City of Bloomington creates website to visualize regional data

“This website is intended to help and better inform those in and around issues surrounding homelessness. We hope that with greater access to accurate information, effective solutions can be found based on real data, leading to better outcomes,” Mayor John Hamilton said in a press release.

Interactive graphics depict data from several city departments, the Monroe County Health Department, the Monroe County Coroner, Shalom Community Center, IU Health, Monroe County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), the Monroe County Prosecutor and the Indiana State Department of Health. 

The website's first in-depth analysis focuses on the city's safety, civility and justice initiatives. The Safety, Civility and Justice Metrics Team formed in August 2017 to provide data that would measure the city's progress in implementing SCJ Task Force’s recommendations. The results show:

• Monroe County has seen a significant increase in the number of children assigned to the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, from 200 children in 2006 to nearly 700 in 2017. A large percent of this increase includes children under 7 years old.