The Salvation Army serves a
Christmas Eve brunch to more than 200
people in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Photograph by Dan Henry, courtesy of Chattanooga Times Free Press/Associated Press)
We’ve always had what you might call an obsession with statistics,” says Col. Ron Busroe, national secretary of community relations for the Salvation Army. Now the organization is using its rich store of data to support a new tool—the Human Needs Index (HNI)—that aims to provide a detailed picture of where and how poverty affects people in the United States.
Launched in October 2015, the HNI grew out of a five-year collaboration between the Salvation Army and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. The index analyzes specific indicators of poverty on a state-bystate basis and in almost real time, and the HNI website features infographic tools—including an interactive timeline and map—that enable users to see trends at a glance. Access to such data gives service providers an opportunity to respond more strategically, and more quickly, to local demands for groceries, clothing, shelter, and other necessities.
Funding for development of the HNI came from personal donations by members of the Salvation Army board of directors. Those donations totaled $250,000. “Our national board felt strongly about understanding the value of these data,” Busroe says.
Una Osili, professor of economics and philanthropic studies at Indiana University and director of research for the Lilly School, says that she was “quite amazed” by the scope and quality of the data that the Salvation Army gathers. Every month, the Salvation Army compiles data on the same set of metrics from more than 7,000 service centers across the United States—the organization has operations in every US zip code—and that data set covers a period that goes back to 2004. “They knew they had this enormous amount of information, but they hadn’t had an outside partner look at the data and ask, ‘What can we do with this?’” Osili says.
The HNI differs from other poverty reports because it focuses not on income but on consumption patterns. Data on which Salvation Army goods and services are in highest demand provide insight into “where people are most vulnerable,” Osili explains. “Is it because they lack food? Shelter? Heat for their homes?” Osili and her team at the Lilly School, working with Salvation Army statisticians, analyze seven such variables to generate an “HNI score” for each state and for the United States as a whole.
The timeliness of the data used to generate HNI scores “is a big deal” as well, Osili says. Analysts update the index quarterly, and that feature allows researchers and policymakers to examine patterns of need over time. Through the index, for example, they can trace the lingering effects of the Great Recession in states where economic recovery has been slow. People in the social services field, Osili says, have received “anecdotal reports” of ongoing need—reports of food pantries that are running low on supplies, and the like. “This [the HNI] provides hard evidence.”
For the Salvation Army, the index provides a new way to track and share timely information about its own operations. “Now we have the data to say, ‘The need in this community exceeds others.’ Maybe a local need spikes at certain times of the year,” Busroe explains. Demand for assistance can increase not just seasonally but also in response to sudden events. After Super Storm Sandy hit several Eastern states in 2012, for example, Salvation Army facilities in those states saw a jump in demand for furniture, housing, and clothing. “The index shows how long it takes for a community to recover from disaster, and also the spillover effects on neighboring regions,” Osili says.
The HNI is “more than just a cool data visualization tool,” says Scott Allard, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and professor of public affairs at the Evans School of Public Policy at the University of Washington. Indeed, Allard notes, the index fills an “information void” in the social services sector.
For that reason, the HNI has attracted attention from members of Congress who seek greater clarity about US poverty trends, says Busroe. Government agencies already track certain poverty indicators, such as food insecurity. But official reports don’t tell the whole story of what it means to be needy. “Nonprofits often meet needs that government does not,” Osili explains. (A nonprofit might provide children with winter coats, for instance.) “The picture of need is very complex.”
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.