What is reliable data?
There are plenty of systems where we take reliable data for granted. When we go to an ATM and withdraw $40 we expect to receive $40. Rarely do we go back to our bank statement to check that the correct amount was taken out. If we checked it and saw that the change was $42 rather than $40, we would be appalled. We’d find a new bank. If we went to an ATM 100 times, we would have the same level of confidence that the numbers will run the same way every time.
Even though we aren’t quite at this point with our systems yet, we are starting to set goals around having reliable data to work towards this level of confidence.
Wading into the details of data reliability can feel like minutia, but ultimately we are talking about individuals experiencing homelessness, not numbers! When your inflow, outflow, and actively homeless figures are not balancing, there are individuals for whom your system is not accounting. It’s urgent that we improve the system to account for everyone.
Combined with a completed By-Name List Scorecard (answer “Yes” to 41/43 questions) balanced data can provide confidence that you are tracking all of the youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in your community in real time.
Without reliable data you can’t:
Understand where you are relative to the goal of ending homelessness
Make projections or set meaningful reduction goals
Know what is or isn’t working in your community
Get to zero and stay there!
Data reliability threshold:
Steps communities are taking to ensure data reliability:
Developing a consistent method for filtering By-Name List data into inflow, actively homeless, and outflow
Fully training providers to enroll youth and young adults into the By-Name List
Understanding how data reliability is calculated and asking questions of the data to ensure all youth and young adults are accounted for