Crisis diversion dashboard shows patterns of response

A group of social agencies has released the pilot version of a dashboard to track responses to crises across Edmonton in an effort to better tell the story of crisis diversion and return actionable information to the community. The dashboard, developed by PALcares, keeps track of the efforts of the 24/7 Crisis Diversion Team, which is made up of Boyle Street Community Services, Canadian Mental Health Association - Edmonton, Hope Mission, and REACH Edmonton. The team helps people facing a non-emergency crisis — the kind of call you'd put in to 211 — reducing the need for medical, judicial, or police intervention and preserving 911 for vital emergencies.

The April report, for example, shows there were 2,483 crisis diversion responses, which works out to about one every 17 minutes. Of those, well over 800 resulted in a "warm handoff," in which the person in crisis was connected with a shelter, a hospital, or another safe place. An exploration of the data shows the ebbs and flows of activity over the course of a day and the neighbourhoods that tend to see the most calls, while also reflecting that this kind of crisis happens all over the city. "The data visualization capacity of the dashboard is incredible," Adeoluwa Adeoya of Hope Mission told CBC's Edmonton AM. It breaks the data down per business improvement area and ward, as well, perhaps offering city councillors particular insight into what's happening in their areas.

"As stewards of community data, there is a real responsibility to share that data back with the community," data scientist Sasha Lyuber of PALcares said at a media availability at Boyle Street's King Thunderbird Centre on May 20. In building the dashboard, he's had to walk the line between transparency and the protection of privacy. Response locations are reported at the neighbourhood level instead of indicating exact addresses, for example, and the dashboard offers monthly reports rather than real-time data. Lyuber is eager to hear from the public about how else to adjust the reporting to ensure it is of the greatest use. The team is gathering feedback, with plans to incorporate it into an update in the fall.