How we used data to improve dignity and choice in our services
Alex is the Data and Insight Lead for the British Red Cross’s Crisis and Emergency Response (CER) team. His role focuses on primary data collection, data analysis, and the development of insight tools to empower operations teams in making informed decisions.
This year one of the primary focuses within the product team was to help our operations teams provide basic practical support to people seeking asylum in the UK who had been placed in hotel accommodation. People arrive at these hotels with very few possessions and are often in need of essential items such as clothing. Our CER and Refugee Support (RS) teams have been responding to requests for support, however, the level of need placed pressure on our teams across the country. The process of procuring these essential items has proven to be far from straightforward, resulting in bottlenecks when trying to provide immediate support to those in need.
Initially, our team were exploring the challenges for operational teams in bulk procuring items like clothing and blankets. Sourcing, receiving, storing, and distributing items was a time-consuming process. We wanted to reduce the burden on teams while ensuring people received support as quickly as possible.
Choice and dignity
The challenge lies in balancing the desire to provide people with the autonomy to choose their clothing, with the practicalities of bulk purchasing items for distribution. An important consideration is also the geographical dispersion of temporary accommodation, as this often leaves people placed in remote locations with limited mobility and access, making it crucial to identify which hotels fall into this category to better shape our support.
What we did
As a part of the product team, our first and foremost goal was to streamline the approach to providing clothing to individuals and families in temporary hotel accommodation. The core ethos of our mission was to provide dignity to those who found themselves in temporary accommodation. My primary focus in this endeavour was on the development of insight tools, which could empower our operations teams to make informed decisions for delivering their support.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a simple task. The complexity of the situation (including lack of transparency over hotel locations; the numbers of people placed in these sites; and capacity of our Refugee Support teams to conduct direct casework with everyone in those locations) made it almost impossible for us to fully understand the needs of individuals in hotels.
However, as an alternative, we realised that while we couldn’t accurately pinpoint the specific needs people had, we could gain valuable insights into the areas in which they were staying to shape what support might work best for that location, such as purchasing items for people, or providing vouchers. We began by asking key questions:
- Proximity to Schools: Was the hotel close to schools? This factor was crucial, as families with young children often needed uniforms and shoes.
- Access to Public Transportation: Did the hotel have convenient access to public transportation? This factor could grant individuals greater autonomy and access to essential resources.
- Proximity to Retailers: Were there retail stores nearby? Proximity to shopping locations allowed individuals the freedom to choose what they wear, offering a slice of normalcy in their challenging circumstances.
- Closeness to Greenspaces: Did the hotel have green spaces nearby? Access to outdoor areas for walks and respite was vital for maintaining mental and emotional well-being.
Through these inquiries, we couldn’t gain insights into the individual needs, but we could assess the risk factors for individual hotels. We could determine the extent to which individuals might struggle to access essential facilities based on the insight we were collecting about their hotel’s proximity.
Left to right: Eleanor Stack (Operations Lead), Paola Salles Manica (Senior Service Designer), Jo Straw (Senior Product Manager — Head of Product Team), Alex Pycroft (Data and Insight Lead)
The data and tools used
To improve CER’s basic practical support to people seeking asylum and placed in hotels, our team relies on a combination of valuable data sources and powerful data tools. This enables us to gain insights, streamline our efforts, and provide the greatest level of service to our service users. The following delves into the details of the data and tools we employed.
- Refugee Support Team Data: our RS team provided valuable data; they provided us with a list of hotels that they understood to be used by the Home Office for people seeking asylum and cross-referenced this with their casework data. This dataset helps us not only identify the hotels, where residents had received some kind of casework input from the British Red Cross, but also pinpoint those where residents might not have had contact with the Red Cross recently.
- Crisis and Emergency Response Records: the CER operations team began thoroughly recording requests for assistance from people in hotels. These records encompass vital details, such as the hotel CER support, the organizations seeking assistance, the number of individuals being supported, and the mechanisms through which we offer aid.
- ArcGIS’s Living Atlas: To enrich our insights, we harness the power of ArcGIS’s Living Atlas, a rich open-source data repository. This invaluable resource grants us access to a plethora of geographical information, including the locations and types of large-format retailers, significant buildings, and green spaces. Leveraging this data, we can make informed decisions that optimize our support network.
While our data and tools are potent assets, they are not without their limitations. Recognising and addressing these challenges is vital for the continued improvement of our insight tools:
- Limited Clothing Retail Data: One notable limitation pertains to the availability of data on clothing retail stores. Due to the issue of gaining access to this information and time constraints to produce these insight tools, we have focused primarily on large-format supermarkets. This selectivity results in the omission of potentially valuable data that could greatly benefit our operations.
- Data Refresh Challenges: Another challenge stems from the nature of our data collection process. Unfortunately, we are not able to include real-time data refreshing of our tools. Consequently, newly identified hotels or those where our RS casework teams have recently provided casework support may not appear on our interactive map immediately. This necessitates manual adjustments, consuming valuable resources and potentially leading to delays in addressing urgent needs.
Despite these setbacks, we are working toward the next iteration of our insight tools. Through iterative design, we aim to enhance the accuracy, scope, and responsiveness of our data and tools, ensuring that we can provide even more effective support to those seeking safety in a time of need.
Final Output and Outcomes
With these data sets and tools, we were able to develop two insight tools to empower operations teams and enhance their ability to aid those in hotels.
Interactive ArcGIS Web App
The first tool we developed was an interactive ArcGIS Web App. This application equips operational teams with an overview of the proximity between hotels and large-format supermarkets. This feature opens possibilities for the different types of responses that CER could provide.
By pinpointing the nearest supermarkets this tool encourages operations teams to explore alternative methods of assistance, such as vouchers, moving away from the traditional bulk procurement approach. The outcome of this is to restore a sense of autonomy and dignity to individuals in hotels by affording them the choice and freedom to select their own clothing items. Beyond supermarkets, the map also encompasses geographic information such as greenspaces, leisure facilities, primary and secondary education institutions, and transportation hubs, providing a holistic view of the surrounding environment to aid in decision-making.
Dynamic Power Bi Report
The second tool we developed is a dynamic Power BI report. This interactive report provides refreshing data, drawing from our CER’s expanding list of requests. The purpose of the report is to distil complex data into a digestible format, making it an invaluable resource for both operational and strategic teams. With this Power BI report, operations teams can swiftly access detailed information critical to their decision-making processes, ensuring a swift and efficient response to service user needs. Together, these two tools form a powerful duo, revolutionising the way crisis and emergency response operations teams approach their mission of aiding those in hotels during times of need.
In summary, the transformation of data into interactive and visually compelling insight tools will hopefully prove to be invaluable for CER. These tools and the shift in data processes should empower decision-makers to respond effectively to requests in hotels and, more importantly, we hope that they can work towards fostering an environment of greater dignity and support for those seeking safety.
By embracing data-driven strategies, we can continue to improve our services and provide basic practical support to people housed in temporary accommodation. Working closely with casework teams we can ensure that people going through the asylum system, who come into contact with the BRC, have better outcomes.
As we continue to move forward, we will continue to highlight how insight-driven decisions can have a positive effect on CER’s ability to serve communities and individuals during times of crisis.
