A great example of data science for social good can be found within a partnership between Strategies to End Homelessness and 84.51°: an analytics and data science company located in Cincinnati that demonstrates ways in which data can be used to solve homelessness issues.
STEH, a Cincinnati-based CoC organization, channels efforts to support homeless people and prevent homelessness in the future. In 2017, they reached out to 84.51° to help leverage their data in better servicing their clients. This is an example of the potential for data science in the nonprofit sector.
The connection created several key initiatives.
The first is human-oriented performance insights. STEH leveraged Tableau in conjunction with 84.51° to design and implement interactive dashboards that rely on impactful visualization to report critical metrics for the programs, such as KEYS, serving homeless youth. These dashboards are hosted on Tableau Public and allow STEH and its partners to monitor the performance of programs in terms of the entries for service, recidivism rates, and housing outcomes. A system-wide performance dashboard for business partners to measure the effectiveness of various types of programs over time has been established for monitoring the overall health of the care system.
The second is data-driven risk assessment. Using the survival analysis, the team developed the model to indicate families that were the most at risk of returning to homelessness. This enabled STEH to dispose of resources appropriately, extending shelter diversion and aftercare support for those in greatest need. The analysis also provided valuable insights for partner organizations that were serving families.
The third is technical and academic support. As the STEH data skill set advanced, 84.51° was actively responsive to supporting this work, helping with technology set-up, reviews of code, and shared learning materials. This support has been one of the key drivers in building more excellent in-house data science capabilities at STEH. At every step, 84.51° was engaged to add capabilities around technology setup, doing peer.
The fourth is data quality improvement. This collaboration also emphasized data quality and the ability to use the information. To do this, techniques such as record linkage, geocoding, and feature engineering were performed to match records from outside data sources, such as the records of evictions, to their foundation data sources at STEH for better-performing research and analyses. The impact of this collaboration reaches far beyond STEH. It serves as a paradigm of how data science can be performed to solve wicked social problems. As charities in all areas can access the growing power of data science, so they too can use these tools to increase their effectiveness. It shows data scientists the massive potential of skills-based volunteerism as a way to make a difference. Sharing their expertise with nonprofits, the data professional can help deal with pressing social issues. Overall, the work with 84.51° reveals that when data science partners with social good, the results are transformative. As complex social issues continue to unfold, collaborations like these will help to build data-driven solutions that can really make a difference in people’s lives.
