We Democratize Data
ProvPlan functions as a data intermediary - helping policymakers and residents access public information that can be used to drive community improvement.
Past Work
Using Open-Source Technology to Enhance Post-Release Supervision Systems
The Providence Plan and The Urban Institute received funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop a geospatial application designed to help corrections, public safety, and social service agencies better supervise and assist returning prisoners. The Providence Plan developed and implemented a Web-based tool that enables users to conduct specialized queries of the locations of released prisoners, map those results at the address level, and then overlay the results with additional spatially-enabled datasets, such as support services for former prisoners. The Urban Institute oversaw the evaluation, process documentation, and dissemination activities. The two organizations have worked together for over 10 years on numerous projects, including the Institute’s Prisoner Reentry Mapping Network and National Neighborhood Indicator Partnership. The final report is available on the Urban Institute web site and the application code is on Github.
HEALTH GIS and Data Services
Under a five-year services contract that started in Spring 2009, ProvPlan has completed a variety of projects for the Rhode Island Department of Health:
Website Content Improvements:
ProvPlan is created a robust data transfer service for two databases at the Department of Health (HEALTH), one that contains lead compliance information and one that records contractor and inspector licenses. In addition to increasing reliability of the system that issues Housing Resource Commission (HRC) certificates, this allows HEALTH to post more comprehensive home lead information on its website.
As part of this project, ProvPlan built improved, easy-to-use interfaces for the HEALTH website. The public and other state agencies are now able to readily search the compliance and contractor/inspector license databases. Compliance Search improvements include a unified Lead Safe Certificate, High Risk Properties, Multiple Poisoning Properties, and 2nd Notice of Violation search. Contractor/Inspector search improvements include search by municipality, last name, and license type. A basic mapping feature is also included.
Healthy Housing Indicator
Using Census data on poverty, age of housing and presence of children along with HEALTH lead screening data, ProvPlan is performing a statewide tract-level analysis to determine areas with unhealthy housing and vulnerable populations. Preliminary results indicate that this is a statewide problem, but that there are some areas with particularly high concentrations of unhealthy housing. Two legend scales will be used to track the issue, both on a statewide basis and separately for the state’s urban core. This work will be used to prioritize interventions and guide a more detailed parcel-based analysis.
Home Locator Work
HomeLocatorRI.net is a website maintained by Rhode Island Housing, a public agency that works to provide affordable and healthy housing opportunities. The site allows landlords to list their available properties free of charge. Unlike other free online classified services, HomeLocator provides landlords with informational resources about fair housing laws and affordable housing programs. For renters, a key advantage is that the site’s listings include information on lead abatement. This information is currently provided by landlords without verification. ProvPlan performed an analysis to determine the accuracy level of this data by linking HRC and HEALTH compliance data to properties by address. Accuracy was found to be poor, and ProvPlan is currently designing a linked compliance verification search between HomeLocator and HRC/HEALTH web databases.
Tobacco Mapping
The Rhode Island Tobacco Control Network, along with HEALTH, seeks to educate Rhode Islanders about tobacco use in the state as well as advocate for policy changes to eliminate tobacco-related health disparities. There is concern that certain minority populations are more aggressively targeted for tobacco use through advertising and tobacco product availability. At the request of the Tobacco Control Program, ProvPlan compiled maps and completed data analyses that provide information on different communities to display the disparities. The data and maps are being presented by local partners throughout the targeted communities.
Initiative for Healthy Weight
Bedinning in 2010, HEALTH will track ten Rhode Island cities and towns using the CDC’s 24 Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity. Among the goals of this effort is curbing childhood obesity. ProvPlan is working to compile data and provide analysis to track progress in this effort. Along with HEALTH, we are also providing data and technical support to the Communities Supporting Healthy Lifestyles project. Olneyville Housing Corp recently became the first beneficiary of technical assistance, funding and other support under this potentially multi-year, multi-city project.
Airport Study
This project involves using hospital data to determine whether emergency respiratory and cardiovascular episodes are more frequent in times of elevated ultra fine particulate (UFP) air pollution. The project looked at individuals living and attending schools in Warwick, RI. Of particular interest were those in areas near the airport, as jet engines are a known source of UFP pollution. ProvPlan partnered with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and researchers at Brown University on this effort.
AHEC Physician Mapping Project
Working with the Rhode Island Area Health Education Center, ProvPlan has compiled the first comprehensive list of all health care providers and facilities in the state. We have mapped their locations and analyzed this against various measures of social need, including income, population density, access to public transit and non-English speaking populations. The findings will prove beneficial to municipalities, health care providers and advocates in targeting efforts to expand health services toward areas with the greatest need. Maps can be accessed here.
Statewide Planning Parcel-Based Land Use Tracking Pilot
The Providence Plan (TPP) explored methods of using parcel-based data to track land use change over time. Using the City of Cranston as a test case, we compared 2002 and 2006 parcel data to se if changes in assessment attributes or physical parcels are a reliable indicator of land use change.
LISC Community Safety Initiative Mapping
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services (GENS) have engaged ProvPlan for a variety of mapping tasks focusing on assets and liabilities in the Elmwood neighborhood. Key partners include the Providence Police Department and State Probation & Parole.RIDE Providence Schools Analysis
ProvPlan has had a longstanding relationship with the Rhode Island Department of Education and has performed analysis of student mobility and its relation to test scores as well as the potential for neighborhood schools at elementary and middle school levels. Our current project examines student mobility Statewide using the universal student identifier.Statewide Internet Map Server for Economic Development
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation commissioned ProvPlan to build and maintain an Internet Map Server application to support local economic development and planning activities. This online tool provides access to statewide data on demographics, socioeconomics, land use, utilities, transportation, natural features, businesses, and a host of other data related to site suitability and economic analysis. It will also include parcel-based data (where available) paired with search capability.
Feinstein HS/URI T.A.T.E. Project
In a partnership with the University of Rhode Island Teen Activity Transportation Exercise group (TATE) and Feinstein High School in Providence, ProvPlan provided GIS services, technical assistance, curriculum development, and instruction time to this effort. This research project investigated transportation patterns of teens- where they go, where they are afraid to go, etc. Feinstein students used GIS to map their own data and examine their travel in relation to local landmarks and one another. To support the GIS curriculum, ProvPlan created this website. A student map was also featured as ProvPlan Map of the Month.
Providence Special Area Management Plan (SAMP)
ProvPlan assisted with data and mapping for the "Metro Bay SAMP”- the coastal management plan used by the Coastal Resources Management Council to regulate development. To aid in information sharing and analysis, ProvPlan has created the SAMP Mapper, an Internet Map Server application tailored to the SAMP area and issues.
Prisoner Re-Entry
Thirty-eight percent of RI prisoners are residents of Providence, a City with 17 percent of the State population. Twelve percent of RI prisoners come from four Providence neighborhoods (West End, Elmwood, Upper & Lower South Providence) whose population makes up only 4 percent of the State's population. Many of these former inmates have few resources to draw on and are excluded from opportunities because of their criminal record. The Rhode Island Department of Corrections contracted ProvPlan to analyze prisoner re-entry in Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, and Newport and to identify availability of essential services. Some of the results of this work can be found through the Reentry Portal Page.
Urban Land Reform
ProvPlan worked in partnership with the Department of Planning and Development, Rhode Island Housing, LISC, and a host of other community partners to advance policy and data access around the issue of unutilized and abandoned property in the City of Providence. Much of the work focused on indicators of abandonment and integrating these into an online information-sharing tool. See the project website for data, policy analysis, and best practices from around the country.
ProvStat
In partnership with the Mayor’s Office, ProvPlan provided staffing and technical assistance to launch ProvStat, Mayor Cicilline’s performance tracking and accountability initiative for City departments.Department of Health
ProvPlan has had a longstanding relationship with the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH)and has analyzed data related to child health such as births to teens and single mothers, access to prenatal care, and blood-lead levels.
Teen Birth Study: ProvPlan had a three-year project with HEALTH to explore the factors related to positive birth outcomes in order to address issues associated with teen births. ProvPlan identified and gathered pertinent data, performed data analysis and mapping, and shared our findings with HEALTH and its partners. In addition to identifying the neighborhood indicators associated with teen pregnancy and child well-being, this project involved an in depth exploration of the correlation between poor birth outcomes and health and educational outcomes.
Through this investigation, ProvPlan identified the health and educational outcomes of children born to teen parents. We also explored the question of whether children of teens have higher rates of poor educational outcomes compared to children of adults. Particular attention was given to identifying the determinants of repeat pregnancy as well as missed opportunities to prevent repeat pregnancies.
Data Utilization Training and Technical Assistance: ProvPlan worked with community based HEALTH partners, particularly recipients of CATCH funding, to provide training and technical assistance in understanding how to interpret data and use information tools to guide programs through the stages of analysis, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation.
This work provided ongoing assistance to six community-based health coalitions throughout the state as well as provided a series of workshops open to all health partners where participants worked on common challenges facing community based health initiatives in Rhode Island.
State Properties Mapping
The RI Department of Administration engaged ProvPlan to map all State-owned land and buildings in order to improve the Accounts and Controls property database. Products include map layers for buildings and land as well as an Internet Map Server that allows full online access and mapping capability.
Weed & Seed
In partnership with the Providence Police and the Weed & Seed Coordinator, ProvPlan provided crime analysis and mapping, indicator tracking, and website development services.
Providence Police CompStat Support
From autumn 2003 to spring 2011, ProvPlan performed weekly crime mapping and statistical analysis for the Providence Police Department to support their internal CompStat accountability and strategic response program. We also provided the Department with specialized analysis around particular issues such as after-school crime, incident “hot spot” identification, and sex offender mapping.
Questions regarding information projects should be addressed to Jim Lucht.