Making Data Interactive: Westchester Evictions Dashboard Available Now

Key Takeaways:

• Databases are interactive, allowing us to view data focusing on our communities over periods of time, and to return to it when more recent data is available.
• The Westchester Eviction Dashboard is available now, as well our new webpage called ‘Data Dashboards’ featuring all WCA dashboards.

As children’s advocates, WCA aims to serve as a resource for organizations to understand the current needs of children. One of the best ways to measure these needs is through data!

Once the data is collected, the next question we ask is, ‘what is the best way to present our findings to the public?’  Two options most frequently emerge: a report, such as our quarterly Poverty Pulse, which is a static representation of data from a particular point in time; and, a dashboard, a living document which viewers can explore at their own pace and return to when more recent data becomes available.

Because a database is interactive, it also allows the viewer to focus on data in their community, and see how it looks now versus how it looked in the past. In a few minutes of viewing a dashboard, you can begin gathering a sense of how certain issues–such as homelessness, suspensions, or evictions–have either increased or decreased over a period of time in your community.

Our most recent dashboard, the ‘Westchester Eviction Dashboard’, is published and available to view today. This dashboard sources data from the Hudson Valley Justice Center and overlays it with other socioeconomic and demographic data from the US Census Bureau to identify areas of the county that are associated with high eviction rates and especially vulnerable populations. Comparing the data on child poverty and evictions in this database format, we can see that some municipalities have seen increases in child poverty in the past few years, alongside increases in evictions.

By presenting the data in this dashboard format, we can provide policymakers and communities a tool to keep a close eye on evictions in their localities. Then, supported by knowledge of the latest eviction trends, changemakers can initiate and promote effective housing policies that protect Westchester children and families.

Take note – we have incorporated data from our Court Watchers program into the dashboard. Our observations show that in many eviction proceedings, legal representation can make the difference between safe shelter and homelessness. As the Access to Counsel bill is implemented–after it was made aw in 2023, guaranteeing representation for low-income individuals facing eviction–we will have to keep an eye on how the data in this dashboard is affected.

To view the ‘Westchester Eviction Dashboard’, click here.

To see all of WCA’s dashboards, click here.