Written by Cairenn Binder, Assistant Director, IGG Center and the Director of the IGG Certificate Program

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The field of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) is experiencing a period of rapid growth and development, with some public laboratories and law enforcement agencies choosing to bring IGG work in-house in order to take advantage of this powerful investigative tool. However, implementation of an IGG program can be a daunting task for administrators and investigators alike – anticipating legal challenges, navigating budget constraints, and drafting robust policies and procedures is an enormous hurdle for those with only basic knowledge of IGG. Adding to the challenge, there are very few resources and publications available to assist with development of a strategic plan for in-house IGG work.

Structure and strategic planning are critical to success. Before I transitioned to full time work as an investigative genetic genealogist and educator, I worked as a healthcare administrator, gathering and analyzing data related to certain quality measures of patient care. It was in this position that I became familiar with the Donabedian Model, a model for measuring factors that influence the quality of patient care. This model theorized that the structure measures and process measures influence outcomes, with structure as the foundation for all outcome measures. Structure is defined in this model as “Physical and organisational [sic] characteristics where healthcare occurs” (e.g. architecture, staffing, policy, etc.)

One way of thinking about this model would be to imagine a measure of quality in healthcare: urinalysis turnaround time. Of course, to perform a urinalysis, a patient must provide urine. There are many process measures the hospital could put in place to ensure that urine is gathered quickly: nurses and nursing techs could each be assigned to send urine to the lab; patients could be told immediately when a urinalysis is needed; nurses could perform hourly rounding to ensure patients are walked to the bathroom. However – what if there is only one bathroom on the unit? This element of structure is not conducive to fast urine turnaround time, as patients will always be waiting in line for the bathroom. As a result, the outcome measure will never improve no matter how many process changes are implemented.

This experience in the field of healthcare has greatly influenced my career as an educator and leader in the field of IGG. When I joined the Ramapo College IGG Center in 2022, my director (Professor David Gurney) and I had extensive discussions about the structure of our department. There were three elements of structure that needed to be addressed before we could move forward to thinking about processes: staffing, written policies and procedures, and environment.

With this in mind, we began developing the structure for the IGG Center. Professor Gurney worked on acquiring a physical space and procuring computers, software and licenses to conduct investigative genetic genealogy work in a secure environment. For staffing, we divided our tasks by program, created job descriptions for our roles, and developed plans for additions to our staff should a particular program grow. Finally, we co-wrote The Center’s policies and procedures to address things like data collection and containment, communication with agencies and labs, and case acceptance. As we built our structure, we kept in mind the outcomes we wanted to achieve: healthy income to sustain our programs, consistent high enrollment and high attendance, and generation of leads in IGG cases.

With this framework – the “good bones” of the IGG center, we were able to officially launch The Center and implement processes, which influenced our outcomes. The inaugural class of the IGG certificate program was held in Spring of 2023, and that class generated leads in three unidentified human remains (UHR) cases. Next, we held our first IGG Bootcamp in our secure IGG lab space, leading to the resolution of two more cases – including a double exoneration. The first-ever Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Conference (RIGG) was held in Summer 2023, with high attendance and dozens of amazing speakers.

Hundreds of logistical tasks and minutiae – our process measures – were addressed and implemented to plan and execute these programs. Each reached the desired enrollment, attendance, and resolution of cases. We were achieving the outcomes we’d hoped for and that we had set up our structure to achieve.

While the initial success was a boon for our team, there were challenges – growth could not have been managed without continuous reevaluation of our structure. Looking back at our obstacles in the beginning, I can attribute them to issues with structure: lapses in communication were due to the need for additional staffing; unexpected costs were due to policies that had not addressed the potential for failure or rework in the laboratory process. Today, we have addressed these needs, and we are in the process of planning for future growth.

Since the launch of the IGG Center, we have added three additional staff members to support the IGG Certificate program, as well as a Case Manager and Administrative Assistant to support our casework and agency communication. We developed a robust volunteer program to assist with genealogy research on our 60+ active cases. Our policies and procedures have evolved continuously to reflect changes in the field, changes in our programs, and to address any new scenarios that emerge. Our outcomes continue to be favorable: at just over two years of age, the IGG Center has developed more than two dozen investigative leads in UHR, homicide and wrongful conviction cases.

In our workshop at ISHI 2025 in West Palm Beach, Florida, Professor Gurney and I look forward to assisting attendees with development of their own “good bones” for in-house IGG casework. We will discuss laboratory methodologies and communication, policies and procedures, security and data retention, funding challenges and more. This workshop is appropriate for forensic laboratory staff seeking to develop an IGG program, as well as law enforcement and other professionals involved in human identification.

To illustrate our early challenges, we will utilize specific case studies to describe breakdowns in communication, difficulties with management of finances, and application of various laboratory methodologies. These case studies will answer questions like, “How much does it cost to implement IGG?”, “How can I triage cases and plan for IGG casework?”, and “How should we document and communicate in between disciplines and departments?”

The strong foundation of a well-thought-out structure brings about excellent outcomes, and we look forward to sharing our lessons learned with attendees at ISHI 2025.