InfoNet, and democratize access to data.