ProvPlan functions as a data intermediary - helping policymakers and residents access public information that can be used to drive community improvement.
Rhode Island DataHUB
In 2006, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) was awarded a federal grant to improve the management of substance use and violence prevention. The ultimate goal of this project was to create an integrated data system to enhance the State’s capacity to plan and implement appropriate services addressing prevention of substance abuse, violence and other related behaviors.
Linking individual child-level data from RIDE, DOH, DCYF, Providence Public Schools, and community organizations (and eventually Family Court and BHDDH), and now in a robust demonstration phase, this integrated and coordinated youth-focused data system is beginning to help RIDE build the capacity of community and state agencies to plan and deliver appropriate services in a timely manner. The DataHub database and web portal are developed, housed, and maintained by The Providence Plan.
Features built into the integrated data system:
- Automated administrative data transfer
- Automated individual-level linkage across datasets using deterministic and probabilistic linkage techniques
- Aggregation to appropriate levels to protect privacy
- Data feed to web portal where users of all levels may access data through various entry points.
- Highly interactive, open-source visualization software (Open Indicators Consortium WEAVE)
Features of the Web Portal:
- Reports (minimally-configurable data tables and visualizations that can answer specific policy questions).
- Data Stories (stories that serve two main purposes: 1) answer a policy question through a focused exploration of the data with narration; 2) demonstrate how to use the WEAVE visualization software).
- Full suite of tools available in WEAVE data visualization software for the advanced user. (I.e. scatterplots, maps, bar charts, line charts, histograms, data tables).
Beyond Safe and Drug Free Schools:
The questions that can be answered by the current web portal are focused on the goals of the Federal grant (to improve the management of substance abuse and violence prevention.) However, the infrastructure that has been developed is flexible and capable of handling a broader set of data queries and policy questions.
When to Use
DataHUB is your best choice if you want to perform in-depth analysis of key indicators across multiple State agencies.
The Hub currently houses data from the RI Departments of Health and Education, and will soon include Department of Children, Youth, and Families. For easily accessible school-by-school education statistics, visit InfoWorks LIVE!