Turning HMIS Data Into Insight: Practice an Analysis Technique with the Coordinated Entry Dashboard
Have you checked out Minnesota’s new Coordinated Entry Dashboard yet? Maybe you clicked the link but you’re not sure where to start?
The “5 Whys” technique is a simple strategy that can help you explore and understand the data. It’s meant to help get to the root cause of a problem or phenomenon. The “5 Whys” technique works best for solving more straightforward problems, so we don’t recommend using it to try to end homelessness in your community, but it can still be useful for breaking up something big, like information in a data dashboard, into more manageable pieces.
5 Whys works just like it sounds: start with a problem statement, and ask the question “why” five times in a row (you can read more about the 5 Whys method here.) The Coordinated Entry Dashboard doesn’t show only problems, but it might point out places in the system that are inefficient or inequal. You could also use this technique to understand why something is working better than it used to, or better than you expected!
Here are some examples of statements you could start with, using the Coordinated Entry Dashboard’s Time tab.
The average time to get a referral is up statewide by about 30 days compared to the default comparison period.
The average time to project entry is similar across clients of nearly all races, but the experience across races varies more widely in all the other time measures.
The average number of days on the Priority List for those with the highest VI-SPDAT score range is lower than the average overall.
Consider these statements, and then ask, "Why is it that way?" When you find an answer, ask "why?" again, and continue the process. By continuing to ask questions, you can get to an in-depth understanding rather than a surface-level assumption, and this can help form “counter-measures” or plans for addressing the root cause of what you’ve observed.
What questions does your community have about your Coordinated Entry system? What other data could you explore using “5 Whys”? Talk to your RSA or the HMIS Helpdesk to learn more.